You probably use it every day - but what's the story behind Elizabeth Arden's famous Eight Hour Cream?
Elizabeth Arden's Eight Hour Cream is a staple on most of today's dressing tables. It's one of those nifty products that just works and you can't imagine what you ever did before you found it. However, it's not just today that women the world over are relying on the handy product.
The cream was created by Elizabeth in 1930, 20 years after she set up her first salon on New York's Fifth Avenue. Its intention was to soothe skin and immediately it became a hugely successful beauty product. A winning combination of petrolatum and vitamin E meant that skin problems were quickly fixed and women could carry on feeling confident and gorgeous.
But where does that name come from? The miracle product was so good, one lady claimed she used it on her child's grazed knee and eight hours later it had completely healed. Amazed by the cream's versatility, Elizabeth herself found multiple uses for the wonder balm and used it to soothe the legs of her thoroughbred horses.
These days, it seems every fashionista in the know keeps the cream in her handbag. One sells every 30 seconds and it continues to solve almost any skin problem you could dream up. Elle magazine recently conducted a Twitter survey to find out what its readers use Eight Hour Cream for. Hundreds of answers flooded in, ranging from taming eyebrows and frizzy hair to acting as a highlighter on cheekbones and giving eyeshadow a sheen.
And the legendary cream isn't the only innovative beauty product Elizabeth dreamt up. Miss Arden is also responsible for introducing eye make-up to the US and was the first to sell travel-size cosmetics. Elizabeth also handed out red lipstick to suffragettes, making crimson lips part of the protestor's uniform. If that wasn't enough, she also became the first salon to offer an in-store makeover to clients.