Beauty Queens: Helena Rubinstein

Helena Rubinstein is rightly seen as one of the pioneers of a market worth millions - the female beauty market. Born in Krakow, Rubinstein started her career in the early years of the twentieth century in Australia, from where she quickly went on to conquer Europe and the United States. What began with twelve jars of her mother's beauty cream was to develop into a company with 100 branches in 14 countries and a workforce of 30,000 employees. Eila Hershon and Roberto Guerra portray a woman from humble origins, who virtually until her death was always happiest at work in her laboratory, and whose vision and ambition helped create and shape what we know today as beauty care.