Must See: The Powder and the Glory

Elizabeth Arden in 1939. PHOTO: Alan Fisher/New York World-Telegram

Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein may be the most important makeup moxies who ever lived.

In a time when makeup was worn mostly by prostitutes and performers, the two women transformed the way we wear makeup and think about ourselves.

Even more importantly, these women blew gender roles out of the water to rock the business world and blaze the path to the beauty industry as we know it today.

Their amazing stories are definitely worth telling…and worth watching. A new documentary called The Powder and the Glory will chronicle their lives, careers and rivalry.

Based on the book War Paint by Lindy Woodhead, The Powder and the Glory was produced, written and directed by Ann Carol Grossman and Arnie Reisman. The documentary includes old footage and photographs of the cosmetic queens as well as movie clips of the work of makeup artist David Nicholas, who created makeup looks that demonstrate the style of each decade from 1910 through the 1960s.

You can check out a short clip of the documentary here on pbs.org (love the powder puff in the stocking ; ).

The Powder and the Glory premieres Monday, Mar. 23 on PBS.

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