Elizabeth Arden is one of the brands we stock here at Bath & Unwind that is undoubtedly a household name, and the history of the company is fascinating. Born Florence Nightingale Graham in 1884 (homage to the Lady with the Lamp), she assumed the business name Elizabeth Arden, and established her first salon on New York’s Fifth Avenue in 1910. Bringing beauty trends such as makeovers, eye makeup and travel size products to the women of America, she went on to become a formidable businesswoman, creating a cosmetics empire with a global presence.
As Elizabeth Arden grew throughout the twentieth century, the company had to contend with the changing roles of women in society. A new kind of femininity was born from the strong females entering the work force, in particular those involved with the war effort. Recognising that this would significantly affect how cosmetics were marketed, Arden famously launched the Montezuma Red shade of lipstick, which matched the red of the hat cord, scarf and chevrons on the uniform of female marines.
Although this exact shade is no longer available, if you’d like to recreate the look we do stock a number of other red Elizabeth Arden lipsticks, including Ceramide Ultra Lipstick in Rouge, Exceptional Lipstick in Simply Red and Color Intrigue Effects Lipstick in Poppy Cream (pictured left).
