I may be a lot of things, but “girly” is hardly one of them. Don’t get me wrong. I take pleasure in a relaxing facial, “America’s Next Top Model” and designer shoes. But for the most part, I’m a “guy’s girl.”
Football — watch it. A good beer — crave it. Hair dryer — don’t need it. You see where I’m going with this.
When I was younger, I preferred tennis rackets to tiaras, handball to hairspray, mud to makeup. Nowadays, if only I had the time to hit some volleys, or if I lived on my childhood street with garage doors perfect for handball games, either of those preferences would still hold.
But as for mud over makeup, well, let’s just say that didn’t last long.
Shimmering eye shadows, vibrant lipsticks and tubes of sticky lip gloss spill out of makeup cases onto my bedroom floor. I collect blushes and brushes and balms of all fruity flavors. I’ve got enough mascara in brown, dark brown, black and jet-black to fill a one-gallon Ziploc bag.
And don’t get me started on foundation.
So when an opportunity came along to see a film about two giants in the makeup industry — female giants, no less — I jumped at the chance.
On Feb. 25, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival screened “The Powder and the Glory,” a 90-minute documentary about arch rivals Chaya “Helena” Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden. Their efforts some 80 years ago launched the now $150 billion global health and beauty business.
Women (think Hadassah) and men (think “chick flick”) filed into the screening room at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco to watch the 2007 film; it was showing as part of the SFJFF’s year-round programming.
Afterward, the party continued at the XYZ bar in the nearby W Hotel, where moviegoers sipped on cocktails and riffled through swag bags of healthy eats, bath products and, of course, makeup.
“The Powder and the Glory” — which also played March 2 in the Contra Costa Jewish Film Festival — recounts the lives of Rubenstein, a Polish Jew, and Arden, an Episcopalian from Canada, in a historical narrative that follows their triumphs and downfalls.
The diva-esque duo lived and worked only blocks apart from each other in New York City for more than 50 years, but by design, never met. Whenever one created a successful product, the other sought to outdo her rival with a bigger success, and as soon as possible.
Rubenstein — whose personality was urban, edgy and glamorous, according to the film — once famously said of her competitor, “With my product and [Arden’s] packaging, we could have ruled the world.”
Yet life for Rubenstein, who immigrated to New York by way of Australia during World War I, wasn’t as rosy as the blush she created. The 4-foot-10-inch Rubenstein encountered several instances of anti-Semitism while building her beauty empire.
After opening her first U.S. salon, Maison de Beaute Valaze, Rubenstein went looking at a Fifth Avenue property to lease. She couldn’t obtain one because she was Jewish. Undeterred, she would turn her Jewish heritage into an advantage.
For example, she kept her name, “Rubenstein,” which ultimately helped her create a niche market among fellow female Jewish immigrants — a key piece of the self-made-woman puzzle.
Joining Rubenstein were other Jewish female titans in the fashion industry, including Lena Himmelstein, who founded plus-size clothing retailer Lane Bryant, and Carrie Marcus Neiman, who ran her own department stores.
The mention of those names, along with Rubenstein’s, sparked chatter among the predominantly female audience. I, too, couldn’t help but relish in the idea that Jewish women played such a dominant role in the development of the fashion and beauty industry in the United States.
Maybe I’m not such a “guy’s girl” after all. Now where’s my red lipstick?
Amanda Pazornik can be reached at the makeup counter or [email protected].