BOURJOIS Alexandre Napoléon (Cosmetics creator)

The fashionably blanched face of the 1920s is given colour by one of the first cosmetics companies, Bourjois, which was launched in Paris in 1863. Alexandre Napoléon Bourjois originally created his powders with the theatre in mind, and he sold them from a barrow. The dusty texture of his Rouge Fin de Théâtre was completely different from the greasepaint available at the time, and soon he was the official supplier to the Imperial theaters. Fashionable Parisiennes, taking their cue from actresses and courtesans, began to use his cosmetics. Bourjois repackaged his rice powder, Fard Pastels, in little card pots stamped with the legend Fabrique Spéciale pour la Beauté des Dames. Bourjois set a precedent for printing phrases and quotes on the boxes; famously, in 1947 it was "Women Will Vote". One of the original colours, Cendre de Roses Brune, is still a bestseller, and the distinctive rosewater scent remains unchanged. 

Also look up for Brown, Factor, Lauder, Uemura