About Her Life

Hazel Bishop (1906–1998) was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. After attending Barnard College and graduating in May 1929, she planned to go to medical school, but the Depression intervened. Anxious to stay in school, she went to work for a well-known dermatologist and syphilologist, A. B. Cannon, at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. While working in his laboratory, she took classes in biochemistry and also helped him create the Almay line of hypoallergenic cosmetics. (The name Almay comes from Cannon's first name, Al, and his wife Fanny's middle name, May.) Bishop then worked as an organic chemist, first for Standard Oil Development Company, during World War II, and then for Socony Vacuum Oil, until 1949.

Photo courtesy courtesy American Institute of Chemists.

Inspired by Cannon's work, Bishop experimented with lipstick recipes in her mother's kitchen-cum-laboratory in the late 1940s. She ultimately succeeded in creating a lipstick "guaranteed not to come off on cigarette butts, glasses, or him." In addition to the lipstick's unique smear-proof quality, Bishop added another distinctive touch: the names of her lipsticks were simple color descriptions, such as "Dark Red," instead of the fanciful names used by other manufacturers, such as "Passionate Pink."

In 1950, Bishop brought her product to market by starting Hazel Bishop, Inc. Her lipsticks were extremely successful on the market, and the company took off. Unfortunately, Bishop had brought in other investors at the company's inception, and she had retained only only a 20-percent share. When others on the board attempted to diversify and expand the company's lines, Bishop disagreed with the decision. One proxy fight and several lawsuits later, she was bought out and no longer had any association with the company that bore her name.

Far from being discouraged, Bishop again applied her chemical training and knowledge about the cosmetics market to the creation of a new product—solid (stick) perfumes—and a new company. Bishop also created Leather Lav, a cleaning and softening product for use on women's leather gloves. By the end of the 1950s, she had decided to leave the manufacturing end of cosmetics altogether, becoming a consultant and beauty authority.

In 1962 Bishop began a new career, as a stock analyst. She advised primarily on cosmetic and pharmaceutical stocks, accurately picking which stocks would perform well. On retiring from Wall Street, she became a consultant to the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in 1978. In 1980 she was appointed to the Revlon Chair and helped FIT develop its Cosmetology, Fragrance, and Toiletries program.

Bishop was the first woman member of The Chemists' Club and an active member of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists, the American Institute of Chemists (AIC), and the Cosmetic Executive Women. Bishop frequently gave talks to local American Chemical Society and AIC chapters, explaining how critical chemistry was to the manufacture of cosmetics.

Adapted from Gwen Kay, "Hazel Bishop," Chemical Heritage, vol. 18, no. 2 (Summer 2000): p. 22.