Born Florence Nightingale Graham, Elizabeth Arden changed her name in a rebranding effort after a failed business partnership with Elizabeth Hubbard. She borrowed her former associate’s first name and Arden comes from a Tennyson’s poem “Enoch Arden.”
The new Elizabeth Arden added a huge red door with a brass name place, which became her trademark, to the shop on Fifth Avenue. She also pushed her message, “Hold fast to life and youth,” in a vigorous advertising campaign.
Arden’s other love was horse racing. She established Maine Chance Stables and in 1945 her horses earned her $589,000, and in 1947 her horse Jet Pilot won the Kentucky Derby.
Name: Elizabeth Arden
Birth Date: December 1884 – October 1966
Job Functions: Entrepreneur and Cosmetician
Fields: Cosmetics & Beauty Care, Horse racing
Known For: Her trademark Red Door to her businesses
Why Elizabeth Arden Was a Badass Woman
- When other women sold beauty creams, Elizabeth Arden made the salon a success.
- Applied new and innovative ideas to her salon.
- Hired a chemist to formulate a fluffy facial cream and a new line of cosmetics which was sold at a premium price.
- Offered 300 varieties of beauty cream treatments.
- Added special notes to her products.
- Sold make-up as well as expensive facial treatments, creams, and tonics. She provided her customers with superior products formulated by her own chemists and presented them in stylish, elegant salons.
- Leveraged her networks to gain entry to New York society.
- Offered an exclusive designer line of clothes at her salons, and her success continued after the World War II.
- Established Maine Chance Stables and in 1945 her horses earned her $589,000, and in 1947 her horse Jet Pilot won the Kentucky Derby.
Elizabeth Arden: Steps to Success
- Other women-owned beauty businesses sold beauty creams. Arden was among the first to make the salon a widespread success. She provided on-site services, such as manicures and facial peels, in her salons.
- After Arden returned from France during World War I, she was filled with new and innovative ideas for her salons, which she implemented. She hired a chemist to formulate a fluffy facial cream and a new line of cosmetics which was sold at a premium price.
- Offered 300 varieties of beauty cream treatments.
- Added special notes to her products.
- Replaced medicinal aromas with floral scents. Created systematic packaging. And opened luxurious treatment venues which contrasted with the hospital-like austerity of other beauty clinics.
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She used her networks to gain entry to New York society. Her friends Elizabeth Marbury from an old New York family and Elsie De Wolfe, also from the world of high culture assisted her in throwing very successful charity balls.
- Her profile in Time magazine as a prominent sportswoman (she was involved in horse racing) also helped significantly.
- During World War II, Arden took advantage of the movement of women into an increasingly diverse array of jobs formerly held by men by offering an Arden career course, which provided help in selecting clothes and career orientation in addition to tips on exercise and grooming.
- When Germany defeated France during World War II and Parisian designers could no longer dominate the American fashion industry, Arden began offering an exclusive designer line of clothes at her salons, and her success continued after the war.
- After she established herself as a beauty expert, she expanded and offered an adjacent service – health and beauty spa and offered special diets and exercises for clients.
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Sold make-up as well as expensive facial treatments, creams, and tonics. She provided her customers with superior products formulated by her own chemists and presented them in stylish, elegant salons.
- Promoted her business to a far larger audience by selling her products in department stores and by offering written advice, such as the pamphlet “The Quest of the Beautiful.”
- To create an elegant, elite image for her business, Arden not only focused on carefully decorating her salons and using finishing touches such as a liveried doorman, she also established herself in New York society.
Lessons from Elizabeth Arden
- Aware of what was going on around her and capitalized on opportunities that presented themselves.
- Quality was very important to her and she paid attention to detail.
- Mastered a product line then expanded.
- Looked at innovative services and products from other countries and incorporated them into her business.
What Not to Do
Elizabeth Arden was a titan in the cosmetics industry, but had issues with letting go. She held on tightly to the reins of her company very closely to her death and was the sole owner. When she died, the business was not structured properly so those who inherited had to pay phenomenal inheritance tax. So the business was sold to Eli Lilly, which couldn’t supply what Arden did. The company lost some of its cache.
Biography of Elizabeth Arden
Elizabeth Arden the fourth of five children was born to immigrant parents in a suburb outside of Toronto, Canada. Due to poverty, she was unable to attend high school and drifted from job to job – dental assistant, cashier and stenographer. In 1908, she relocated to New York where her brother was living.
She made her foray into the cosmetics industry when she was hired for a clerical job by Eleanor Adair, a London firm with a shop on Fifth Avenue. While at that job, Arden learned how to give facial treatments and studied the basic elements of cosmetic formulas. Eleanor Adair specialized in facial treatments aided by simple oils and creams with virtually no cosmetic applications.
By 1909, Arden and her friend Elizabeth Hubbard opened a shop on Fifth Avenue but the partnership wasn’t successful. Arden was now the sole proprietor of the new business where she offered cosmetics and treatments for home application as well as salon pamperings.
Her youthful appearance and beautiful complexion was excellent advertising for her facial treatments and creams. During World War I in 1914, Arden traveled to France where the culture was more experimental. While there, a whole new world was opened up to her – she saw the skilful application of cosmetics and the transforming effect it had on women.
When she returned to the United States she expanded her product line and offered lipsticks, rouges, mascara, foundation creams and non-greasy facial creams. Arden worked with her chemist A. F. Swanson to create Cream Amoretta and Ardena Skin Tonic which both commanded premium prices. To increase revenues, she expanded the colours and shades of her cosmetics to allow women to match them with their skin colour, hair and clothing.
In 1915, Arden married her banker, Thomas Jenkins Lewis. He became actively involved in the business which flourished. Their personal relationship deteriorated and they divorced in 1934. In 1942, she married Russian nobleman Michael Evlanoff and they divorced two years later. All Evlanoff brought to the table was glamour which wasn’t enough for Arden.
In the early 1940s, she sold custom and ready-to-wear clothing specially designed for her salons. She built her empire by selling to an elite clientele that shopped at her salons, as well the less affluent who bought her products through department stores.
Her written advice such as the pamphlet “The Quest of the Beautiful” aided her success as well. During the Second World War II, with more women holding jobs traditionally held by men, Arden offered a career course, which provided help in selecting clothes and career orientation in addition to tips on exercise and grooming.
Arden’s business flourished during the 1940s and her sales reached $60 million annually. After she established herself as a beauty expert, Arden started her first health and beauty spa, Main Chance Farm in Mount Vernon, Maine. She later opened a second health and beauty spa in Phoenix, Arizona. It was during that time that she took up horse racing and Time magazine ran a cover story on her success. In 1947, Jet Pilot, her horse, won the Kentucky Derby.
Other Related Profiles You Might Have Missed
Works Cited/Referenced
Business Leader Profiles for Students
Encyclopedia of World Biography
Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
America Decades
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