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FINDING A PATH<o:p></o:p>When I was born my parents decided to call me ‘Florence Nightingale Graham’. They hoped I too would be a famous nurse. I did begin training as a nurse and was interested in the lotions used for burn treatments. But I quickly realised that I wanted to do different things with my life.<o:p></o:p>I was born in Woodbridge, Canada, and my childhood was not easy. Mother died when I was only six. My father did his best, but we struggled. Rather than finish high school, I decided to look for work.<o:p></o:p>I moved to New York in 1908 and visited the cosmetic laboratories there. I wanted to learn more about the wonderful skincare products they made. Inspired by what I saw, I got a job in a shop that specialised in facials, and I became a ‘treatment girl’. <o:p></o:p>MAKING A STATEMENT<o:p></o:p>The treatment shop was so busy, and I quickly realised that the cosmetics industry was taking off in a big way. This was a world of possibility and opportunity. I saw a way to make more money working for myself rather than working for someone else. So, after about a year, I suggested to my friend, Elizabeth Hubbard, that we open our own shop. Together, we became cosmetic entrepreneurs. <o:p></o:p>We wanted to make our salon stand out from the other shops on busy Fifth Avenue. I decided to paint the door bright red. After that, bright red became the colour I was known for, especially when it came to lipstick. During a suffragette march I handed out red lipstick to the women speaking out for the right to vote, as I wanted to let them know that I supported their cause. I believed that whether it was wearing red lipstick or being able to vote, women had the right to be in charge of their own lives.&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2Fabfd8ee87bc14f57b05c57b16d839826" alt="" style="width: 368.915px; height: 245.875px;"> <o:p></o:p>Elizabeth and I decided to go our own ways, but I kept the business and the name Elizabeth over the door. Then I had the idea to take the word Arden, from Alfred Tennyson’s poem ‘Enoch Arden’. This is how the name and brand Elizabeth Arden was born.<o:p></o:p>BUILDING AN EMPIRE<o:p></o:p>The American market for makeup was changing. Previously, makeup had not been worn by ‘nice’ girls and ‘respectable’ ladies. But thanks to the movie pictures, it became more acceptable for women to enhance their features with makeup. This change in trend was huge for the future of my business. <o:p></o:p>By the 1920s, over 100 products had the name ‘Elizabeth Arden’ on them. Despite the stock market crash in 1929, the Arden business thrived.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F0a174b8b06fa47fc9e563bff1b877029" alt="" style="width: 406.412px; height: 256.031px;"> <o:p></o:p>NEW OPPORTUNITIES<o:p></o:p>Success meant I could invest in another interest of mine - thoroughbred horse racing. I admired and recognised the enormous effort and skill that went into the sport. I bought my first horse in 1931. I rubbed the legs of my horses with my very own 8-hour facial cream to pamper them. <o:p></o:p>With the beginning of the Second World War, I recognised the changing needs of many women who were entering the workforce for the first time. I showed women how to adapt their makeup and grooming for work. Business had never been better, and I launched a clothing and fashion range.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F856756b2f8bc4b52be0948d7bdb0a433" alt="" style="width: 25%;"> <o:p></o:p>One of my favourite products that we created was in response to a shortage of silk for stockings. Silk was reserved for the making of parachutes, and so I decided to invent ‘liquid stockings’. We called it Velva Leg Film and it made the legs looked toned and tanned. Women loved it. <o:p></o:p>I managed to steer my career and life in the direction I wanted it to go. I appreciated the little things and was grateful to my loyal employees for their belief in me and my vision.<o:p></o:p>GLOSSARYEntrepreneur – someone who decides to create or run a business, even though it might be risky.<o:p></o:p>Suffragette&nbsp;– a woman who fights for the right for women to vote.<o:p></o:p>Thoroughbred – (of a horse) a breed of horse known for its speed and jumping ability.<o:p></o:p>LEGACY AND RECOGNITION<ul><li>Elizabeth Arden’s products still remain an international success.</li><li>Elizabeth Arden was responsible for coming up with travel-size cosmetics and beauty makeovers, along with a scientific approach to cosmetics.</li><li>She was largely responsible for making cosmetics appropriate for all women. Women known to use her cosmetics include Queen Elizabeth II, Marilyn Monroe, and Jacqueline Kennedy.</li><li>At the time of her death, she had a line with approximately 300 cosmetic products and 100 Elizabeth Arden spas and salons worldwide.</li><li>She is named in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame for her contribution to the industry.</li><li>The French government honoured Elizabeth Arden with the Légion d’Honneur, the highest French order of merit, in 1962.</li><li>In 2009, a film called The Powder and the Glory was released about her life and rivalry with Helena Rubinstein.</li></ul>IMAGE CAPTIONS AND CREDITSElizabeth Arden Building, Almonroth, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsElizabeth Arden powder compact, Cosmetology (1946),Los Angeles Times, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsPortrait of Elizabeth Arden, ca 1950, Alamy&nbsp;

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