Rouge

Book excerpt: Rivalry between two beauty industry icons Madame Josephine and Constance Gardiner (think Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden) by the master marketer and chronicler of the over-moneyedRouge is a sexy, glamorous journey into the rivalry of the pioneers of powder, mascara and rouge.This fast-paced novel examines the lives, loves, and sacrifices of the visionaries the birth of the modern cosmetics industry: Josiah Herzenstein, born in a Polish Jewish Shtlel, the entrepreneur who transforms herself into a global style icon and the richest woman in the world Josephine Herz; Constance Gardiner, her rival, the ultimate society woman who invents the door-to-door business and its female workforce but whose deepest secret threatens everything; CeeCee Lopez, the bi-racial beauty and founder of the first African American woman's hair relaxer business, who overcomes prejudice and heartbreak to become her community's first female millionaire. The cast of characters is rounded out by Mickey Heron, the dashing, sexy ladies' man whose cosmetics business is founded in a Hollywood brothel. All are bound in a struggle to be number one, doing anything to get here... including murder. Like Swans of Fifth Avenue and Capote's Answered Prayers, Rouge gives readers a rare front row seat into the world of high society and business where the perfect mask is everything.