Rubinstein Helena (25 December 1870, Kraków – 1 April 1965, New York) – world-renowned cosmetics entrepreneur.

She was born into a poor, large family as Chaja Rubinstein. After dropping out of medical school, she emigrated to Australia in 1899, where for the first three years she worked for her uncle. She then opened a beauty salon and shop called “Helena Rubinstein – Beauty Salon” in Melbourne. The best-selling item in the store was a skincare cream for women prepared according to the recipe of Helena Rubinstein’s mother, Augusta.

The company developed dynamically and new branches were opened in more and more cities. Meanwhile, Rubinstein returned to Europe to enrol in university. In 1908, she moved to London, where she married American journalist Edward William Titus and established the first beauty salon on the Old Continent. In 1914, she opened a salon in Paris and devoted herself to a new passion – collecting modern art. In 1915, she moved to New York. She set up her first American salon, which was letter followed by a chain of stores in other cities. She also employed women as pedlars to distribute her creams outside of large towns.

Despite her American success, Rubinstein did not stay in the United States for good. After the end of World War I, she returned to Paris, where she was already a recognised and highly regarded cosmetics expert. She continuously worked on improving and inventing new cosmetics, developing over a thousand products. She had a flair for business: her greatest stroke of genius was selling all her salons to Lehman Brothers for 8 million dollars just before the stock market crash in 1929. In 1930, Rubinstein bought all of her shares back for $2 million. In 1938, she married Georgian Prince Arlo Gurieli-Czkuniy and opened the “House of Gurieli” cosmetic salon for men in New York. However, her ambitious plan to create a chain of beauty salons for men failed in the long run.

After World War II, Rubinstein continued to develop her business, establishing branches of her company all over the world. The democratisation of the society led to an increase in the number of customers, with middle-class women starting to enjoy the cosmetics alongside upper-class clientele. This also had a direct impact on the growth of the company’s income. Rubinstein, having a huge fortune at her disposal, collected jewellery and works of modern art. She managed her company until the end of her life. Apart from selling cosmetics to women, she promoted a healthy lifestyle, non-smoking, exercise, and diet. She founded the Helena Rubinstein Foundation, which supports museums, schools, and artists.

Helena Rubinstein died at the age of 94. She left a company worth around $60 million, with representative offices in 40 countries.

The entry uses fragments of a text originally published on the Diapozytyw portal, previously owned by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.