The history of the brand is inextricably linked with the history of its creator. Helena (Chaya) Rubinstein was born on December 25, 1872 in Krakow. She was the eldest child in a family of 8 children. Before moving to Australia, Helena studied medicine in Switzerland. But she created her first restorative balm for damaged skin on the Green Continent. The cream was made on the basis of an ointment, the recipe for which she got from her mother. She called it Valaze. In 1902, she opened the first Helena Rubinstein Beauty Institute.
This enterprise turned out to be so successful that a year later she opened her first boutique in Melbourne, where she sold creams, lotions and soap of her own production.
In 1908, Helena Rubinstein moved to London to open several boutiques. Her sister became the manager of the store in Melbourne. That same year, she married the American journalist Edward William Titus, with whom she would have two sons.
In 1910, Helena was the first to classify skin by type and invented a makeup remover that deeply cleansed the skin. In 1912, Helena Rubinstein moved to Paris to offer her products to the French, who were famous for their good taste in choosing cosmetics. She opened her first House of Beauty, Maison de Beaute, on rue Saint-Honoré. She shocked the bourgeoisie by offering massage services for the first time. The writer Colette became one of her first clients. She fell in love with such procedures and introduced the fashion for massage.
Two years later, Helena Rubinstein went with her husband to the United States. She opened the first beauty institute in New York, then in Chicago and Boston. But she is no longer the only leader in the market, she has to compete with Estee Lauder and Elisabeth Arden, who had previously occupied this niche in the cosmetics market.
Helena Rubinstein manages to bypass her competitors, thanks to the fact that she was the first to conduct scientific testing of her products. This was an innovation in this industry. She consulted with Marie Curie on these issues several times.
In 1928, she sold her branches in America to Lehman Brothers for 7.3 million dollars. A few months later, in 1929, the crisis broke out. Helena Rubinstein, not wanting to lose the fruits of her labor, decides to buy out her share for 1 million dollars and becomes one of the richest women of the era. She collects houses, buys up jewelry and art objects.
In 1937, Helena Rubinstein divorced her husband, only to marry Prince Archil Gurieli-Chkonia a year later.
In 1939, Helena invented the first waterproof mascara.
However, her life is not without drama: her entire Polish-Jewish family perishes during World War II.
Since 1946, Helena Rubinstein has been implementing marketing concepts in her business to increase sales. She focuses on new products she developed in the USA.
The 1950s were incredibly successful for the USA, and Helena Rubinstein increased her sales tenfold. Then she created the Helena Rubinstein Pavilion of Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv. In 1953, she created a foundation to help healthcare organizations.
Three years later, Helena Rubinstein launched her first moisturizer, and in 1958, the first automatic mascara. Helena Rubinstein passed away on April 1, 1965.
Since 1984, the Helena Rubinstein brand has belonged to the L’Oreal group. She specializes in anti-aging skin care and embodies scientific progress, luxury and glamour.
Helena Rubinstein built her empire through persistence and innovative marketing ideas, as well as through her innovations, including rigorous product testing, the use of milk as a light moisturizing emulsion, the first self-tanner, the first mascara in a tube, waterproof products.
Helena Rubinstein was also the first to state that the source of beauty and skin health is hydration and that there is a close connection between nutrition and beauty.
Today, the Helena Rubinstein brand is represented in 50 countries around the world.
