A Big, Red, Shiny Kiss Goodbye To Max Factor
Max Factor, the venerable cosmetics brand marketed to American women using the faces of familiar film actresses, will disappear from U.S. store shelves forever next year. It will still be available abroad, including in the UK, where it's a top seller for some reason.
The story of Max Factor the company is a classic American business tale—a company started at the beginning of the 20th century by a plucky immigrant, only to end its life as part of a multinational conglomerate (Proctor & Gamble) and sold primarily at Walmart.
Max Factor Going To The Big Medicine Cabinet In The Sky [Jezebel]
P&G Discontinues Max Factor Makeup Brand in U.S. [Advertising Age]
Makeup and Make-believe [The New Yorker]
(Photo: armydre2008)
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Comments:
Kinda sad.
When I was a little kid in the 70's, I did watch the reruns of I love Lucy. And it used to amaze me, that it would a be real guy in the credits for makeup... After probably viewing Max Factor makeup commercials and Dynamints commercials...
I didn't even know it was still around. I guess that explains their problem.
@tbax929: This. I used to have a foundation they made that I loved and then they disappeared from everywhere and I thought they had gone out of business. I don't shop at Walmart, so it's no wonder.
Oh, no! Now my factor will only be minimum!
This really upsets me! I just discovered Max Factor a couple years ago and I'm in love. :( I better stock up.
@LabanDenter: Why is it lefty bleeding hearts who hate Wal-Mart? I'm not a lefty and I really, really hate Wal-Mart.
Bummer. Max Factor used to have some very good foundation products. They had one that was a step down from their pancake makeup. It covered just about anything but took an act of god to get it off your face at the end of the day.
They just sort of disappeared a few years ago.
I have tried a few of their products and they were all pretty good. Too bad every time I went back for more, I found out the product was discontinued. EVERY TIME! It is really hard for a brand to develop a loyal following when they change their lineup as often as Max Factor has recently.
@LabanDenter: Your comment implies that big corp hate and Walmart hate are bad things yet you give no reasons why you hold this opinion. Also, 'Brand come and go, boo hoo'? Is this your reaction when reading all news items? 'French planes crash and don't crash, boo hoo?'...'older tv/movie stars hang themselves and don't hang themselves, boo hoo?'
Maybe they should have come out with a GHB-laced line of cosmetics called "Luster"?
"Blue Red" lip gloss? Isn't that green?
It's too bad but understandable. Their only category of stand out products lately have been their mascaras. The rest just went from adequate to awful.
Full disclosure here: Walmart employee.
I notice the Walmart hate, and it gets really old. No one can make a simple mistake at Walmart without consumerist calling them out all over the place. And once a Walmart article comes out, someone says "I NEVER shop at Walmart" or "another reason I don't shop at Walmart" like some kind of elitist prick. You know what, good for you. But many people will shop at Walmart, and will continue to shop at Walmart.
My dad put it this way. When I have to feed and cloth a family of 5, where am I going to shop? I'm not going to spend more money than I have to in order to feed you guys.
I think it's just people that think they're too good for Walmart because they have this stereotype that only poor people shop at Walmart, that it's for rednecks, that it's low class, anti-union, Chinese merchandise, etc. There are lots of other issues (low wages to employees, apathetic employees, dirty stores).
But you know what? Walmart was there for me. I'm an educated PR/marketing drone that was laid off in December. My unemployment dried up and I needed something to be able to keep my home and vehicle, as I was getting nowhere with my job search. Walmart was there to provide me a job. Yeah, the pay isn't the greatest, but I am getting the same amount of $ that I was getting on unemployment - and I'm working. I feel better working than sitting around doing nothing on the gov't dime.
/End Rant.
@Winteridge2: If you're talking paints, blue + red = purple. And if you're talking light, green is already a color. So... no.
@LabanDenter: it wasn't even a negative comment in the post. It simply said that one of the only places you could find the brand was walmart. Generally being sold only in one store is not a sign of success
I'm not lefty and I hate WalMart, it makes me feel... dirty. And maybe it's not even WalMart I hate, but the people that shop there, and the people that work there, and the crap they sell... and the messy aisles... and the dead fish... and the ridiculously long waits in line because the cashiers can't push buttons correctly, and the insane parking lots, and the slow people, and the disgusting bathrooms...
Other than that, WalMart rocks!
@edwardso: Exactly. If it's only sold in one store and that store is Sephora or Macy's, that says something different about a makeup brand. If it's only sold in Target or Wal-Mart, that says something different.
@tom2133: *kudos* I regularly shop at what we affectionately refer to as Wally World and I have to say that sometimes you just gotta go where the prices are the lowest, end of story.
@tom2133: Well, I'll trade 'ya. I have a deep, abiding, will-go-out-of-my-way to shop elsewhere loathing for Wal-Mart, but it's not based on their business practices or on how they treat or don't treat employees or on trade with China or any of that. It's entirely based on personal experiences. And granted I have since moved and perhaps our local Wal-Mart is better than the three I left behind me, but "local" is also "thirty miles away with several alternatives closer to hand," so I've not found out.
Experiences include: being lied to by store employees, being called names by store employees, being outright ignored by store employees, slipping and suffering injury while in the store, being hit with full carts (by employees) and suffering injury while in the store, and then go from there into "never have what I came for" and "no-one in this store seems to speak the same language I do" and "this broke literally five minutes after I got it home."
I don't doubt that every location is a little different (I worked in a fantastic and wonderfully run GameStop, for example, but realize it's the exception rather than the rule) but would you go back to a store that had treated you that way, once you finally had a choice?
@IT-Chick: "WalMart I hate, but the people that shop there, and the people that work there, and the crap they sell... "
Yes, because only poor people shop there, and you know all poor people are dirty and gross!
@LabanDenter: I take offense to that comment. Just because I write with my left hand doesnt mean I fall into some idiotic stereotype..sheesh.
@Winteridge2: There are varying blends that end up making red. A blue red is much deeper, and robust, making it a much more saturated red. A rose red is lighter and has less blue in it. A clear red is more subtle and will still add a tint of red to your lips, but allow for the natural color of your lips to do most of the talking.
@tom2133:
Well, I shop at Aldi, (the low end of groceries) and have to say that it doesn't make me feel like I need a good scrub like I do after leaving WalMart.
It's great that WalMart is good to you and that you have found a paycheck there but there are many many people like myself that would rather have a tooth pulled than shop there.
I get my groceries cheaper and faster at Aldi and there is nothing else I would need at WalMart.
Well, having an heir that's a bond-skipping convicted serial rapist isn't exactly good for a cosmetics company.
@Rectilinear Propagation: Oh yeah. Andrew Luster, the serial rapist that fled to Mexico and whose capture catapulted Dog the Bounty Hunter to fame. So many reasons to hate!
@IT-Chick: My biggest beef with Wal-Mart as a company is their labor practices and blatant crushing of local business. My biggest beef with the Wal-Mart store near me is the endless amounts of people streaming out, absolutely clueless at the fact that there are cars coming. I am so tired of people just walking out into traffic that it's like crossing a creaky bridge in the Amazon made of wood planks, most of which have fallen away into the river below.
And if you do happen to go inside the Wal-Mart - stuff is in the wrong place, the people don't want to help, or look at you with a glassy stare that indicates they don't actually understand what you're trying to say...or they just ignore you. And the products that are Wal-Mart branded are terrible. And the entire place just makes me want to scream because it's so infinitely gigantic that I can't possibly find what I need without going through six other sections full of people.
@Winteridge2: Blue and red make purple.
But also, when it comes to shades of red, blue red is a shade of red that has blue undertones. It will be less bright than one that doesn't have blue. It's something you see a lot of in lipsticks, because different undertones of red flatter different skin tones.
I blame Walgreens for not selling it for the past three or four years. I rarely use makeup because of skin conditions but I love Max Factor. Especially when I had need for pancake make up for theater or other dress up occasions. Pancake majeup was also good to use when wearing dresses to hide the leg bruises I get because I'm a klutz and run into things.
I'm totally with you on that.
If I ever do have to go in a Walmart, the one closest to me is in a strip mall, so I will park in another lot and walk the sidewalk.
What I do like about Walmart is the free site to store shipping. Majority of my purchases from them have been online, I honestly don't care if they sell it in the store, I hate being in there so much that I will wait a week. I park far away, haul ass to the back, grab my stuff and go. I guess I should thank WalMart for the extra exercise I get by making me want to park far, far away.
I think Ulta still sold Max Factor the last time I was in there, which actually was around last Christmas. I found their products to always be too cakey and heavy. We are coming into a time of more "natural" or "mineral" makeup and while I don't know their entire line, I could see this being an issue for them keeping up.
@nakedscience: I know what IT-Chick is saying. I don't think everyone who shops there is poor. It's obvious that a lot of non-poor people go there.
But to be honest, it is because of the people that I really hate my local Wal-Mart. I enjoy grocery shopping. It's relaxing for me, I get to take my time and choose my fruits and vegetables wisely, and I get to plan my dinners because I love to cook. I can't do that at Wal-Mart and it's because of the people. The terrible selection of produce has a lot to do with it too but I can't bear to go to a place that is absolutely disruptive.
The people who shop there, and this isn't all of them - but the ones I have problems with, they're so loud, they leave stuff lying around, they come in groups and walk down the aisle four to six in a group and spread out, and walk really slowly, making it impossible to go around them (this is what I hate about tourist groups too) and if I have to pay more, I'll go to a place that has less of this behavior because I have noticed it to be less of a problem in other places like Target, which is in the same shopping center as the Wal-Mart.
@tom2133: Lots of people do think that they're too good for Walmart and that only poor people and rednecks and/or white trash shop there.
It's classism, plain and simple.
@IT-Chick: they have some mineral stuff now but their legacy is pancake (which I wore and loved in high school)
@pecan 3.14159265: Maybe it's because we met in a grocery store but my husband and I love grocery shopping, planning meals, discovering new things. Wegmans is great for that, Walmart is not. Also, I don't know where a walmart is in DC metro
@edwardso: My husband isn't a fan of grocery shopping, but Wal-Mart makes him extremely frustrated. He won't go to one, and neither will I. We've both found that loud, disruptive, frustrating Wal-Marts are the norm. Wegmans or Whole Foods or any other grocery store is usually much, much more relaxing. When you don't have to dodge clueless pedestrians in the parking lot, the day tends to go better.
Classism? I never knew what to call the fact that I bathe myself more often and have better social manners than majority of the people that shop there... now I know.
Pecan, Should I assume that you're also not the kind of person to get up at 3am the day after Thanksgiving to fight through crowds to save $5?
That's almost how I feel when it comes to the everyday norm at a WalMart.
@edwardso:
Interesting, and now it's too late to check it out. I've been very happy with Maybelline's mineral makeup for a couple years now.
whats up with all the big corp hate/walmart hate. A bucnhy of lefty bleeding hearts working here?
Futhermore, its not dead.
Brands come and go. boo hoo