Beauty Empire Three Queens - Helena Rubinstein

Author: [USA] O'Higgins
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This book tells the legendary life of Helena Rubinstein, the pioneer of the beauty industry, over nearly a century. The elevator quickly took us to the top floor apartment on the 14th floor. When I stepped out of the elevator, this Irish guard smiled at me again in a servile manner. I walked through the small marble foyer to another much larger grand entrance, where ample sunlight illuminated a jungle of densely packed potted green plants. All the doors were open. Unable to find the doorbell, I could only gaze around blankly. The plants piled on the ground under three large French windows reminded me of a painting by Drouin Rousseau. Here were banana trees, rubber trees, azaleas, and other plants whose names I couldn’t identify. As for the furniture, whether tables, chairs, or sofas, they were all painted white Indonesian teak, a type of furniture I occasionally saw in fashion magazines with titles like "The Chief's Summer Palace Balcony." On the white walls, at intervals, stood large marble statues with bases, looking just like Roman deities made by an ice cream company. Through an archway in the foyer on my left, I caught a glimpse of the living room decorated with wainscoting, where golden picture frames glowed with a dull sheen. "Who’s there?" a voice asked, followed by rhythmic footsteps. Princess Rubinstein appeared. As usual, she wore a round hat and a low-neck, bell yellow dress of the same color, with countless strands of processed jade necklaces hanging from her neck down to her waist. On a small hand adorned with a diamond ring as large as a bottle cap, she held a sausage. "Kuvakova."