Beauty Icon: Jean Harlow

     As of lately I've been doing quite a bit of research into different beauty icons throughout the years. I wanted to share some of the information I've learned. The information in this article came from Wikipedia, Max Factor International, and Jean Harlow's website. 

      On March 3, 1911 in Kansas City, Missouri an iconic film star was born. Her name was Harlean Carpenter- who became a film star under her mother’s maiden name- Jean Harlow. Before her Jean Harlow days, she had experienced a few other events. Her parents divorced in 1922 and after the divorce Harlean would lose touch with her father. A few years later, while attending a camp in Michigan, Harlean came down with Scarlet fever; she supposedly also became ill with meningitis at one point in her life too- both of which would affect her later on. After this fasco, she attended school in Illinois where she would meet her first husband- Charles McGrew. When McGrew turned 21 he inherited a lot of money. The couple moved from Chicago to Beverly Hills- neither worked and were said to be heavy drinkers. They eventually divorced in 1929. This was around the time Harlean’s first audition happened, which was because she didn’t want to lose a bet with her friend! The day of the casting call, she decided against using her legal name and used her mother’s name instead. This is how she became known as Jean Harlow. 

      Her career didn’t really take off until 1933 with MGM films. During her early film years, Max Factor bleached Harlow’s ash blonde hair- this is where the terms “Platinum Blonde” and “Blonde Bombshell” were born. The 1920s were ruled by brunettes; usually bleached blondes were lower class. At first this caused some turmoil but eventually woman started going blonde- even Bette Davis and Joan Crawford! The major issue with her bleach blonde locks was that Max bleached her hair with a mix of Anomia and Clorox which was later thought to cause her health problems. The strong chemicals also eventually caused her hair to fall out, and towards the end of the career she supposedly wore wigs. 

      Another event that happened during her early film career, was when Jean met her second husband, Paul Bern, while shooting Hell’s Angels. Bern was an executive at MGM. The two married in 1932 and he played a big role in jump starting her career, including helping her sign onto a big contract with MGM. He also scheduled an appearance tour in the East Coast- which completely sold out. Later on that year, Paul Bern was found shot and dead in their home; it was ruled as a suicide. There were many speculations that Harlow killed him, and in his 2009 biography it mentions he was murdered by an ex-lover. Most believe that MGM rearranged the crime scene to avoid a scandal. Shortly after his death, Jean began having an affair with boxer Max Baer whose wife threatened to divorce. In order to avoid another scandal, MGM had Jean marry her friend Harold Rosson. Rosson was her third husband, and the two divorced 8 months later. Shortly after this she was engaged to William Powell; they stayed engaged for two years but never had the chance to marry because she died on June 7, 1937 at age 26. 

      Shortly before her death she came down with influenza. As previously mentioned, in her past, she had dealt with Scarlet Fever and Meningitis, which in this time period weakened her system. If you add this to the toxic chemicals put in her hair and her past of drinking, it’s no surprise to learn she died of kidney failure. MGM closed on the day of her funeral and her final film Saratoga was still released in July. Decades later Jean Harlow is still well known as an amazing actress and a timeless beauty icon. Her look has been an inspiration to many- including Marilyn Monroe. She is known in the beauty industry for her Blonde hair, wide eyes, long lashes, thin brows and accentuated lips.

Thanks for the read! Stay tuned for more information in the beauty world! -Reg xoxo