ERNO LA’SZLO’

Erno Laszlo is the man who is largely responsible for the creation of modern skin care products. Erno Laszlo studied skin pathology and skin disease at the Royal Hungarian Elisabeth University of Medical Sciences in Budapest, Hungary’s capital, under the tutelage of Professor Soma Cornel Beck. He completed his clinical studies in Berlin, Germany, with the famous dermatologist Professor Max Joseph, “the father of modern dermatology”. When Laszlo could not see the results he had expected from the preparations of Max Joseph in Berlin, he asked his clients to tell him exactly how they were using the preparations. He was a a student and needed to know. Women confessed to him that they were not using the “stinky, dirty cream”. Secretly, Laszlo created a cream without the foul odour the professor was prescribing. It was a snow white product without any odor at all. His women clients began secretly to use his new product. When the professor found out about it, he judged it a good idea and expressed his gratitude towards the young doctor. This was the beginning of Laszlo’s career in cosmetic dermatology. The rise of Erno Laszlo to world fame reads like a fairy-tale: One day, back in Budapest, one of the most distinguished doctors of his time asked him for help, regarding Princess Stephanie, the widow of the Austrian Crown Prince Rudolph von Habsburg. She had had a tragic destiny later known as the Story of Mayerling – the murder/suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf Habsburg, the son of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and the beautiful young Baroness Mary Vetsera on January 30, 1889, at the royal hunting lodge in Mayerling. A story which until today remains to a large degree a mystery – at least for writers and film makers. Princess Stephanie was devastated because she had been rejected and betrayed by her dashing royal husband, betrothed to her in her fifteenth year through an arranged marriage. He had found her instantly unattractive, deserting her on their wedding night, openly consorting with one of Europe’s great beauties. Years of public humiliation had turned Princess Stephanie, a woman who lacked social graces, into a virtual recluse. After the murder/suicide, the Emperor had married her off again in middle age, to Count Lonyai, assuring him the title of “Prince”. A second dashing husband was the final crush to her self-confidence. She could barely speak and walk. The Count could not cross the chasm of her despair and distanced himself from her. The doctor asking Erno Laszlo for help told him that the Princess “will drive him away completely and this will be the end of her.” The two men were talking of dermatology, this new-found science of cosmetology and of possibilities. Erno Laszlo had studied the pathologies of skin disease and the facial disfigurements of the war. But it was the desperation of women like Princess Stephanie that had led him to develop dermatological preparations that would both heal and beautify the skin. Erno Laszlo told the doctor that he needed not only to know what the princess was thinking, but also what caused her to think this way in order to be able to help her. “It takes a kind of psycho-cosmetology”. With Princess Stephanie, it was her father, King Leopold, who convinced his daughter at a very tender age that she was stupid and ugly. Her husband was unable to help her, as we have seen above. Furthermore, the Princess had a morbid fear of artificial beauty and would use no makeup.Two days after the meeting with the doctor, Erno Laszlo met the princess at her country estate. He promised to invent “a makeup that will be no makeup”. A product “practically invisible to wear. But it will make your skin look the way nature wanted it to be.” And he was able to deliver.

He created a transparent cream which imparted a subtle glow to the skin. Weeks after the Princess had received the newly developed skin care product, she wrote Erno Laszlo: “My husband has said how well I look.” At the same time, her hard edges were replaced by a feminine charm and graciousness. Of course, word spread about the “miracle doctor’s” achievements and women from near and far began to contact him. He devoted his life to the improvement and perfection of their skin. He spent as much time in the laboratory as with the day-to-day treatment of those who came to his clinic. In Budapest, one of Hungary’s most celebrated and most beautiful young actresses, Frida Gombaszoegi, was shot in the face by a rejected suitor. The ravaging bullets left deep scars in her face and soul.

With specially formulated preparations, Erno Laszlo was able the soften her scars through months of treatment to the point that she was finally able to return to the spotlight. As a side effect of the treatment, Erno Laszlo fell in love with one of the sisters of the young star. Iren Gombaszoegi was a lesser known character actress. After they married, Iren left the stage to work by his side. In 1927, the Erno Laszlo Institute for Scientific Cosmetology opened its doors on a tree-lined boulevard in Budapest. Specializing in the new field of cosmetic science which he had pioneered, it was an immediate success and attracted the foremost beauties of Budapest, and within a short time, from all of Europe. Erno Laszlo also began to answer letters, asking the women in his replies to give him detailed descriptions of their skin which enabled him to diagnose and advice. It later developed into his famous “Invisible Consultation”, the Erno Laszlo Skin Questionnaire, which provided an accurate classification of a particular skin type. The correspondence with his clients and his weekly articles for the Hungarian daily Pesti Napló allowed him to establish what was then the first mail-order business for beauty products. Erno Laszlo gave more than simple beauty treatment advice. He delved into the personal lives of his patients. At the same time, he was strict, asking them to strictly follow his advice. If a woman deviated from the routine, he knew it immediately from her skin and would not continue to see her unless she followed his instructions. It was his scientific approach which yielded convincing results. In 1937, Erno Laszlo visited Hollywood, where fellow Hungarians such as Adolph Zukor and William Fox had made their careers. Among the friends the beauty doctor met was Paul Gordon, a playwright, author and producer known for his Concert Productions. Through him, Erno Laszlo met Gayelord Hauser, then the Health Guru of Greta Garbo and other stars. It did not take long before major film studies were calling the man who had dedicated his life to the beauty of women. Warner Brothers offered Erno Laszlo a supervisory job in its make-up department. In the end, he rejected the offer. In December of 1937, he made a makeup demonstration on Frances Donelon, one of America’s most famous models. He decided to move lock, stock and skin creams to the United States. In November 1939, he moved to the Waldorf Astoria until his wife joined him in 1940. They never returned to Budapest. In 1945, the Laszlo’s became citizens of the United States.

On November 3, 1939, the New York City Herald-Tribune mentioned that the Erno Laszlo Institute, specialist in beauty treatments and cosmetics, had leased a floor in a building on 677 Fifth Avenue.Arriving with virtually nothing of his wealth from Budapest – in Europe war had broken out -, Erno Laszlo borrowed $10,000 from each of four friends. He furnished his Institute in the same way as the one in Budapest, a decor of marble and satin, black and cream, leaving his bank account with exactly $500. The list of clients waiting to see him read like the pages from the social register.

The Doctor’s assistants wore black dresses and spoke in somber tones with Hungarian accents. Erno Laszlo himself had one big obstacle he could not overcome: his poor command of English. It threatened him, ruining his chances at passing the American Medical Association’s accreditation examinations. He understood the questions but could not find the right words to answer the written exam. After two attempts, he gave up. He had to work and could not find the time for leisurely study. He had studied with one of the best English instructors of the time, Mrs. Benting, language coach to many famous European actors and actresses. After seven months, she too, was exasperated. With his Hungarian medical diploma and knowledge of dermatologist sciences, he accepted that he could not give injections and write prescriptions in America without passing the AMA examinations. But he could still work wonders with skin. And that was what he continued to do. Among his clients were the Duchess of Windsor, Gloria Vanderbilt, Doris Duke, Greta Garbo, Lilian Gish and Paulette Goddard. As the 1940s turned into the 1950s, the Erno Laszlo Institute had over 3,000 clients. Mrs. Vincent Astor, Mrs. Stavros Niarchos, Mrs. Gianni Agnelli, Mr. Truman Capote, The Begum Aga Khan and, in 1954, the Duke of Windsor, were numbered among its members. In the 1960s, the list was enlarged by Audrey Hepburn, Yul Brynner, Hubert de Givenchy, Mrs. John Fitzgerald Kennedy and many more. In the pictures of Marilyn Monroe’s death bed in August 1962, her Laszlo preparations could be seen on her bedside table. The Erno Laszlo Institute was a closed society of the rich, famous and powerful. One needed to be recommended to gain admittance, and a single reference alone was often not good enough. In 1954 (?), each consultation visit cost $75, an unheard-of sum at the time. The Doctor’s time was limited. He could only see a limited circle of persons. In the 1970s, Barbra Streisand, Diane Keaton, Yoko Ono, Madonna, Woody Allen, Sting, Val Kilmer and James Spader joined. Later, Erno Laszlo products could be seen in films like Bonfire of the Vanities, Working Girl, Annie Hall and Final Analysis. Erno Laszlo remained severe even with his most famous clients. In June 1963, the doctor cautioned the President’s wife, Mrs. Kennedy not to put more oil or cream on her face. As she admitted having made changes to his instructions, he firmly replied: “You cannot make changes!” He also refused to remove Katherine Hepburn’s freckles, when she asked him to remove them. He declined, saying they were an integral part of the Hepburn beauty. When Ava Gardner insisted that she had followed his instructions, he told her: “Excuse me, but you are lying”. – “How would you know?” – “Your skin tells me. You have not been doing your ritual. When you do, then you may come back, but not before.” As the fiery brunette refused to leave, he came as close as he ever had to actually throwing a patient out the door. When she finally realized that she could not get away with any ruse, she calmed down and agreed to follow the Doctor’s instructions. In April 1967, Erno Laszlo’s wife, Iren, succumbed to leukemia.

The Doctor found solace in work, flying back and forth across continents. And that was what would change the rest of his life. When Sibille Schulz met him on her Pan Am Lisbon-to-Nice flight, he was simply a slightly disgruntled passenger. She was one of the women who had never heard of the famous beauty specialist who had just missed his Air France flight out of JFK and had now to make a stop in Lisbon. Sibille, in charge of the first class cabin, was in an especially good mood. In their conversation, they found out that they had much in common despite the fact that the Doctor’s beauty institute was not part of her world. Sibille agreed to a meeting at the Institute which took place after her vacation in the Middle East. He gave her a full consultation and sent his preparations by messenger to her. Another man would have sent flowers. But for Erno Laszlo, the gift of beauty was the greatest thing he could give to a woman. After an intensive courtship with Operas in Vienna and skiing on the slopes of St. Moritz, the lovely young beauty and the famous Doctor married in March of 1970 in a quiet ceremony in Lugano, Switzerland, where they bought a villa; he also had a home in New York and one in Vienna. In 1970, the General Consul of Morocco asked Erno Laszlo to treat the women of the harem of Hassan II, the King of Morocco. The Doctor realized that their diet, the heat, the humidity and, above all, the fact that these women and girls had never washed their faces, had taken a toll. Erno Laszlo wisely had brought several months’ worth of supplies with him. After his successful treatment, he refused to put a price on this service. Yet, in conversation, he had mentioned to the King that he needed a car in Switzerland and spoke of the Mercedes he had planned to purchase. When Erno Laszlo and his wife, who had accompanied him, returned to Lugano, the King had a Mercedes delivered to them as a gift. Already in the early 1940s, the doyenne of the American cosmetic industry, Madame Rubenstein, had approached Erno Laszlo. She offered him a deal but he declined: “I am sorry, but I don’t think this is going to work.” He had no desire to sell his products, his formulas and his name. He wanted to control everything. In 1951, partially persuaded by his clients, he decided to sell his products on the open market. His new clients would be monitored closely. Doris Duke, the restless tobacco heiress, was to finance the new cosmetic business. Her associate was Robert F. Fiske, a buyer of cosmetics for Saks Fifth Avenue. Two well-known industry professionals of Parfums Schiaparelli became directors of sales and promotions. The plan was to limit sales and roll out with 30 stores in March 1952. A woman could only purchase the products if she enrolled as a member, through a sit-down consultation and skin analysis. By February 1954, membership had been “strictly frozen” at 25,000. It was not until 1966 that Erno Laszlo decided to re-enter the marketplace, finding a reliable alliance in Chesebrough-Ponds which would handle production, distribution and advertising, leaving the Doctor to his passions: product development and innovations. The company, at retail, once again prospered. After the sale of the company to Chesebrough-Ponds, Erno Laszlo would spend most of his time with Sibille. In 1973, at the age of 75, he died from heart failure. In 1995, the Erno Laszlo company was bought by Nikos Mouyiaris, a Cyprus-born Master of Science from Rutgers University who entered the cosmetics industry as a bench chemist for the Erno Laszlo Company. He had started a small cosmetics manufacturing company in New York in 1975 with $6,000 borrowed from his brother. The enterprise has grown into Mana Products which, in 1995, assumed ownership of the Erno Laszlo Company from Elizabeth Arden. Since the beginning of 2002, Erno Laszlo is a part of Cradle Holdings, a company which also owns Penhaligon’s.