Revlon

Revlon is a United States cosmetics company founded in New York City in 1932 [6]. It began with a single product — an opaque nail enamel with pigments in fashion shades — and grew over the following decades into one of the largest mass-market colour cosmetics makers in the world, with products sold in roughly 150 countries. Its name combines the surname of the founding brothers, Charles and Joseph Revson, with the "L" of their partner, the chemist Charles Lachman.

The company remains active, though it passed through a significant financial reorganisation in the early 2020s. Revlon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2022 and emerged the following May as a privately held company, its ownership substantially changed [12]. It continues to operate its core makeup, hair-colour and nail lines and to sign new brand ambassadors.

Revlon was formed in 1932 by the brothers Charles and Joseph Revson together with Charles Lachman, a chemist who supplied the pigment technology behind the first product [6]. That product was a nail "cream enamel": according to the company, Charles Revson developed an opaque, pigment-based lacquer available in a range of shades, in place of the transparent, dye-based polishes common at the time. The three founders built the early business through beauty salons, working on the idea that women leaving a hair appointment would welcome a manicure to match.

Charles Revson, born in Boston in 1906, is the figure most closely tied to the company's early direction. He is credited with naming shades such as Fire and Ice, Cherries in the Snow and Plum Lightning, and with shaping the advertising approach that carried the brand through mid-century. A remark of his is often repeated as a summary of that approach: "in the factory we make cosmetics; in the store we sell hope."

Revlon expanded quickly beyond nail products. It added lipstick in 1939, promoted through a "Lips and Fingertips" campaign that paired matching lip and nail shades. By the late 1940s the company described itself as the largest seller of nail enamel and lipstick, and it continued to introduce shades and formulas through the 1950s.

The 1952 Fire and Ice campaign became one of the company's best-known pieces of advertising. Built around the model Dorian Leigh and photographed by Richard Avedon, it ran in Vogue and helped push sales toward the mid-1950s milestone at which Revlon went public [11]. In 1955 the company became the sole sponsor of the television quiz programme The $64,000 Question, a tie-in that raised its national profile before the show was drawn into a wider scandal later in the decade.

Later milestones reflect shifts in both product and representation. Revlon launched Super Lustrous lipstick in 1961. In 1970 it featured the model Naomi Sims, described as the first African American model used in a beauty company's advertising. In 1991 the company introduced ColorStay lipstick, presented as the first non-transfer lipstick [6], and it went public again in 1996.

Revlon's ownership has changed hands several times. The founding company was sold to MacAndrews & Forbes, the holding company associated with financier Ronald Perelman, in 1985 [6]. Under that ownership Revlon made a series of acquisitions that broadened it from a single brand into a multi-brand group: it bought The Colomer Group in 2013 — bringing in Revlon Professional, CND, American Crew and Creme of Nature — and acquired Cutex and Elizabeth Arden in 2016 [6].

The company's more recent ownership is recorded differently across sources, reflecting its bankruptcy. Wikipedia lists MacAndrews & Forbes as holding about 84.7 percent, a figure that describes the pre-bankruptcy position as of the 2021 financial year [10]. Business-press reporting on the company's exit from Chapter 11 describes a later state: on emerging in May 2023, Revlon became majority-owned by a group of its former lenders — among them Glendon Capital Management, King Street Capital Management, Angelo, Gordon & Co., Oak Hill Advisors and Cyrus Capital Partners — who took the larger share of the reorganised equity [12].

Revlon presents itself as a colour authority in cosmetics and frames its mission around inclusion and self-expression. The corporate site states that the company exists to "create beauty innovations for everyone that inspire confidence and ignite joy every day," and its consumer-facing "Live Boldly" material sets out a mission "to inspire innovation, inclusion, and intention." The company traces a set of founding values — action, independence, inspiration and purpose — back to 1932, and its current campaign messaging uses the line "Be Unforgettable."

In market terms Revlon sits at the mass-market or drugstore tier. Its products are not sold directly by the company but through, in its own description, "mass market retailers, drugstores and supermarkets," and the brand's reach is global.

The Revlon-branded range centres on colour cosmetics, at-home hair colour and nail products, alongside beauty tools. Its longest-running lines include Super Lustrous lipstick and the ColorStay collection of transfer-resistant makeup; ColorSilk covers at-home hair colour. The wider corporate portfolio extends well beyond the Revlon name to include Elizabeth Arden, Almay, Mitchum, American Crew, CND, Cutex and Creme of Nature, spanning skincare, fragrance and professional grooming.

On testing and ethics, the company states that it "does not conduct animal testing and has not done so for decades" [4]. That claim is self-declared rather than certified: Revlon holds no third-party cruelty-free certification, and it acknowledges that regulators in some markets carry out their own testing, adding that it advocates for the adoption of alternative methods.

Revlon's place in mid-century American beauty is tied closely to its advertising and to film. The Fire and Ice campaign was carried in Vogue in 1952. A Revlon lipstick shade also featured in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's, worn by Audrey Hepburn's character, and remained in the range afterward. Super Lustrous lipstick has been described in beauty press as a cult favourite of more than sixty years [13].

Several episodes in Revlon's history have drawn scrutiny. Its sponsorship of The $64,000 Question connected the company to the late-1950s quiz-show fixing scandals, in which television programmes were found to have been rigged. In a more serious matter, Armour Pharmaceutical — a Revlon subsidiary between 1977 and 1986 — distributed blood products through which, according to Wikipedia, thousands of patients worldwide were infected with HIV and hepatitis C [10].

The company's 2022 bankruptcy was itself widely reported: Revlon filed for Chapter 11 on 16 June 2022 carrying long-term debt of about $3.31 billion, after struggling with debt, rising competition, supply-chain problems and shifting beauty trends [10]. More recently, Revlon has been named in hair-relaxer litigation alleging that chemical hair-straightening products are linked to an increased risk of uterine cancer [10].

Revlon is active. It emerged from Chapter 11 on 2 May 2023, eliminating about $2.7 billion in debt and continuing as a privately held company under its restructured ownership [12]. Since then it has kept its principal lines in the market and continued signing brand ambassadors, with figures such as Madelyn Cline joining in 2024 and the company acting as a New York Fashion Week makeup sponsor that year. Its products continue to be sold across roughly 150 countries.