Color Stories: Behind the Scenes of America's Billion-Dollar Beauty Industry: Amazon.ca: Mary Lisa Gavenas: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Following a year in the life of a product from concept to counter, former Glamour, Mirabella and InStyle beauty editor Gavenas offers a curious peek behind the closed doors of beauty editors' offices. She exposes the symbiotic relationship between manufacturers and magazines: advertising pays editors' salaries, while casual mentions by editors sell product. Gifts to editors abound for these much coveted credits and range anywhere from flowers to Cartier watches, depending on the quality of the product placement. Though Gavenas touches on some of the darker days of the business, such as blinding chemicals in Lash-Lure, a 1930s mascara substitute that went unregulated for years, most of her book praises the willful self-empowerment of some the country's earliest women entrepreneurs and self-made millionaires. Biographical sketches of make-up moguls include those of Helena Rubenstein, Mary Kay, Elizabeth Arden and Est‚e Lauder. Disappointingly, Gavenas pays highly successful African-American businesswomen Annie Turnbo and Madame C.J. Walker much less attention, squeezing their stories together into barely two and a half pages. Other than moving from door-to-door distribution to department store counters, the industry has changed very little over the years, according to Gavenas. "A century ago, beauty companies were pushing products with the same kind of romantic stories, pretentious promotions, and inspired goofiness that are still working so well." Gavenas effectively captures the attitude of the industry with her descriptions of photo shoots, runways and fabric shows, making this a well-crafted story of a booming industry.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gavenas, former beauty editor for several women's magazines, chronicles the monthly behind-the-scenes process that each year yields new cosmetic looks and products, tracing the route from conception to packaging to the cosmetic counter, while also offering the history of the industry. Highlighting the legends of the business--Estee Lauder, Helena Rubinstein, and Mary Kay Ash--she describes the beauty trade as one of the few avenues historically open to driven and ambitious women, a virtually recession-proof industry earning billions each year. Gavenas also captures the ephemeral nature of the product, the fanciful language and seductive advertising and marketing campaigns, and the strategizing behind the latest look, be it shimmering or "natural." Gavenas covers marketing techniques, including the free makeovers and give-aways intended to lure more customers. She also plumbs the intangibles behind the success of the beauty industry, the fantasies indulged by women yearning for simple, accessible solutions to the pressures of their lives. Women will particularly enjoy this look behind the scenes. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Read it on a rainy day, July 3 2004

By

Clare Lilliston (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Color Stories: Behind the Scenes of America's Billion-Dollar Beauty Industry (Hardcover)

A fun, quick, and easy read, an interesting look into what goes on behind the make-up counter. From the people who create it, to the people who package it, to the magazine people who promote it, to the models who wear it, to the sales people who sell it, to the hopeful buyers, this book gives a look from the eyes of nearly every person involved in the business. Altogether enjoyable.

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4.0 out of 5 stars The Makeup Industry for Those Who Can't Get Enough, Jun 4 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Color Stories: Behind the Scenes of America's Billion-Dollar Beauty Industry (Hardcover)

I know many people who are addicted to makeup, and I'd recommend this book to any of them. While it's not earthshattering information by any stretch of the imagination, it's still a fun, easy read. It follows the development of those seasonal color stories we so anxiously await from the initial to conception and how colors are chosen through fashion shows and advertising to the final product at the counters. You learn how the colors for the story are chosen, how magazines list that products used on models aren't really the products used (did any of us doubt this?), and many other behind the scenes tidbits.

The book is an easy, entertaining read. I finished within a couple of evenings. Behind the scenes business material is potentially dry but Gavenas manages to keep it interesting and easy to follow. It would be a great summer poolside read.

For the Neutrogena/Olay questions below...Neutrogena is still making its cosmetics line. Olay discontinued its cosmetics line but is still making skincare.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Must read for makeup junkies ;), April 1 2004

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FetchMeMyFaintingCouch (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Color Stories: Behind the Scenes of America's Billion-Dollar Beauty Industry (Hardcover)

This is a fascinating look inside the makeup industry and is a must-read for a make-up junkie like myself. It documents the process of creating the color story. How it's conceived, marketed, sold, ect. and reveals many interesting insider details about the color stories and the mis-truth's reported by popular beauty magazines. It also goes back in time to the conception of the beauty industry telling the beginnings of the Estee Lauder empire and walks you through a Mary Kay conference (found this pretty amusing). At times the detail becomes repetitive and I did a bit of skimming but overall it was an interesting little read.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Well researched a written.
This is a fabulous book that's well worth the read. Gives fly-on-the-wall accounts of various elements of the beauty industry. Read more

Published on Jan 25 2004 by MaverickMom

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun and easy to read but that's about it.
Of course, what more do you need in a book? Okay, first off--the disclaimers--I never read fashion magazines (although I have been known to rifle through them at the doctor's... Read more

Published on Oct 9 2003