The story of Charles Revson, founder of cosmetics giant Revlon, is truly a rags-to-riches one. At the time of his death, Revson, a business icon, had grown his small cosmetics store into a global cosmetics giant.
The son of a tobacconist, Charles Revson entered our world in 1906, in Montreal, Quebec. He moved to Manchester, New Hampshire when Charles was a child.
After completing high school, he moved to Boston. He got a job as a clothing salesman and later worked at a company that sold cosmetics. At 25, he quit that job when he was denied a promotion and decided he would start his own cosmetics business. To do so, he brought along his brother, Martin, as well as a cosmetic chemist, Charles Lachman, and together they founded Revlon Cosmetics in New York City.
The company was financed with just $300 and initially specialized in nail polishes (Charles tested the products on his own nails), differentiating itself from the competition by the wide range of colors it offered to its clientele, which consisted of salons and what was then a new phenomenon, department stores. Using pigments instead of the usual dyes, the company offered the American woman a rich-looking nail polish in a larger variety of shades than ever before. Many of the company’s customers across the country were first introduced to Revlon products by Charles, who was traveling the country by train on marketing trips. From there, they expanded the Revlon product line to include lipsticks that matched their nail polish colors, and later introduced perfumes and other fragrances. And in just six years, Revlon became a multi-million dollar company.
Using his tough, demanding business style and his intuitive understanding of his female market, Charles Revson helped build Revlon into the largest cosmetics retailer in the United States, with more than 3,500 products and annual sales at the time of its creation. death in 1975 of an incredible $605,000,000. Revson served as president of the company from its inception until 1962, and then as chairman of the board until his death.
Perhaps the lowest point for Revlon occurred in the 1950s, with the scandal surrounding the popular Revlon-sponsored television show The $64,000 Question. It was alleged that the Revson brothers required the quiz show producers to manipulate the show’s questions to ensure that the contestants could be sure of winning, so that the show’s national popularity and high ratings would continue. However, neither brother was charged with any crime, and although the show itself was decimated by the scandal, sales of Revlon products increased during that period.
As a person, Charles Revson was seen as a perfectionist who was boundless and difficult to work with, so much so that most of his business associates would eventually cut ties with him. He is quoted as saying, “The big will get bigger; the small will be annihilated” and “I face no competition. I crush it.” Despite his personality, the Revlon company flourished and with it Charles’s personal fortune, which probably exceeded one billion dollars at his death.
While his reputation may have been that of a tough businessman, Charles also contributed significantly to charities. As an example, the Charles H. Revson Foundation has awarded more than $150,000,000 in grants over the last 30 years.
Today, the business that Charles Revson founded some 75 years ago with his first $300 is a name known in more than 175 countries around the world for its cosmetics, perfumes, and skin care products. Revlon’s unparalleled achievements are yet another example of American entrepreneurship in action.
