Video: How a cosmetologist from Ryazan got a star in Hollywood and became the world famous Max Factor
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The history of the famous American brand began at the end of the 19th century in a small Ryazan shop. A series of successful and unfortunate circumstances led to the fact that the talented cosmetologist contributed not only to the development of the cosmetic industry, but also to the history of cinema. The life path of Max Factor fully reflects the real American dream, because he began his career at the age of seven, selling sweets from the lobby of the theater, and ended up as a personal star on Hollywood Boulevard.
Maximilian Abramovich Faktorovich was born in the small Polish town of Zdunska Wola in 1872, therefore he is considered a native of the Russian Empire. A large and friendly Jewish family was rich only in children - Maximilian had seven younger brothers and sisters. To help his parents, the boy went to work early. The future make-up artist of Hollywood stars never graduated from educational institutions, practice and ingenuity became his universities.
At seven, the boy sold sweets, at eight he helped a pharmacist, at nine he entered a wig workshop, and at thirteen he was lucky enough to become an apprentice to the best Berlin hairdresser. At each of these places, the boy grasped on the fly everything he could learn, and as a result he got to the place where he could apply all the accumulated diverse knowledge and skills. At the age of 14, Maximilian moved to Moscow and managed to get a job at the Bolshoi Theater as an assistant make-up artist.
Then the young man was taken under arms, and he had to serve in the army, but even there, working as a nurse, he managed to replenish his extensive "professional piggy bank". After returning to a peaceful life, Maximilian thought about his own business. It was difficult to settle in Moscow, so the young man decided to start small and set off to conquer Ryazan. Until now, on Cathedral Street of this ancient Russian city, there is house number 48, in which Maximilian Faktorovich opened a small shop in 1895. He sold creams, powders, lipsticks, blush, perfumes, wigs and hairpieces - everything that is needed for a woman's beauty, and all of his own making.
Soon, that rare incident happened to Maximilian, which happens to radically change the lives of people, and which is commonly called the "lucky ticket". A troupe of the Imperial Theater came to Ryazan on tour, the actors needed make-up, and they found a store “in the outback” with products worthy of the capital's celebrities. Soon they learned about the talented master at court, and Faktorovich received an invitation to take the position of make-up artist at the Opera House of St. Petersburg.
The talented cosmetologist surprised the capital with a new and unusual approach to applying makeup: he was able not only to emphasize the dignity of the face, but also to hide the flaws. Nobody had done this before. In general, bright makeup in those years was the lot of actors and fallen women, and it was Max Factor who would then be able to change this stereotype, but it will be much later on another continent. And in the late 1890s, he conquered St. Petersburg, creating stage make-up and carefully advising noble ladies on how to give their faces freshness and beauty, but so that the paint was still not too noticeable … Another revolutionary principle of the new approach to cosmetics in three decades the famous "Good make-up should be invisible" will become - perhaps it was in St. Petersburg that Maximilian Faktorovich invented it.
At the beginning of the new century, Faktorovich became a leading specialist in cosmetics at the court of the Russian emperor. Nicholas II, who patronized theaters, personally noted his excellent work and brought him closer to him, but this did not save the Polish Jew from pogroms. After smashed windows in the house, arson and several threats, Maximilian very shrewdly decided to leave the Russian Empire. This decision was not easy for him, but in 1904 he put his entire family on a ship and emigrated to America. Biographers believe that, entering the customs office and opening a new page in his life, Maximilian Abramovich reduced his first and last name to that sonorous combination that is still known throughout the world.
The new citizen of the American states showed good business acumen once again by settling in close proximity to his potential clients. The cosmetics store he opened right on Hollywood Boulevard, not far from the Dream Factory, paid off in no time. All goods were produced by Max Factor himself, as before. His wife and grown-up children helped in unison, and the family business flourished. Cosmetics and wigs were of such high quality that very soon real Hollywood stars began to appear among the customers of the store.
The former make-up artist of the imperial theaters was lucky once again. At the beginning of the 20th century, cinematography experienced rapid development and was technically updated. The new shooting technique brought one problem: the good old fat-based makeup now looked disgusting in the frame, new tools were needed. Once Sam Wood, the director of the film "Captivating Youth", looking through the footage, noticed that only one of the actresses in the frame justifies the name of the film, comparing favorably with the others. Interrogated with passion, the star confessed that there is one beautician on Hollywood Boulevard who has developed makeup "especially for filming a movie." After this incident, Max Factor's clients were Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton.
The former Ryazan shopkeeper never stopped there. He constantly developed and tried new recipes and compositions: makeup, which is applied in the form of a cream, makeup that does not dry out under the spotlights, cosmetics that look good in the frame and gives the actor complete freedom of facial expressions … And then only Max Factor was able to decide more one task that seemed impossible - he created a professional make-up for color cinema. It should be noted that the film industry was able to thank the person who did so much to make the revived dreams look authentic. Mac Factor became the first and only cosmetologist whose name was printed in the credits along with the star names of the actors, and in the building where the famous make-up artist worked, the Hollywood Museum is open today.
"The father of modern cosmetics" died in 1938, he was only 65 years old. The eldest son not only continued his father's work, but even changed his name for the sake of the family business. Max Factor Jr. turned the cosmetic store into a real beauty empire, creating the same global brand that is known to women all over the world today.
Another story of the "American Dream" tells how a girl from a large Jewish family founded a cosmetic empire: Este Lauder
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