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Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein built two of the biggest beauty empires the world had ever seen...and they absolutely could not stand each other.

For around 50 years, the two beauty pioneers fought for dominance of the rapidly growing cosmetics industry. They copied each other's products, opened salons to compete with one another, poached employees, traded personal insults and seemingly took any opportunity they could to get one over on the other.

And things got PETTY.

When Elizabeth Arden divorced her husband, Helena Rubinstein hired him. Arden later retaliated by luring away one of Rubinstein's most important employees with an enormous salary. Even during World War II, the pair found themselves competing through military beauty contracts.

But behind one of beauty's greatest rivalries is the story of two extraordinary women who helped create the modern cosmetics industry.

In this episode of Behind the Beauty, we're looking at the life of Elizabeth Arden, from her relatively poor childhood in Canada to Fifth Avenue salons, suffragettes, red lipstick, Eight Hour Cream, a disastrous marriage to a supposed Russian prince and her decades-long battle with Helena Rubinstein.

Because long before today's beauty brand drama, two women were already fighting to become the queen of cosmetics.

This is Elizabeth Arden, Behind The Beauty

0:00 The Visionary Behind the Beauty Empire
8:53 The Birth of an Iconic Brand Name
20:03 The Greatest Rivalry in Cosmetics History
24:48 Surviving the Great Depression
35:34 The Changing Landscape of the Beauty Industry
41:28 The Lasting Impact of a Beauty Revolutionary
45:55 Reflecting on an Unappreciated Icon