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Wstydliwa historia piękna
Na pierwszy rzut oka "Wstydliwa historia piękna" opowiada o narodzinach gigantów przemysłu kosmetycznego - Heleny Rubinstein i L'Oréal. Jakim cudem niewykształcona Żydówka polskiego pochodzenia stała się najbogatszą kobietą swoich czasów? Co sprawiło, że syn piekarza Eug?ne Schueller zbudował jedną z największych korporacji świata? Na tym podobieństwa między bohaterami tej książki się kończą,a zaczynają się fundamentalne różnice. Helena swoim przykładem manifestowała wiarę w emancypację kobiet,Schueller uważał, że rolą żony jest siedzenie w domu. On kolaborował z nazistami, gdy ona z okupowanego Krakowa ratowała kolejnych żydowskich krewnych. To nie jest jednak opowieść w dwóch tonacjach - o dobrej Helenie i złym Eug?nie. Nic z tych rzeczy. Ruth Brandon pokazuje nie tylko, jak nieprawdopodobnie zawiłe są ścieżki ludzkich losów, ale także jak te dwie postaci sprzed dekad wciąż na nas wpływają. Tak naprawdę jest to jednak opowieść o kulisach wojny o kobiecą duszę. Złudzeniach, które czasem są ważniejsze niż fakty.
216 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2011
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647 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
April 11, 2011
Now that I've finished this book, I have to make a confession: I realize I am not the target audience. So why did I pick this book? For the mere fact that I'm interested in the beauty industry and saw a documentary about the rivalry between Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden a while back and thought this book would be a nice complement to that program. It's not.
Focusing on the history of the Helena Rubinstein and L'Oréal beauty companies and the two wildly different founders of each, we are treated to a dissertation not only on the rise in fortunes of the two influential names in beauty but also tangents on Henry Ford, capitalism, communism and fascism, the Nazi party, and how wealthy old ladies attract the attentions of young impecunious playboys. What do all these subjects have to do with the beauty industry? Honestly, I'm not sure, other than to illustrate the dark side of the business and the questionable motives behind some of the twentieth century's most powerful and influential business magnates.
The biggest point I take away from Brandon's work is the dichotomy between Helena Rubinstein, who used the female-based and female-powered beauty industry to break free from her traditional (read: patriarchal) Jewish upbringing to become an empowered and vocal businesswoman; and Eugène Schueller, who promoted the ideals of feminine beauty and power through his company, L'Oréal, yet believed women belonged in the home and out of the workplace, a doctrine he advocated so firmly his only child, a daughter, was worthwhile to him and to L'Oréal only as the wife of a potential company man and certainly not as a potential heir to the business.
Other than that, I don't quite understand what picture Brandon is trying to weave together with the disparate threads in her book, other than the dichotomy I just pointed out. If that's the case, I think it could've been done in a less convoluted, vague and ultimately stultifying manner. Perhaps, were I a business major, I'd understand the book's purpose; as I'm not, I'm left feeling disappointed and dissatisfied and wishing I could get back the hours I've spent reading Brandon's work.
Focusing on the history of the Helena Rubinstein and L'Oréal beauty companies and the two wildly different founders of each, we are treated to a dissertation not only on the rise in fortunes of the two influential names in beauty but also tangents on Henry Ford, capitalism, communism and fascism, the Nazi party, and how wealthy old ladies attract the attentions of young impecunious playboys. What do all these subjects have to do with the beauty industry? Honestly, I'm not sure, other than to illustrate the dark side of the business and the questionable motives behind some of the twentieth century's most powerful and influential business magnates.
The biggest point I take away from Brandon's work is the dichotomy between Helena Rubinstein, who used the female-based and female-powered beauty industry to break free from her traditional (read: patriarchal) Jewish upbringing to become an empowered and vocal businesswoman; and Eugène Schueller, who promoted the ideals of feminine beauty and power through his company, L'Oréal, yet believed women belonged in the home and out of the workplace, a doctrine he advocated so firmly his only child, a daughter, was worthwhile to him and to L'Oréal only as the wife of a potential company man and certainly not as a potential heir to the business.
Other than that, I don't quite understand what picture Brandon is trying to weave together with the disparate threads in her book, other than the dichotomy I just pointed out. If that's the case, I think it could've been done in a less convoluted, vague and ultimately stultifying manner. Perhaps, were I a business major, I'd understand the book's purpose; as I'm not, I'm left feeling disappointed and dissatisfied and wishing I could get back the hours I've spent reading Brandon's work.
October 9, 2015
I feel like I don't want to buy any more L'Oréal.
November 29, 2012
The first third is interesting if pendantic, the rest falls into a morass of indecipherable names and interchangeable characters. Without the mammoth personalities of Eugene Shueller and Helana Rubenstein to spice up the story the scandal alluded to in the book's description loses it's edge.
April 6, 2011
Combining biographies of Helena Rubinstein and Eugene Schueller, Ugly Beauty is subtitled, Helena Rubinstein, L'Oreal, and the Blemished history of looking good.
Starting off, the first chapters about Rubinstein are fascinating. This interesting and ambitious woman who grew up in the Krakow ghetto, moved to Australia where she had family and started her own beauty product line. She was a marketing genius, using techniques that are still actively used in marketing beauty products today. She had no formal education in chemistry, yet she gathered enough information to make her products in her kitchen lab and learned how to make the products women wanted. I found it interesting that in Australia at the turn of the 20th century, the Victorian era was over, women were entering the workforce and were willing to try beauty products still forbidden in Victorian England. Her business quickly expanded and she became a force to be reckoned with.
Eugene Schueller, a French chemist, invented products to dye hair, using his skills to experiment on many products and formulas. He, too, was a marketing expert selling his products to Paris hair salons, and creating a market where none had previously been. He, like Rubinstein was a workaholic, and expected the same of his employees. Schueller was the founder of Cagoule, a controversial French activist organization that held meetings at L'Oreal headquarters. Many of later L'Oreal executives were involved in Schueller's controversial political groups. Eventually Schueller's company, L'Oreal, expanded world wide and produced most types of beauty products.
I found the first part of this book and some of the last part very interesting. There is much interesting information in the part about Rubinstein. The middle part of the book about Schueller and WWII, bogged down into boring stories about business, dirty tricks, Henry Ford, and Schuller's dealings with various people.
One valuable thing about reading this book is that it confirmed my long held belief that beauty products are extremely over priced on purpose and that many of the advertising claims are greatly exaggerated.
Why a 2 star rating:
If a reader is looking for an interesting history of the beauty products industry you might find the first part of the book relatively interesting. However, the book quickly bogs down into plodding, verbose, chapters about Schuller's political activities, and business principles and philosophy. This seems like it could be required reading for first year business students and maybe students of French activism before and during WWII. The end of the book lost my interest completely, as the author recites tedious details about L'Oreal management and practices.
Over all I would say save your money or read a different book on the history of beauty products.
Starting off, the first chapters about Rubinstein are fascinating. This interesting and ambitious woman who grew up in the Krakow ghetto, moved to Australia where she had family and started her own beauty product line. She was a marketing genius, using techniques that are still actively used in marketing beauty products today. She had no formal education in chemistry, yet she gathered enough information to make her products in her kitchen lab and learned how to make the products women wanted. I found it interesting that in Australia at the turn of the 20th century, the Victorian era was over, women were entering the workforce and were willing to try beauty products still forbidden in Victorian England. Her business quickly expanded and she became a force to be reckoned with.
Eugene Schueller, a French chemist, invented products to dye hair, using his skills to experiment on many products and formulas. He, too, was a marketing expert selling his products to Paris hair salons, and creating a market where none had previously been. He, like Rubinstein was a workaholic, and expected the same of his employees. Schueller was the founder of Cagoule, a controversial French activist organization that held meetings at L'Oreal headquarters. Many of later L'Oreal executives were involved in Schueller's controversial political groups. Eventually Schueller's company, L'Oreal, expanded world wide and produced most types of beauty products.
I found the first part of this book and some of the last part very interesting. There is much interesting information in the part about Rubinstein. The middle part of the book about Schueller and WWII, bogged down into boring stories about business, dirty tricks, Henry Ford, and Schuller's dealings with various people.
One valuable thing about reading this book is that it confirmed my long held belief that beauty products are extremely over priced on purpose and that many of the advertising claims are greatly exaggerated.
Why a 2 star rating:
If a reader is looking for an interesting history of the beauty products industry you might find the first part of the book relatively interesting. However, the book quickly bogs down into plodding, verbose, chapters about Schuller's political activities, and business principles and philosophy. This seems like it could be required reading for first year business students and maybe students of French activism before and during WWII. The end of the book lost my interest completely, as the author recites tedious details about L'Oreal management and practices.
Over all I would say save your money or read a different book on the history of beauty products.
June 22, 2018
The first part was a bit interested and readable, so that's why i give 2 star. But after that was just tendentious opinions of the author. In short for me was a waste of time.
December 14, 2017
Ugly Beauty is a curious mixture of biography, business marketing theory, psychology and historical consequences of social behavior. This probably explains why the book is so complicated (and sometimes confusing)to follow. The premise of comparing and contrasting Rubinstein and Schueller (founder of L'Oreal)makes for an interesting read. They could not have been more opposite in perspective, yet so alike in business acumen. The biographical sections of the book are interesting to anyone who enjoys history, granted the lack of space to do a definitive work of either person.
The early origins of the "professional" cosmetic industry, its impact on culture and business as well as marketing inadequacy to the general public could be a book in and of itself. Brandon ties in the political atmosphere of doing business within the confines of an occupied France during World War II.
It is helpful to see business put within its historical context rather than as a separate single subject. The inconsistencies of the L'Oreal management in treading the line (and sometimes going over the line) between Nazism and business illustrates the loyalty to business over patriotism and humane values. Indeed, it is a warning to us of today's international corporations when business priorities trump other more important values. The personal and national repercussions for Europeans of how their elders participated in anti-Semitic activities, sometimes playing both sides of the fence, is still a current issue. The author does not gloss over this. This middle section of the book gets dense and becomes difficult to follow. It would be easy for a reader to get bogged down if not knowledgeable about the political nuances in French history.
The weakest part of the book is the chapter 'Consumers or Consumed.' The topic is of incredible value but Brandon tries to put too much into one book. This section should have been lifted, perhaps developed into another book.
While some of the analysis is stretched, the overall subject of the book is intriguing. At times it reads like a term paper and the concluding question of whose life had more meaning, Rubinstein's or Liliane Schueller Bettencourt, feels lame, diminishing the impact of the earlier writing. I vacillated between giving this a 3 (structure) or 4 (subject content).
The early origins of the "professional" cosmetic industry, its impact on culture and business as well as marketing inadequacy to the general public could be a book in and of itself. Brandon ties in the political atmosphere of doing business within the confines of an occupied France during World War II.
It is helpful to see business put within its historical context rather than as a separate single subject. The inconsistencies of the L'Oreal management in treading the line (and sometimes going over the line) between Nazism and business illustrates the loyalty to business over patriotism and humane values. Indeed, it is a warning to us of today's international corporations when business priorities trump other more important values. The personal and national repercussions for Europeans of how their elders participated in anti-Semitic activities, sometimes playing both sides of the fence, is still a current issue. The author does not gloss over this. This middle section of the book gets dense and becomes difficult to follow. It would be easy for a reader to get bogged down if not knowledgeable about the political nuances in French history.
The weakest part of the book is the chapter 'Consumers or Consumed.' The topic is of incredible value but Brandon tries to put too much into one book. This section should have been lifted, perhaps developed into another book.
While some of the analysis is stretched, the overall subject of the book is intriguing. At times it reads like a term paper and the concluding question of whose life had more meaning, Rubinstein's or Liliane Schueller Bettencourt, feels lame, diminishing the impact of the earlier writing. I vacillated between giving this a 3 (structure) or 4 (subject content).
April 4, 2011
As enthralling as the first four chapters were, detailing the history and lives of the founders behind two of the greatest institutions in the beauty industry (Eugene Schueller of L'Oreal and Helena Rubinstein of Helena Rubinstein, Inc.), the last few chapters were equally as tedious. Instead of telling and portraying the facts of the past, the author suddenly turned into a theorizer as to how and why events transpired and certain people acted the way in they did-- which, on it's own, is not an unwelcome manner of writing, but in this case, seems to completely throw off the tone of the book from one of reporting to one of speculation.
There was also a strong (and subtle) undercurrent of stereotypical feminism throughout the entire book-- women who choose to marry are not smart enough to see that they shouldn't, women who are raised to support the men in their life are missing out on their own lives, etc.-- that rubbed me the wrong way, and was especially prevalent in the last half of the book, which, with the aforementioned tedium, only added to overall feeling of dissatisfaction.
(Wow, this sounds like such a downer of a review.)
On a different note:
-- It's surprising how the influence of World War II spread even to something as seemingly disconnected and irrelevant as the beauty industry, especially in L'Oreal's case; it's so easy to just limit the effects of the war to the obvious connections of concentration camps, Anne Frank, and the like.
-- Also, I learned what bcbg stands for: bon chic, bon genre. It's cool to be able to make connections from history/culture to today's fashion industry-- although I suppose, if it had ever occured to me to do so, I could have simply searched wikipedia. =P
There was also a strong (and subtle) undercurrent of stereotypical feminism throughout the entire book-- women who choose to marry are not smart enough to see that they shouldn't, women who are raised to support the men in their life are missing out on their own lives, etc.-- that rubbed me the wrong way, and was especially prevalent in the last half of the book, which, with the aforementioned tedium, only added to overall feeling of dissatisfaction.
(Wow, this sounds like such a downer of a review.)
On a different note:
-- It's surprising how the influence of World War II spread even to something as seemingly disconnected and irrelevant as the beauty industry, especially in L'Oreal's case; it's so easy to just limit the effects of the war to the obvious connections of concentration camps, Anne Frank, and the like.
-- Also, I learned what bcbg stands for: bon chic, bon genre. It's cool to be able to make connections from history/culture to today's fashion industry-- although I suppose, if it had ever occured to me to do so, I could have simply searched wikipedia. =P
January 12, 2012
Well-written and engrossing company histories that probe personal ambition in nuanced context of a time period that saw both huge upheavals of war and restructuring of European business. This opened a door for American beauty products in the empire that the tireless Helena Rubenstein had already been building across national borders. The story becomes more complicated and shot through with irony, as Brandon astutely combines it with the company history of L'Oreal, founded by a French chemist whose strange ideological passions led him to the Nazis and collaboration in Vichy.
And behold in our time, the wonders of mergers saw the joining of the Rubenstein brand, born of the Polish Jewish diaspora to the never-graying miracle of better living through chemistry offered by Eugene Schueller's company. l'Oreal. The oddness of this synthesis of lovely complexions and tainted past was only revealed when some staffers turned out to have served serious prison sentences in France for collaboration, and Arab business interests objected to the Rubenstein branches in Israel. This is not the politics of beauty one might expect, but show that business history can be just as interested and twisted as the plot lines of Ugly Betty.
And behold in our time, the wonders of mergers saw the joining of the Rubenstein brand, born of the Polish Jewish diaspora to the never-graying miracle of better living through chemistry offered by Eugene Schueller's company. l'Oreal. The oddness of this synthesis of lovely complexions and tainted past was only revealed when some staffers turned out to have served serious prison sentences in France for collaboration, and Arab business interests objected to the Rubenstein branches in Israel. This is not the politics of beauty one might expect, but show that business history can be just as interested and twisted as the plot lines of Ugly Betty.
April 12, 2011
Isn't it great that L'Oreal has been making hair dye for a hundred years and it still makes your head smell like cat pee?
November 30, 2016
Barely could get through the first chapter.
March 16, 2024
A highly academic look at the history of two corporations: this book traces the progress of Helena Rubinstein (and her eponymous brand) and Eugène Schueller (L’Oreal) from the roots of their respective companies up to the current sprawling state of affairs for the global conglomerates their brands eventually spawned.
The book covers the people and their businesses in minute detail - emigration, war, collabos, hostile takeovers, generational misbegotten wealth, the whole ball of yarn.
I’m looking forward to peeling back the covers on more of Brandon’s books.
The book covers the people and their businesses in minute detail - emigration, war, collabos, hostile takeovers, generational misbegotten wealth, the whole ball of yarn.
I’m looking forward to peeling back the covers on more of Brandon’s books.
September 23, 2019
This book is about Helena Rubinstein and her beginning her beauty company of the same name. It also covers what happened after her death. Also the book is about Eugene Schueller and his company, L'Oreal and what it has gone thru after his death. The book includes some photos and numerous notes. The book was an easy read.
February 8, 2018
Interesting, but not what I was expecting. I thought it was going to tell of a battle between the two companies, but it was two separate stories about the founders.
August 11, 2024
Empezó bastante bien, pero la trama se perdió en datos que apreció mal relatados, salté páginas donde el contexto se sentía hecho y mal hecho por chat gp de un resumen de estudiante de secundaria, al final el libro se enderezó pero termo bruscamente.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 18, 2012
This is a follow-up book on the beauty industry that was stimulated by the history of the industry I just finished - Imagining Beauty. This book is a dual biography of Helena Rubinstein and Eugene Schueller (and family) the founder of L'Oreal. Rubinstein was the path-breaking female entrepreneur who was first to market with many of the products and services that have long been common in the industry. Schueller was also a fine businessman but came at the business as a chemist seeking to find a way to dye hair that wasn't toxic to consumers. Both became very wealthy and L'Oreal ended up acquiring Helena Rubinstein.
The key to the book is the link of both Rubinstein and Schueller to World War II and the deportation and slaughter of the Jews in camps such as Auschwitz. Rubinstein was a Jew and went to New York during the war, where her business prospered. Schueller was not Jewish and collaborated with the Nazis, a fact which almost ruined his company and his career. The story also highlights the differences in business culture and political culture between the US and France. The life stories are very interesting, although I liked Rubinstein's story the most.
The book is a bit thin on the rest of the industry and the economics of the business. That is OK, since the industry history is very informative on this. More on how the business has evolved would have helped. The author does discuss some general developments towards the end, but it is minor. The role of scandals and personal intrigues in these stories is interesting to read but the scandals do not seem to be specific to the beauty industry or any of its niches. I increasingly believe that while personalities are important for understanding entrepreneurial start-ups, the role of the CEO leader is greatly overstated most of the time. This book, however, provides helpful and entertaining background on the history of the beauty industry and is worth the read.
The key to the book is the link of both Rubinstein and Schueller to World War II and the deportation and slaughter of the Jews in camps such as Auschwitz. Rubinstein was a Jew and went to New York during the war, where her business prospered. Schueller was not Jewish and collaborated with the Nazis, a fact which almost ruined his company and his career. The story also highlights the differences in business culture and political culture between the US and France. The life stories are very interesting, although I liked Rubinstein's story the most.
The book is a bit thin on the rest of the industry and the economics of the business. That is OK, since the industry history is very informative on this. More on how the business has evolved would have helped. The author does discuss some general developments towards the end, but it is minor. The role of scandals and personal intrigues in these stories is interesting to read but the scandals do not seem to be specific to the beauty industry or any of its niches. I increasingly believe that while personalities are important for understanding entrepreneurial start-ups, the role of the CEO leader is greatly overstated most of the time. This book, however, provides helpful and entertaining background on the history of the beauty industry and is worth the read.
May 15, 2011
It turns out to be less a book about the beauty industry than an account of L'Oreal's founder's pro-Nazi activities during WWII. About a third of the book is about Helena Rubenstein, who interested me enough to want to get a biography of her, being the first female self-made millionaire. A good two-thirds is about Eugene Schueller, the L'Oreal founder, and his friends and cohorts, L'Oreal executives, etc. which made my eyes roll up in their sockets from boredom. The last chapter talks about ways women try to be beautiful in the present day, including plastic surgery, which I felt didn't have a place in the book; and there's comparison between Rubenstein and Liliane Bettencourt, Schueller's daughter, but they are two very different women from two very different generations.
My eyebrows were raised by the revelation that in Rubenstein's Paris salons in around 1915, she employed a Swedish masseuse who "did a little extra" that had the female customers keep coming back and the masseuse booked solid. And it's interesting that the author claims that the beauty business is 90% run by men. And it's also interesting that over and over again it's said by various people that the way women look directly affects their self-esteem and confidence. I myself don't wear makeup at all, never have, and I don't think I have a self-esteem and confidence problem as a result. I may be one of the few women who value education and intellectual life more than surface appearance, by which people will probably take to mean I'm unattractive and dress like a slob. They're entitled to their opinion, but at least I have hundreds of dollars more per year to spend on things I think are important, like books, instead of making a lot of overprivileged men richer.
My eyebrows were raised by the revelation that in Rubenstein's Paris salons in around 1915, she employed a Swedish masseuse who "did a little extra" that had the female customers keep coming back and the masseuse booked solid. And it's interesting that the author claims that the beauty business is 90% run by men. And it's also interesting that over and over again it's said by various people that the way women look directly affects their self-esteem and confidence. I myself don't wear makeup at all, never have, and I don't think I have a self-esteem and confidence problem as a result. I may be one of the few women who value education and intellectual life more than surface appearance, by which people will probably take to mean I'm unattractive and dress like a slob. They're entitled to their opinion, but at least I have hundreds of dollars more per year to spend on things I think are important, like books, instead of making a lot of overprivileged men richer.
January 8, 2012
Ugly Beauty tells the history of the Helena Rubinstein and her company with a particular focus on the takeover by L'Oreal and its corporate heads sordid history. I am an avid reader of history and business books and got this book assuming it be more focused on business. That being said this is really a history book that has it all. We get to see a company tied to Nazi sympathizers in France, a wandering corporate head referred to as Madame (no explanation as to why) and a look at how one of the most profitable industries in the world got its start in depression era gender politics. For those who know nothing about how the beauty industry got its roots this is a great place to start. From the salesmanship to the science that defines the industry this book is comprehensive. If anything I was hoping the author would go into more detail on various points. Overall it is a fascinating book that does suffer a little bit from wandering and not always connecting why the cool story being told is relevant. That being said it is still enjoyable and worth the time to take a look at.
July 11, 2011
Not quite what I expected but still very interesting. A history of Helena Rubinstein, born poor in Poland and largely self-taught, she became the founder of a cosmetics empire. She was a workaholic, and included family in her businesses throughout the world. Her empire enabled her to have remarkable riches and the freedom to live the life she wanted. The other company showcased is L'Oreal, founded by a scientist Eugene Schuller, also from a poor background, but with the advantage of a good education behind him. His ties to the Nazi party and resultant scandals are chronicled at length. He believed that women exist to support men, and ironically built one of the richest companies in the world that depends on the vanity of women for it's profits. L'Oreal acquired Helena Rubinstein in 1988 and is almost entirely male dominated, something that would surely outrage Madame Rubinstein. It makes me think twice about where I should spend my cosmetics dollars!
March 30, 2015
I had really high hopes for this book! I loved the idea behind it.
I thought it would tell me a little more about the beauty industry, and why it's shady, but instead it's really about Helena Rubinstein and L'Oreal founder, Eugene Shueller.
I liked learning about Helena, a Jewish immigrant from everywhere. Her business skills and smarts made her one of the first female self-made millionaires.
Shueller was interesting enough, especially at the beginning.
The problem is it went too deep into their lives. Instead of it really being about the beauty industry, it was really about those two. A little bit about their political beliefs and Nazi ties (Shueller) would have been very interesting. But many, many chapters was too much.
I wouldn't suggest this book for others. It seemed to have missed the mark on being a biography, a historical narrative, or even just an info book.
I thought it would tell me a little more about the beauty industry, and why it's shady, but instead it's really about Helena Rubinstein and L'Oreal founder, Eugene Shueller.
I liked learning about Helena, a Jewish immigrant from everywhere. Her business skills and smarts made her one of the first female self-made millionaires.
Shueller was interesting enough, especially at the beginning.
The problem is it went too deep into their lives. Instead of it really being about the beauty industry, it was really about those two. A little bit about their political beliefs and Nazi ties (Shueller) would have been very interesting. But many, many chapters was too much.
I wouldn't suggest this book for others. It seemed to have missed the mark on being a biography, a historical narrative, or even just an info book.
April 1, 2012
Ugly Beauty has some good components, but they never coalesced. The author made relatively few connections between the stories of Rubenstein and the founder of L'Oreal until the end, when the author was more successful. After their stories, Brandon inserted an essay on the importance of beauty to society and her personal experience consulting with a plastic surgeon. That may have worked as a magazine article, but it felt like filler in this book. Finally, after the essay, there is an update on L'Oreal's founder's daughter, comparing her to Helena Rubenstein. Interesting, but again, not integrated seamlessly into the book. There are good reviews listed on the back cover, but for me, Ugly Beauty failed in its planning stages.
October 11, 2014
Didn't finish, which is rare for me. It's so boring, and the subject isn't important enough for me to care. It's not the "Blemished History of Looking Good" it's a weird investigation into the backgrounds of the 2 companies in the subtitle, during WW2 and how much they collaborated. Too many facts and names, not enough character building. The beginning started out ok, all the parts about Helena getting her company started were alright, but it bogged down quickly with L'Oreal and doesn't show any sign of getting better, as we're on the next generation and I can't keep any of them straight. And I made it through War and Peace, enjoyably! Don't waste your time on this one.
May 20, 2011
The title is unfortunately misleading -- the book isn't about the history of the beauty industry, it's about the very interesting (and even more chequered) history of L'Oreal, and how it interacts with the Vichy government and subsequent French governments.
At times, you're expected to know a great deal of WW2 history, at other times, you're expected to know none at all; similarly, sometimes the amount of general history is too much, and sometimes too little.
But it is, overall, fascinating to read about the effects of sexism, anti-Semitism and nepotism in L'Oreal, as a case study for every other corporation ever.
At times, you're expected to know a great deal of WW2 history, at other times, you're expected to know none at all; similarly, sometimes the amount of general history is too much, and sometimes too little.
But it is, overall, fascinating to read about the effects of sexism, anti-Semitism and nepotism in L'Oreal, as a case study for every other corporation ever.
August 18, 2012
My suggestion would be to read the first two chapters and then stop. I found Brandon's weaving of Schueller/L'Oreal's WWII past to be tightly woven - trying to pack in his history into a few short chapters. Her description of Rubenstein was interesting and thoughtful, but that's where the brilliance stopped. The last few chapters were interesting, but as another reviewer mentioned, were blithely theorized fragments that the book could have done well without.
I don't know much about Liliane Bettencourt, but I was appalled at the way Brandon portrayed her. Almost the stuff of tabloid sensationalism.
Interesting, but be wary.
I don't know much about Liliane Bettencourt, but I was appalled at the way Brandon portrayed her. Almost the stuff of tabloid sensationalism.
Interesting, but be wary.
June 7, 2014
I was very interesting in reading this book because I had heard some information about L'Oreal and WWll and I wanted to learn more. I very much liked learning Helena Rubinstein story. The story of Schueller and his philosophy and connections was very enlightening, and seriously disturbing. France and it's participation in Anti-Semitism is dark and complicated.
The last couple of chapters didn't really fit the premise in that it talked about the image of beauty treatments through history and the "Puritanical" and controlling attitudes of men though history.
I am glad that I read this.
The last couple of chapters didn't really fit the premise in that it talked about the image of beauty treatments through history and the "Puritanical" and controlling attitudes of men though history.
I am glad that I read this.
October 19, 2014
While this was interesting, it was rather disorganized and at times I would find myself wondering how what I was reading had anything to do with the beauty industry. In fact, it is not so much a history of the beauty industry as a history of Schueller and Rubenstein - and how WW2 had such a long-lasting effect on their companies. This book really would have benefited from a good editor to help focus and streamline the content.
August 16, 2013
I really liked learning the dirty, ugly truth of the origin of these two beauty companies. The comparison of Helena Rubenstein to Eugene Schueller, the founder of L'Oreal could not be of two more different people. I liked reading about the history of the L'Oreal founder and World War II - better than any novel could be.
The ending, comparing the descendents of the founders showed even more differences between these two companies. Truth is stranger than fiction any day!
The ending, comparing the descendents of the founders showed even more differences between these two companies. Truth is stranger than fiction any day!
October 29, 2016
"¡El trabajo ha sido mi mejor tratamiento de belleza! Mantiene a raya las arrugas; permite mantener joven el corazón y el espíritu. Ayuda a una mujer a conservar la juventud. ¡Y por supuesto la vitalidad!"
Helena Rubinstein
"Renunciar a la belleza demuestra una tremenda falta de valor. La belleza implica disciplina, y rechazarla es un acto de cobardía"
Votré Beauté, noviembre de 1940
Helena Rubinstein
"Renunciar a la belleza demuestra una tremenda falta de valor. La belleza implica disciplina, y rechazarla es un acto de cobardía"
Votré Beauté, noviembre de 1940
May 4, 2012
I read this for research for school, but I really enjoyed it on its own. I never really heard of Helena Rubinstein, and found her story inspirational. It also talked about the politics going on in France during WWI & WWII, besides the Nazis, which I never really knew a lot about either. A great book that describes the birth of the modern cosmetic industry.
July 4, 2013
Ever wondered who invented the world of hair and makeup products? This book is about the two beauty tycoons: Helena Rubinstein, the creator of cosmetics, and Eugène Schueller founded of L’Oreal hair products. Conspiracy theories aside this is a fantasizing read. Partly biography-written and history detective -like researched, this book will have you seeing beauty in a new light.
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