The other day when the sun finally came out, we decided to get out and stroll. One of the cute shops we frequent (found by Nikki before her trip here in October), La Super Marquette, has some vintage postcards Nikki wanted, and I still have a gift card for there (thank you, Tracey!).
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| Love this shop and its owner! |
So we bussed/walked over there and she wasn't open yet😢! But, it's Paris, so we decided to have a mid-morning treat at a little cafe across the street. Since it had been a while since breakfast and it was going to be a while before lunch, I decided to splurge and have a crepe...nutella and banana, of course.
And this is what I got...
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| Just a little mid-morning snack!!! |
...oh, my gosh!!!! David had said he wasn't going to share it with me (he didn't order anything but a beverage), but he did share because there was no way I could (well, I COULD but I shouldn't!!!) eat the whole thing!!!!! Delicious!!!
The shop opened, we chose cards to send Nikki, and I still have my gift card. But, Marie, the shop's owner, is going to look for several things I'm interested in so next time I go back, I bet my gift card will be gone and then some!!
The weather was absolutely beautiful, so we decided to go to the Musee d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaisme where they have an exhibit on Helena Rubenstein until August.
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| This is my favorite kind of exhibit...someone who did something extraordinary |
Though her name was familiar to me, I really didn't know anything about her. In a nutshell, she was born in Krakow, left for Vienna to escape an arranged marriage, got sent to Australia where she changed her first name from Chaja to Helena and the rest, as they say, is history. Her mother had protected her Helena's skin from the cold Krakow winters with a facial cream made by an apothecary. While in Australia, the wives of the farmers noticed her perfect complexion, and she extolled the virtues of the cream her mother had put in her luggage....and the dream began. She had the idea of opening a beauty salon, and in 1901 succeeded in finding the formula for her mother's cream and marketed it as Valaze (not familiar to me). A year later she opened her first salon, and in her ads she affirmed "beauty is the new power for women"!
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| Hands-on in the laboratory so the product meets her standard |
She was the first entrepreneur, in 1902, to create both a beauty culture and industry. She understood that beauty care had to approached scientifically and was the first to classify skin in three categories and rigorously test her creams. In addition to the topical care of one's skin, she also recommended regular exercise and a balanced diet. It seems to me she was well ahead of her time!!!
Many of us of a certain age remember her name. One item I didn't realize was hers was Heaven Sent cologne...
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| Ah, memories..... |
I remember this fragrance...I think my mother used it. When I saw it in a case of vintage products from the Helena Rubenstein line, I was flooded with memories of my mother using it.
Her story is really amazing to me, and I am in awe of women who are so fearless and innovative. When she died in 1965, her brand was present in more than thirty countries and employed 32,000 people. Colgate-Palmolive acquired the brand in 1973 who sold it to Albi International in 1980 who then sold it to L'Oreal in 1988. I wondered if the brand still has products out there. And, yes, L'Oreal still owns the brand and in 2010 a cream with plant stem cells was launched.
I may have to check out the products. It was an afternoon well spent....
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