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Hazel Bishop

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Hazel Bishop

Hazel Gladys Bishop (August 17, 1906 – December 5, 1998) was an American chemist, inventor, and entrepreneur, and the founder of the cosmetics company Hazel Bishop, Inc. She was the inventor of the first long-lasting lipstick.

Bishop was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, and was one of two children of Henry and Mabel Bishop. Her father was a businessman and ran a dozen successful enterprises that included numerous stores in Hoboken. She attended Barnard College in New York, originally enrolling in pre-med, with intentions of becoming a physician. She was graduated from Barnard in 1929 with a B.A. in chemistry, with plans on attending Columbia for her graduate medical studies. Bishop attended Columbia in the evenings for her graduate classes in the fall of 1929, but the stock market crash that occurred in October of that same year resulted in the end of her academic career.

From 1935 to 1942, she worked as research assistant to A.B. Cannon in a dermatological laboratory at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Here, she was introduced to the business side of cosmetics, as A.B. Cannon was one of the founders of the cosmetics company, Almay. In 1942, she worked as an organic chemist for Standard Oil Development Company designing fuels for airplanes during World War II. During her time there she discovered the cause of deposits affecting superchargers of aircraft engines. In 1945, she joined the Socony Vacuum Oil Company, where she worked until 1950.

Bishop’s interest in lipstick began in her cooperation with Dr. A.B. Cannon, and as the popularity of red lipsticks began to rise amidst the World War. Bishop wanted a longer-lasting, “nondrying, nonirritating, long-wearing” version. Inspired by her mother's advice to "open your own business, even if it's only a peanut stand," Bishop began conducting experiments on her own time. In the 1930s, she developed a pimple concealer and mentholated tissues, which never went to market. Aiming to appeal to a wider market, Bishop began experimenting in her own small kitchen with staining dyes, oils, and molten wax. The goal was a non-drying, smudge-proof, long-lasting lipstick that would not smear on clothing or cups. The resultant mixture, formed into a mold, was called "No-Smear Lipstick."

In 1948, she and Alfred Berg founded Hazel Bishop Inc. to manufacture these "No-Smear Lipsticks." The lipstick debuted at Barnard College Club of New York in 1949 and in stores in 1950. The brand was unveiled in the summer of 1950 at Lord & Taylor, where the lipstick tubes sold for $1 each. The product proved to be a success, selling out on its first day of launch. Bishop and Berg then turned to Raymond Spector, an advertiser, to help market the lipstick to consumers, giving Spector shares in the company rather than a specified budget.

In 1951, Bishop became the first woman to appear solo on the cover of Business Week.

Bishop's innovative use of bromo acids would set in motion what would be known as the "lipstick wars." with competitors such as Revlon making their own versions of Bishop's formula in vying for dominance of the cosmetics market. The advent of the "no smear" lipstick would prove to be a success for Bishop, as her debut line would not only sell out on the first day, but end up taking over 25% of the American lipstick market.

In four years, sales soared to $10 million.

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