War Paint: Madame Helena Rubinstein and Miss Elizabeth Arden: Their Lives, Their Times, Their Rivalry

I've waited thirty years for this book and I was not disappointed. I have read separate biographies of Rubenstein, Arden, Lauder, and Revson; this is by far the best. If you have any interest in beauty, glamor, art, social history, fashion, business or just a good story about two extraordinary women who created empires out of nothing, this book is for you.

This book is a delight. War Paint gives us two biographies, a juicy bit of history, a slice of art, some romance, some business insights, a bit of drama, heaps of inspiration, and a lot of entertainment. The thickness of the book is daunting, but considering what it offers it is certainly worth every page. The stories of these two remarkable women set amidst the landscape of the fashion industry in their time will certainly find a place in every reader's heart.

I knew a fair amount about Helena Rubenstein, but knew little about her rival Elizabeth Arden, and this book pulled no punches about their rivalry. It was a time when those two created their own fortunes and companies from the ground up, something that doesn't seem to happen in the cosmetic industry today. It seems all you have to do is be a "media darling," sign a contract, and your name is plastered all over all kinds of products. Helena may have been rithless to those around her, but Miss Arden seemed to take great delight in backstabbing and the like. I'm sure I'm prejudiced, but Madame Rubenstein, albeit tiny, cut a regal figure,and to me,Miss Arden was a bit on the frumpy side. A very enjoyable book for those interested in the battle between those two.

Rubinstein and Arden had a rivalry that you might compare to that of Jack Benny and Fred Allen--i.e. one largely conducted for publicity reasons. Lindy Woodhead has donesome amazing research, can you imagine, she spent months kneeling on the floors of Krakow parishes to find just the right birth certificate for Helena (nee Chaja) Rubinstein--not an easy thing to do, especially given the fact that Rubinstein lied about her age by several years! And in every case Woodhead goes the extra nine yards to try to distinguish what is true and what is false about her two millionairesses. They were among the first to sell American women the "culture of beauty," to insist that the cosmetics they sold would bring the consumer a whole zeitgeist of pleasure, not just individual beauty treatments. To this end they conspired with Madison Avenue and devised decades worth of intriguing, perhaps misleading advertisements. In the end what lets us down is the feeling that perhaps the two women aren't actually that different, and it gets confusing trying to remember their slight differences--which of the two was four feet ten, while the other was five foot two? A depressing business saga of how the mass public can be manipulated with great success, but they will pay you back in the most final way--they will forget you as soon as you're not alive any more.

This is such a juicy story. Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein were two glamorous divas, who come to life and the stories of their personal and business lives are fascinating. The author describes the rivalry between these two women with rich details, describing how their animosity fueled their growing empires. The story is even more interesting because of the times in which they lived, and Woodhead does a great job of explaining their very glamorous social circles. I can't wait to share this book with my friends, especially those who love fashion.