Elizabeth Arden
Elizabeth Arden was a woman ahead of her time ? a true pioneer in the way she approached life and business, not to mention the field of beauty. She was a creative visionary and an equally smart businesswoman who had the drive to make her dreams come true.
Elizabeth Arden was originally named Florence Nightingale Graham, born in Canada in 1878. She lost her mother at the age of 6 and grew up with her father, sisters and brother. As she grew up, she explored nursing school and various other jobs in Toronto. However, she always felt a certain unrest and knew that there was something bigger that she must do with her life.
From early on, Florence was a visionary. As a nurse, she foresaw burn creams and skin salves not just as medicine, but with the potential to be beauty creams and lotions. She began to take over her kitchen at home as a laboratory, experimenting with various ingredients, relentless in her search for the perfect beauty cream. At one point, the neighbors were convinced that the terrible odors coming from the house was the smell of rotten eggs being cooked and that the family was too poor to buy fresh food!
Florence faced many initial failures, and even had to - face discouragement from people around her, including her family. Her father encouraged her to give up and get married - as proper young women did in the early 1900's. However, Florence always kept in sight her dream - her business plan of building a cosmetics corporation.
At age 30, Florence decided to go to New York. Filled with hope and expectation. By 1910, Florence took the plunge and opened her own beauty "salon" - a term she chose purposely, to move away from the traditional "parlor," which she felt was outdated.
Elizabeth Arden was known for her copious innovative ideas; for example, at a time when the only acceptable place to wear makeup was on the stage, she recognized American women's desire to breakout of that post-Victorian era mold. She brought rouge and tinted powder back from Paris, introduced the concept of eye makeup, and offered the very first "makeovers" in her salon. She helped make cosmetics use socially acceptable and secured makeup in its place as the ultimate fashion accessory for the social elite.
By 1920, over a hundred products were spelling out the Elizabeth Arden name in almost 600 permutations - more products than any other company in the world. By the 1930's, it was said that there were only three American names known in every corner of the globe: Singer Sewing Machines, Coca-Cola, and Elizabeth Arden.
Elizabeth Arden continued to inspire new ideas until her death at the age of 88.
Being first means being modern. Elizabeth Arden was certainly first - in treatment, color, fragrance, and in her unique concept of Total Beauty. She was always modern: anticipating trends, embracing new technologies, and keeping pace with the world of her customers. She is an inspiration to women the world over. Ninety years later, her vision lives on in a forward-thinking company committed to the future of beauty. This means leading the way with prestige products, scientific skin care, dazzling color and a range of fragrances. This also means leading the way in philosophy, which is that beauty also comes from within, and is something achieved through intelligence, peace within ourselves, and having a strong presence as a woman in today's society.
Some links are:
http://www.elizabeth-arden.dk/