Charles Revson: Risks are Worth Taking

Charles H. Revson was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist known as one of the pioneers in cosmetics industry. He became the executive of Revlon, which he himself managed.

Revson was born on October 11, 1906 in Somerville, Massachusetts. His mother, Jeanette Weiss belonged to a family of businessmen involved in cosmetics. Early on, Revson showed aestheticism. Revson fiercely created his own identity in business. He was working with the cosmetics company Elka. When he did not get the position of national distributor, Revson resigned to have his own business, which was later known as Revlon.

Revlon’s flagship product was nail polish, which the company introduced in 1932. As more and more varieties of Revlon nail polishes became available, they were later on sold to beauty salons, and ultimately in department stores. Revlon also ventured into lipstick and perfume; markets that Revlon became relatively successful.

Revson was the president of Revlon from 1932 to 1962. Thereafter, he was the chairman of the board until he died in 1975.