Max Factor's Hollywood: Glamour, Movies and Make-Up

This was a really good book about Max Factor, loaded with pics and info. I mean every page has photos. There is info on early wigs, some pictures of male stars' toupees, and quite a bit about the new Pancake Makeup. I didn't know other companis tried to copy Pancake. We see many stars made up glamorously. There are also pics of the Factor salons and buildings.

As I mentioned in my review for "Max Factor: The Man Who Changed the Faces of the World," this is the beefed-up version of the Max Factor story with many interesting photos / pictures. If you want simple, read-it-in-1-day type of information, The Man Who Changed Faces is recommended; it includes pictures, just not many. If you like plenty of pictures of the time covered, THIS is the version to get of Basten's appreciation of Max Factor and his incredible talent.

Max Factor had a fascinating life, as I found out when I read this excellent book. His story is also the story of Hollywood and the movies. I was so taken with this and the wonderful old makeup containers photographed for the book, I started collecting Max Factor stuff. I've also been to the Hollywood Museum, which is in the restored Max Factor building in Hollywood. After you read this, you will find yourself looking at old movies in a different way - noticing (and appreciating) the makeup and wigs on the actors, and thinking about all that goes into making films. I highly recommend this book!

The story of Max Factor as he rose from Russian immigrant to Hollywood royalty-the man who brought glamour to the stars and regular folks alike with the invention of pancake makeup, no fade lipstick and the idea that makeup should fit a woman's coloring. (He had rooms in his store for blondes, brownettes, brunettes and redheads-all color coded and enhanced to work with the skin tones of the women in each category!) The star of this book is definitely the photographs, however. Make-up test shots, his early years in Russia, wig making contraptions, print ads of the stars endorsing his products-the pictures tell a better story than the text!

Filled to the brim with glamour shots of some of the Western World's most beautiful women, this book shows us the man beind the mask, the incomparable Max Factor. Almost every shot is shown behind the scenes, how the look was created, etc. . .Truly a masterpiece work.