Benefit Cosmetics
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| Wholly owned subsidiary | |
| Industry | Cosmetics |
| Founded | 1976 in San Francisco |
| Founder | Jean and Jane Ford |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, United States |
|
Area served
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worldwide |
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Key people
|
Jean-André Rougeot, CEO |
| Parent | LVMH |
| Website | www |
Benefit Cosmetics LLC is a manufacturer of cosmetics founded and headquartered in San Francisco, California selling at over 2,000 counters in more than 30 countries. It is a subsidiary of LVMH.
Twin sisters and founders Jean and Jane Ford were born in Indiana. After they attended Indiana University, the two later appeared in commercials for Calgon bath products before moving to San Francisco.
The decision of opening their own business was merely based on a coin toss, with the options being either a casserole cafe or a beauty boutique. Initially founded as a beauty boutique named The Face Place in 1976 in San Francisco's Mission District, the shop specialized in quick-fix products for beauty dilemmas. Their first product was a blush and lip tint called "Rose tint", now renamed "benetint". The Fords originally created the rose flushed tint for an exotic dancer who was in need of a nipple tint. Benetint is most famously known by this story, and it remains the company's best-selling product, with over 10 million bottles sold. The Face Place later moved to Kearny Street in downtown San Francisco in the 1980s, and with the move came the debut of their original lip-plumping product, lip plump.
In 1989, the product catalog was developed. The Fords then focused on department store distribution, and soon after the original Face Place was renamed Benefit Cosmetics in 1990. In 1991 Benefit opened up in its first U.S. department store in Henri Bendel in New York City. With significant success in the U.S., Benefit went international in 1997 with their expansion into Harrods in London. Soon after, the Benefit Cosmetics product website was launched.
LVMH acquired Benefit Cosmetics on September 14, 1999. In 2001, Benefit launched their first bath and boudoir line, Bathina. Benefit opened its first "Brow Bar" (a boutique specializing in brow shaping) in 2003, at Macy's Union Square, San Francisco.
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Wikipedia