Happy Wednesday all!
Excited to share with you today my review for this wonderful book full of glitter, glamour, and tons of drama! Thank you so much Kelly for my invitation to the tour!💅🏻
My Thoughts
ɢʟᴀᴍᴏᴜʀ. ɢʟɪᴛᴢ. ᴅʀᴀᴍᴀ.
Richard Kirshenbaum has written an addictive fast-paced story packed with glitz, glamour, and an entire cosmetic case full of drama! Three strong, confident, ruthless women engage in the ultimate power struggle to become the queen of the beauty industry. The bulk of the story takes place in the 30s,40s, and 50s when it was very unusual for women to be major powers in the business world. Josephine, Constance, and CeeCee all break into the beauty Industry in very different ways. They all have secrets to hide and hurdles to jump. This book not only highlighted these ladies rise to the top, but the deep seeded rivalry between them. These women would stop at nothing to claw their way to the top and were NOT willing to share that top spot! All the drama and cattiness sure was fun to read about, but WOW how much easier would it have been if they could’ve all just got along! You know female solidarity!?! While I admired all these women’s tenacity, I didn’t always admire their methodology.
This book was not only entertaining, but it was also very informative. I liked all the little tidbits about how makeup evolve sprinkled throughout the story. There was also plenty of romance and scandal. These women did not leave boring lives, that is for sure! This was a fascinating fast-paced story that you’ll find completely engaging even if you are not into makeup or beauty. It really was about powerful women having to overcome societal expectations in order to succeed, and succeed they did!
🎧🎧🎧 Lauren Ezzo narrated the audio and did a stellar job! I really think she got the tone of these ladies voices spot on. She also did a really good job with Josephine’s Polish accent. Lauren made a great story even better!💄
*** Big thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for my copy of this book ***
About the Book
Like Swans of Fifth Avenue and Truman Capote’s Answered Prayers, Richard Kirshenbaum’s Rouge gives readers a rare front row seat into the world of high society and business through the rivalry of two beauty industry icons, by the master marketer and chronicler of the over-moneyed.
Rouge is a sexy, glamorous journey into the rivalry of the pioneers of powder, mascara and rouge.
This fast-paced novel examines the lives, loves, and sacrifices of the visionaries who invented the modern cosmetics industry: Josiah Herzenstein, born in a Polish Jewish Shtlel, the entrepreneur who transforms herself into a global style icon and the richest woman in the world, Josephine Herz; Constance Gardiner, her rival, the ultimate society woman who invents the door-to-door business and its female workforce but whose deepest secret threatens everything; CeeCee Lopez, the bi-racial beauty and founder of the first African American woman’s hair relaxer business, who overcomes prejudice and heartbreak to become her community’s first female millionaire. The cast of characters is rounded out by Mickey Heron, a dashing, sexy ladies’ man whose cosmetics business is founded in a Hollywood brothel. All are bound in a struggle to be number one, doing anything to get there…including murder.
About the author:
RICHARD KIRSHENBAUM is CEO of NSG/SWAT, a high-profile boutique branding agency. He has lectured at Harvard Business School, appeared on 20/20, was named to Crain’s New York Business’s “40 under 40” list, and has been inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame. He is the author of Under the Radar, Closing the Deal, Madboy, and Isn’t That Rich? and the New York Observer’s “Isn’t That Rich?” column. He lives in New York City with his wife and three children
Buy-book link: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250225108
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