The fight for beauty

They had a lot in common, yet they hated each other.

Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein unanimously refused to accept the social conventions of the first half of the 20th century, a time when a woman was primarily supposed to be a wife and mother. They founded their business empires on strong will and determination, and they went after what they wanted despite the expectations of society and often even those closest to them. But every rebellion has its price.
Elizabeth Arden, a poor girl from Canada, literally kicked her brand off the ground. She was able to convince women that her products would guarantee them youth and beauty. Helena Rubinstein left her native Poland behind and founded her business with miraculous herbal creams based on scientific evidence. Everything was allowed on the battlefield: Stealing employees, copying products, and sending spies just so one could outdo the other at every opportunity that presented itself. However, hard fighting often brings losses. Who knew that the beauty business could be so ruthless?
In her new novel, bestselling author Gill Paul reveals the untold story of two of the beauty industry' s biggest names. It tells the story of how the position of women has changed along with the rapid changes in the world. The founders of business empires had to endure not only the collapse of their marriages in their personal lives, but also many other tragedies, while they competed with each other incessantly and often indiscriminately, all this across several decades, three continents, two world wars and a great economic crisis.