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Revlon Incorporated

 
Public (NYSE: REV)
Cosmetics, skin care, fragrance,

 
personal care


 1932
Joseph & Charles Revson, Charles


Lachman
New York City, New York, United
 
 
States
    Alan T. Ennis, President and CEO
c
  US$1.3 billion (2009)[1][2]
  
US$170.8 million (2009)[1][2]
 

  
US$821.20 million (2009)[2]
   
US$794.20 million (2009)[2]
  6,800
MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings:
  
60% (74% of votes)
FMR Corp.: 20%
   http://www.revlon.com/ (US)

c
 is an American cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company founded in
1932.

  
[hide]

`Y 1 History
`Y 2 Advertising
`Y 3 Philanthropy
 `Y 4 See also
`Y ] References
`Y 6 External links

È
 ! 
Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his
brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon
name.[3] Starting with a single product ² a new type of nail enamel ² the three founders pooled
their resources and developed a unique manufacturing process. Using pigments instead of dyes,
Revlon developed a variety of new shades of opaque nail enamel. In 1937, Revlon started selling
the polishes in department stores and drug stores. In six years, the company became a
multimillion dollar organization. By 1940, Revlon offered an entire manicure line, and added
lipstick to the collection. During World War II, Revlon created makeup and related products for
the U.S. Army, which was honored in 1944 with the Army-Navy "E" Award for Excellence.

By the end of the war, Revlon was listed as one of America's top five cosmetic houses.
Expanding its capabilities, the company bought m

, a cutlery manufacturer seized
by the government in 1943 because of German business ties. This acquisition made it possible
for Revlon to produce its own manicure and pedicure instruments, instead of buying them from
outside supply sources.

In November 19]], Revlon went public. The IPO price was $12 per share, but it reached $30 per
share within 8 weeks.

In the 1960s, Revson segmented Revlon Inc into different divisions, each focusing on a different
market. He borrowed this strategy from General Motors. Each division had its own target
customer:

`Y Revlon, the largest and most popular-priced brand

`Y Princess Marcella Borghese, upscale/international
`Y Ultima II, premium
`Y Natural Wonder, juniors
`Y Moon Drops, dry skin
`Y Etherea, hypo-allergenic

In 19]7, Revlon acquired ã

, a shoe-polish company, and sold its shoe-polish line Esquire
Shoe Polish in 1969. Other acquisitions, such as 
, the maker of toilet cleansers, and a 27
percent interest in the Schick electric shaver company were soon discarded. Evan Picone, a
women's sportswear manufacturer which came with a price tag of $12 million in 1962, was sold
back to one of the original partners four years later for $1 million. However, the 1967 acquisition
of U.S. Vitamin and Pharmaceutical Corporation made Revlon a leader in diabetes drugs.

The company began to market its products overseas at the end of the 19]0s. By 1962, when
Revlon debuted in Japan, there were subsidiaries in France, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, and Asia.
Revlon's entrance into the Japanese market was typical of its international sales strategy. Instead
of adapting its ads and using Japanese models, Revlon chose to use its basic U.S. advertising and
models. Japanese women loved the American look, and the sales for 1962 came to almost $164
million.

In 1968, Revlon introduced Eterna27, the first cosmetic cream with an estrogen precursor called
O


(pregenolone acetate), as well as introducing the world's first American fashion
designer fragrance, Norman Norell. Later, Revlon launched 

and O
for men, and a line
of wig maintenance products called Wig Wonder.

In 1970, Revlon acquired the Mitchum line of deodorants.

In 1973, Revlon introduced Charlie. Geared to the under-30 market, Charlie model Shelley Hack
in Ralph Lauren clothes, personified the independent woman of the 1970s. This was the first
perfume ad to feature a woman wearing pants. Charlie raised Revlon's net sales figures to $]06
million for 1973 and almost $606 million the following year. Shelley Hack appeared on 
 in
2007 to talk about the power of these Charlie print and commercial ads. Their follow-up
fragrance, 
 , became the number two best seller.

In 1973, model Lauren Hutton signed an exclusive modeling contact, agreeing to pose for
Revlon's Ultima line for $400,000 for two years. She was featured on the cover of Newsweek for
this ground-breaking cosmetics contract.[4] Additionally, famed photographer Richard Avedon
was signed on as the exclusive photographer for the brand - another cosmetics industry first.[]]

In 197], Charles Revson died. Michel Bergerac, who Revson had hired as President of the
company, continued to expand the company holdings. Revlon acquired Coburn Optical
Industries, an Oklahoma-based manufacturer of ophthalmic and optical processing equipment
and supplies. Barnes-Hind, the largest U.S. marketer of hard contact lens solutions, was bought
in 1976 and strengthened Revlon's share of the eye-care market. Revlon purchased 

O

 



, a division of Armour and Company, from The Greyhound
Corporation in 1977. Other acquisitions included the Lewis-Howe Company, makers of  
antacid in 1978. These health-care operations helped sales figures to pass the $1 billion mark in
1977, bringing total sales to $1.7 billion in 1979.

In the mid-1980s, Revlon lost ground to Estée Lauder. Estee Lauder spent millions of dollars on
numerous magazine ads featuring Czech supermodel Paulina Porizkova, shot by famed Chicago
fashion photograhper Victor Skrebneski. Revlon's share dropped from 20 percent to 10 percent
of department store cosmetics sales. Sales at the drugstore also declined as Revlon lost shares to
Noxell's Cover Girl brand. Revlon compensated with more acquisitions; Max Factor, Ellen
Betrix, Charles of the Ritz, Germaine Monteil, Almay, Fermodyl, Lancaster, Aziza, and Halston.
The 1977 acquisition of 



 , a Spanish professional beauty supply distributor,
brought 
 and 
 and helped introduce Revlon to the world of ethnic care:   


 , 


, 


and 
 

. In 1983 the company attempted an
unsuccessful hostile takeover of Gillette. In 1989, Revlon became one of the first companies to
replace animal tests with alternative safety testing methods.[6]
On November ], 198], at a price of $]8 per share, totaling $2.7 billion, Revlon was sold to
Pantry Pride (later renamed to Revlon Group, Inc.), a subsidiary of Ronald Perelman's
MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings. The buyout--engineered with the help of junk bond king
Michael P. Milken--saddled Revlon with a huge $2.9 billion debt load, which became an
albatross around the company's neck for years to come. Pantry Pride Inc. offered to buy any or
all of Revlon's 38.2 million outstanding shares for $47.] a share when its street price stood at $4]
a share. Initially rejected, he repeatedly raised his offer until it reached $]3 a share while fighting
Revlon's management every step of the way. Forstmann Little & Company swooped in at $]6 a
share, a brief public bidding war ensued, and Perelman triumphed with an offer of $]8 a share.
Perelman paid $1.8 billion to Revlon's shareholders, but he also paid $900 million of other costs
associated with the purchase.[7] Perelman had Revlon sell four divisions: two for $1 billion, the
vision care division for $]74 million, and the National Health Laboratories division which
became a publicly owned corporation in 1988. Additional make-up lines were purchased for
Revlon: Max Factor in 1987 and Betrix in 1989, later sold to Procter & Gamble in 1991.[8] Also
in 1991, Revlon sold the Clean & Clear brand to Johnson & Johnson.

È
 !"

 
Up until the 1940s, Revlon's magazine ads were drawn by hand and mostly in black and white.
Beginning in 194], Revlon began launching full-color photographic advertisements in major
magazines and stores across the country. Revlon introduced matching nail polish and lipsticks
with exotic and unique names. These ads were taken by the top fashion photographers of the day
including Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, and John Rawlings. Some of these ads were for "Paint
the Town Pink" and 194]'s "Fatal Apple" with Dorian Leigh. In 1947 Revlon introduced
"Bachelor's Carnation" and in 1948, "Sweet Talk".

In 19]0, Revlon introduced a red lipstick and nail enamel called "Where's the Fire?" Revlon used
the word "fire" again later in their "Fire and Ice" ads. One of the world's first supermodels,
Dorian Leigh, starred in some of Revlon's most memorable advertisements of all time. In 1946,
Dorian was covered in purple flowers and wrapped in a pale purple sheet for "Ultra Violet." In
1947, Dorian appeared in "Fashion Plate." In 19]3, at the age of 36, she appeared in "Cherries in
the Snow." Later that year she appeared in the legendary "Fire and Ice" ad shot by Richard
Avedon. Originally, Dorian appeared in a tight, silver-beaded dress with an enormous red wrap.
Her black hair had a silver swirl in it and she had her hands, with long red nails, positioned in
front of her breasts. Charles Revson rejected Avedon's original ad as "too sexual."[9] They re-shot
the ad, this time with her open hand in front of one hip, the other in front of her cheek. The
advertisement became Madison Avenue legend because of the full-page quiz next to the sensual
ad. Almost ]0 years later, in November 2010, Revlon re-created 19]3's "Fire and Ice" magazine
ad, this time with actress Jessica Biel. With this ad, Revlon announced they were issuing a
limited edition Fire and Ice lipstick and nail color calling this campaign, "lips and tips."

Dorian Leigh's 1]-years-younger red-headed sister, Suzy Parker, also shot numerous Revlon
magazine ads in the 19]0s. Charles Revson, who wanted to marry Dorian at some point, despised
Suzy, and vice-versa. At one point, he refused to hire her anymore because Suzy complained
about the "peanut" paycheck she received from Revlon. Richard Avedon, however, after
photographing other models for a particular Revlon ad, would call in Suzy last minute,
sometimes late at night, to do re-takes with him. This happened with "Stormy Pink," an ad Suzy
shot very late at night with a wild white horse in the ocean. Avedon would then told Revson that
it was not Suzy in the ad, but a model named "Bubbles" or another made-up name.[10]

Tram with Revlon advertising in Hong Kong, June 2007

In 1970, Revlon became the first American cosmetics company to feature an African American
model, Naomi Sims, in their advertising.[11] Revlon was also noted for featuring models of a
wide age range in the 1980s, including then 13-year-old Milla Jovovich and then 60-year-old
Audrey Hepburn.[12] Despite the successful campaigns of the 1980s and 1990s featuring models,
in particular Cindy Crawford, Revlon decided to drop fashion models and focus on movie stars,
among them Kate Bosworth, Jaime King, Halle Berry Susan Sarandon, Melanie Griffith,
Julianne Moore, Eva Mendes, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Connelly, Beau Garrett, Jessica Biel, and
Bond girls.[13][14] In 2009, Australian supermodel Elle MacPherson became a new spokesmodel
for the company. American actress Jessica Biel is the newest woman to model for the brand, first
shown in advertisements in January 2010.[1]] (Main article: List of Revlon spokesmodels) In
2008, celebrity makeup artist Gucci Westman was hired as Revlon's Global Artistic Director,
representing the company at runway shows and brand events and designing collections.[16]

È
 !# #
Revlon is a corporate sponsor of several charity projects. The largest of these is the Revlon Run
Walk, a run and walk event held in New York and Los Angeles to raise money and awareness
for breast and ovarian cancer. Revlon also supports other cancer charities such as Look Good
Feel Better and the National Breast Cancer Coalition and operates a mobile mammography clinic
in and around Oxford, North Carolina, where the company's primary manufacturing operations
are located.[17] In 1996 Revlon supported the development of a breast center at the University of
California, Los Angeles. Renamed Revlon/UCLA Breast Center, the center is a well-known
institute for treatment and research of breast cancer and other breast diseases and disorders. [18] A
Revlon lip gloss shade whose proceeds support Revlon's cancer charities was also created in
2009.

In September 2010, Revlon, with global artistic director Gucci Westman and spokesmodel Halle
Berry hosted an event at Fashion's Night Out in New York City to raise funds for the Jenesse
Center, a Los Angeles organization for domestic violence victims.[19] Revlon also hosted
luncheons and various other events to benefit the center and partnered with online retailer
Drugstore.com to donate portions of lipstick sales to the organization.[20]

È
 !$ 
List of Revlon spokesmodels

È
 !c %   
1.Y A  Ycharts.com. Retrieved October 31, 2010.
2.Y A 
 Google.com. Retrieved October 31, 2010.
3.Y A Revlon.com[

]
4.Y A Model, by Michael Gross, 199], page 212.
].Y A "Andrewtobias.com". Andrewtobias.com.
http://www.andrewtobias.com/fireandice18.html. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
6.Y A McGill, Douglas C. (August 2, 1989). "Cosmetics Companies Quietly Ending Animal
Tests". 

. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/02/business/cosmetics-
companies-quietly-ending-animal-tests.html.
7.Y A Stevenson, Richard (198]-11-0]). "Pantry Pride Control of Revlon Board Seen Near".
New York Times. p. D].
8.Y A "MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc.".  

 .
http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/MacAndrews-amp;-Forbes-
Holdings-Inc-Company-History.html. Retrieved 2008-0]-16.
9.Y A The Girl Who Had Everything, The Story of 'The Fire and Ice Girl,' by Dorian Leigh
and Laura Hobe, 1980, page 88.
10.YA m


  


!

"m
! Dorian Leigh and
Laura Hobe, 1980, page 89.
11.YA Tell Me More (2009-08-0]). "Naomi Sims Showed The World That Black Is
Beautiful". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111]72300.
Retrieved 2011-04-06.
12.YA "The Official Milla Jovovich Website :: Gallery - Revlon". MillaJ.com.
http://www.millaj.com/model/revlon.shtml. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
13.YA 02:43 PM ET. "Stylenews.peoplestylwatch.com". Stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com.
http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2009/0]/04/jessica-biels-new-role-face-of-revlon/.
Retrieved 2011-04-06.
14.YA 12:4] PM ET. "Stelenews.peoplestylwatch.com". Stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com.
http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2008/07/22/jennifer-connellys-latest-role-revlon-
spokesmodel/. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
1].YA "Marketing News". HAPPI. http://www.happi.com/articles/2009/06/marketing-news.
Retrieved 2011-04-06.
16.YA "Revlon Taps Gucci Westman - Beauty Industry and Products News". WWD.com.
http://www.wwd.com/beauty-industry-news/revlon-taps-gucci-westman-102264].
Retrieved 2011-04-06.
17.YA "Revlon Cares". Revlon.com. http://www.revlon.com/Revlon-Home/Revlon-
Corporate/RevlonCares.aspx. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
 18.YA "About Us". Revlon/UCLA Breast Center.
http://breastcenter.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=18.
19.YA "Revlon and Halle Berry Celebrate Fashion¶s Night Out New York". Business Wire.
2010-09-14. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100914007361/en/Revlon-
Halle-Berry-Celebrate-Fashion%E2%80%99s-Night-York. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
20.YA Thomas, Bobbie (2009-12-1]). "Shop for change! Top gifts that give back - Holiday
Guide - TODAY.com". Today.msnbc.msn.com.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34417346/ns/today-today_holiday_guide/. Retrieved
2011-04-06.

È
 !& '
`Y Official website
`Y Revlon, Inc. Company Profile, Yahoo!
`Y Company History
`Y About Revlon Inc. in French / Au sujet de la Cie Revlon
`Y Revlon sales lifted by good duty-free performance

È#
!
(
(  
Lips Lip gloss ( Lip liner ( Lip plumper ( Lipstick
Concealer ( Foundation ( Face powder (
Face Rouge ( Primer ( Veil ( Bindi ( Thanaka (
Tilaka ( Cleanser-Toner-Moisturizer
Products
Eyes Eye liner ( Eye shadow ( Kohl ( Mascara
Shampoo-Conditioner-Styling cream ( Nail
Other polish ( Anti-aging cream ( Body powder (
Cold cream ( Sindoor
Ingredients International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients ( List of ingredients
Related
Cosmetic advertising ( Beauty salon ( Spa ( Cosmetology ( History of cosmetics
topics
Hair removal (Waxing-Threading-Shaving-Chemical-Electric-Laser-IPL) ( Hair
Hair
styling
Treatments Cosmetic surgery ( Botox ( Facial ( Bleaching ( Manicure ( Pedicure
È#)!*+


Categories Companies ( People ( History

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