RUBINSTEIN, HELENA

RUBINSTEIN, HELENA (1871–1965), cosmetician. Born in Cracow, Poland, Rubinstein studied medicine for a short while and then immigrated to Australia. Observing that many Australian women suffered from dry, flaky skin because of the harsh, hot climate, she began selling a cold cream made according to a formula of her mother's. Within three years, she had made $100,000. In 1894 she moved to Britain, opening a fashionable salon in London in 1908 and one in Paris in 1912. During the next 20 years, she established herself as Europe's leading cosmetician. Arriving in New York in 1914, she remarked that American women had purple noses, gray lips, and chalk-white faces from "terrible powder" and said, "I recognized that the U.S. could be my life's work." She opened a salon in New York in 1914, and over the next several years salons appeared in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and other American cities. She was so successful that when she died half a century later, her estate was estimated at $100 million, and her company's annual sales exceeded $60 million. Rubinstein was the first cosmetician to send saleswomen on the road to demonstrate the right makeup for the average woman, and she was responsible for such beauty items as waterproof mascara and medicated face creams. She had a famous collection of art and jewelry. Her son, Roy Titus, succeeded her as head of the Rubinstein complex. Rubinstein built a factory in Israel and, as an art collector, took a great interest in the country's museums. She donated the pavilion bearing her name to the Tel Aviv Art Museum. This pavilion of contemporary art also contains her unique collection of 15 miniature period rooms. In 1953 she established the Helena Rubinstein Foundation to coordinate her philanthropic endeavors, which included gifts to museums, colleges, and institutions for the needy, particularly women and children. The Foundation also established annual scholarships for young Israeli artists. She wrote several books on beauty and health, including The Art of Feminine Beauty (1930), This Way to Beauty (1936), and Food for Beauty (1938). Her autobiography, My Life for Beauty, appeared in 1966. Rubinstein has been quoted as saying, "There are no ugly women – only lazy ones." -BIBLIOGRAPHY: P.O. Higgins, Madame: An Intimate Biography of Helena Rubinstein (1971). ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. Fabe, Beauty Millionaire: The Life of Helena Rubinstein (1972). (Isadore Barmash / Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)