Max Factor, Jr.

Who was Max Factor, Jr.?

Max Factor, Jr., was an American businessman who was president of the Max Factor Cosmetics empire.

He was born Francis Factor in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Max Factor, a Polish immigrant. Known as "Frank," his family moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1908 where he began working in the family business while still a boy.

Because Max Factor was recovering from being hit by a delivery van at the time, Frank Factor took the lead over the 2 years that it took to develop a suitable make-up for use with the newly developed Technicolor film. This make-up was released to the film industry under the name “Pan-Cake”. It was immediately a hit and its advantages lead to woman stealing it from the film sets and using it privately. Its only disadvantage for every day use was that it could not be used at night as it made the skin too dark under all except under the powerful lights used in film studios. While his father wanted to reserve the product for film use, Frank Factor was open to the commercial possibilities and began developing lighter shades. At the time the company was only able to produce enough to meet studio demand which until production could be increased delayed commercial release until 1937. Backed by a colour based national advertising campaign, it immediately became the fastest and largest selling single make-up item to date, as well as the standard make-up used in all Technicolor films.