STYLE : LOOKS : Stardust Memories

When you step into the Max Factor Museum of Beauty, you’re transported to a Hollywood where drop-dead elegance was the norm, not the exception: The Art Deco building is a paean to the pursuit of cosmetic perfection and a memorial to the man who made that pursuit his life’s work.

Originally a wig maker to Nicholas II, Max Factor came to Los Angeles in 1909 and was soon formulating makeup for the fledgling film industry. His cosmetics changed with the technology: cream-based foundation for silent movies (clay-based foundation cracked when actors moved their faces), Panchromatic Makeup for “talkies” and mascara and lip gloss, now staples on and off the screen.

When Factor remodeled his salon at 1666 N. Highland Ave., 8,000 guests, including Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Cary Grant and Errol Flynn, showed up. “Really, the fire marshal should have shut it down,” laughs curator Randy Koss, “but he had been invited, so it was just overlooked.” Today, visitors can see the Scroll of Fame, autographs from the gala reopening.

Also on view are the rooms Factor designed to flatter blondes (pale blue), redheads (mint green), brunettes (rosy pink) and brownettes (creamy peach); hairpieces for John Wayne and Frank Sinatra, and the Beauty Calibrator--a formidable-looking device used to measure facial features. And from photos on the walls, the flawlessly made-up faces of Greta Garbo, Claudette Colbert, Rita Hayworth and others peer out, bright lights from Hollywood’s golden age.