Revlon is an American cosmetics, skincare & fragrance company and was founded in 1932 by brothers Charles & Joseph Revson, with the help of chemist Charles Lachman, and created the world’s first rich, glossy opaque nail enamel. The name Revlon was created with the Revson brothers surname by replacing the S for a L in honour of Charles Lachmans involvement.
1932 First ever opaque nail enamel is created and launched
1953 First powder foundation make up
1958 First stable liquid foundation
1962 First brush on blusher – “Brush on Blush”
1970 Creation of Charlie which become world best selling perfume
1986 First silicone-based make up – “New Complexion Makeup”
1994 First transfer resistant lipstick – “Colourstay Lipcolour” & Age Defying Foundation
2010 Just Bitten Lipstain & Balm
2012 Gel-like Colourstay Longwear Nail Enamel
In 1932 the two brothers and their partner Charles Lachman were the creators of coloured nail enamel in its modern form. The story is that Charles and Joseph Revson were inspired to create a nail polish by the scarlet-lipped, cigarette-smoking Hollywood actresses of their day. They thought that what the stars needed red nails to match their red lips.The first ever colour was Cherries in the Snow and was a big commercial success, and it is still selling today. Revlon launched the first ever opaque nail enamel, it was referred to as cream enamel. The product was created using blended pigments, instead of dyes which this enabled a vast choice of colours. Originally the nail enamels were only available in beauty salons.
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1937 – The nail enamel was launched into department stores & pharmacies. Then they introduced lipstick to the range. Revlon were the first company to have matching lip & nail products. 1953 saw the launch of the first powder foundation make up, followed in 1958 by the first stable liquid foundation and in 1962 the first brush on blusher.
1970 – 1973 saw the introduction of Charlie® fragrance, designed for a young, working woman market. By the mid 70’s, Charlie perfume was a stellar and phenomenal success. Charlie® was the #1 Fragrance in the world. Revlon sales figures passed the $1 billion mark in 1977.
1975 – Death of Charles Revson but Revlon continues to expand and adds more popular brands to their company.
1986 – Revlon were one of the first cosmetic companies to close its animal testing facility – leading the way for other brands to follow.
Revlon created the first nude collection for all skins and employed a number of celebrities to promote it with the “Glamour Ambassadors” campaign. Nowadays we are completely used to see actresses and celebs advertising beauty brands but that was not the norm until the 80’s.
In the 1990’s, Revlon revitalised its cosmetics business and introduced the first transfer resistant lipcolor which led to a full ColorStayTM Collection of transfer-resistant products. The company closed the gap on its closest competitors and reached a dramatic goal – the #1 brand in mass colour cosmetics. Revlon became a public company in 1996, listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Originally Revlon build their successes on lips and nail colour but nowadays they cover pretty much everything you could think of cosmetics-wise.
In 2014 Revlon still offers a wide range a quality product and is very penny friendly with a wide range of colour.
I decided to start my weekly brief history of a brand with Revlon. Revlon were with Elisabeth Arden and Elisabeth Rubinstein the first 3 companies who created makeup and skincare brands at a time where such business were almost non existent. They pretty much invented the makeup and beauty industry. These three cosmetic innovators were fiercely competitive, apparently Elisabeth Rubinstein never even pronounced the name of Elisabeth Arden and always just called the Revson the nail men…I love the vintage adverts found on the web and I hope you enjoy them too,
AM x
