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MISS ELIZABETH ARDEN: An unretouched portrait
Elizabeth Arden ran a jar of cleansing cream into a multimillion-dollar business. Some said her success lay in treating women like horses and horses like women. She certainly tyrannized over both her staff and her clients, only cosseting her Derby-winning thoroughbreds and her pet dogs. Her business took the place of romance, and her racing stable gave her the entree into society she longed for. What need did she have for a man?
Elizabeth Arden was born Florence Nightingale Graham, the daughter of an impecunious Canadian farmer. By the time she was thirty she had decided that only the rich were happy and that love and marriage were a trap. She planned to get rich by making other women pay to be beautiful. Backed by nothing more than determination, a gift for salesmanship, and a fictitious name, she proceeded to create a new industry. She worked harder than anyone else and permitted no one - rival, husband, or lover - to stand in her way. It was only at night she showed any weakness, for she couldn't bear to be alone. Someone, usually one of her treatment girls, had to be there to hold her hand until she went to sleep.
This Cinderella married twice - she got a prince on the second try - but she never let anyone else run the business. She kicked out her first husband after fifteen years, with no share of the empire he had helped create. The second husband barely lasted beyond one of the more overcrowded honeymoons in history.
This complex, interesting, infuriating woman covered a lot of territory, from New York, to Paris to London to Palm Beach to Phoenix and beyond. She eventually knew Everyone from the influential Elisabeth Marbury to the Queen of England. Her story is packed with anecdotes of her high-handed ways with great and small. It is an extraordinary and enthralling tale.
Elizabeth Arden was born Florence Nightingale Graham, the daughter of an impecunious Canadian farmer. By the time she was thirty she had decided that only the rich were happy and that love and marriage were a trap. She planned to get rich by making other women pay to be beautiful. Backed by nothing more than determination, a gift for salesmanship, and a fictitious name, she proceeded to create a new industry. She worked harder than anyone else and permitted no one - rival, husband, or lover - to stand in her way. It was only at night she showed any weakness, for she couldn't bear to be alone. Someone, usually one of her treatment girls, had to be there to hold her hand until she went to sleep.
This Cinderella married twice - she got a prince on the second try - but she never let anyone else run the business. She kicked out her first husband after fifteen years, with no share of the empire he had helped create. The second husband barely lasted beyond one of the more overcrowded honeymoons in history.
This complex, interesting, infuriating woman covered a lot of territory, from New York, to Paris to London to Palm Beach to Phoenix and beyond. She eventually knew Everyone from the influential Elisabeth Marbury to the Queen of England. Her story is packed with anecdotes of her high-handed ways with great and small. It is an extraordinary and enthralling tale.
- GenresBiography
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 26, 2022
Nice biography about cosmetic queen Elizabeth Arden's life.
I envy previous generations of American women who could walk through the famous red door of Elizabeth Arden's beauty parlor and enjoy the intimacy of a quiet room where their faces got treated and make up was put on without strangers looking on.
How different (in a negative way) things are done today!
You sit at Sephora's or Macy's in front of other customers and store clerks and have your make up put on. And for that you pay $ 80.
Recently we spent a week in Germany where cosmetic studios still do it the old-fashioned way in a room away from the store and away from the crowd. It was a very relaxing experience, something I hadn't done in 20 years. Something that I wish American cosmetic companies would imitate.
I envy previous generations of American women who could walk through the famous red door of Elizabeth Arden's beauty parlor and enjoy the intimacy of a quiet room where their faces got treated and make up was put on without strangers looking on.
How different (in a negative way) things are done today!
You sit at Sephora's or Macy's in front of other customers and store clerks and have your make up put on. And for that you pay $ 80.
Recently we spent a week in Germany where cosmetic studios still do it the old-fashioned way in a room away from the store and away from the crowd. It was a very relaxing experience, something I hadn't done in 20 years. Something that I wish American cosmetic companies would imitate.
February 24, 2022
Comprehensive look at Elizabeth Arden’s life and her temperament and many accomplishments. Provides several photos of her.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews