Dispensing Beauty in New York & Beyond

“An excellently researched mixture of history and biography about a maverick Victorian woman who made beauty her business.” —Barbara Goldsmith, New York Times-bestselling author

Harriet Hubbard Ayer moved to New York City by 1883 and established Recamier Preparations, Inc., the earliest cosmetic company owned and operated by a woman. First with her creams and balms and then with her words about women’s health and beauty, she influenced several generations of women to look and feel good about themselves. The jealous and vindictive men in her life punished her for her ambition, accomplishments and independence by attempting to steal her lucrative business and seize her children. After she successfully sued them, they had her committed to an insane asylum. Indomitable, this former Chicago socialite reinvented herself as the highest paid newspaperwoman in the United States, editing the women’s pages of Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World. Her incredible story is presented here as never before.

“Ayer emerges from Dr. Blaugrund’s portrait as an innovative entrepreneur, crack reporter, and pioneer of the American feminist movement.” —Sidney Offit, author, teacher, curator emeritus of the George Polk Journalism Award of the Author’s Guild

“Just when we thought there were no more original American characters, along comes Annette Blaugrund’s fine biography of the little-known feminist pioneer Harriet Hubbard Ayer—her harrowing struggles, her inspiring achievements, her unexpected triumphs. What a marvelous tale written in a riveting manner!”—William A. Johnson, professor emeritus of philosophy, Brandeis University