In 1902, Richard Hudnut created Marvelous, a cosmetic and beauty line that started with a cold cream for women. A Marvelous perfume was created in 1908 and is associated with the cold cream. With just the little bit of information I could find on this cold cream, the description of it makes me think of the original Pond's cold cream that was mineral-based. It's intended uses were exactly what we know Pond's to do even today. It was to cleanse, soothe, and prep the skin. I know that mineral oil based cold creams are controversial today, but I have always had great success with them and could only imagine I would have enjoyed the original Marvelous Cold Cream as well.
The original packaging for Marvelous was what you would expect from a turn of the century design. Very Edwardian and ornate with gilded flourishes on royal blue and cherubs carrying a crown to show that this line was superior to any other.
source: https://www.cosmeticsandskin.com/companies/richard-hudnut.php
By 1916, Richard Hudnut sold his business and from what I can tell retired until his passing in 1940. It was during the time of his retirement that the Richard Hudnut beauty and cosmetics lines really expanded into makeup. Sure there were a few makeup products prior to then, but not like what we have come to know with the Marvelous line.
It is in 1932 that the line of Marvelous products and packaging that I like to collect was introduced. Featuring stunning Art Deco geometric lines in silver and black with a thin red band this packaging gave it a (then) modern look. There were also the new designs that featured the kneeling woman holding a beauty jar. If you see packaging that is a solid black base with red banding -- that would be specifically from the British line of Marvelous!
Known for both makeup and skin care products, Marvelous was the lesser expensive line from the Richard Hudnut brand. It is thought that this was brought forth from the economical decline of the early 1930s. Most notably in 1936, Marvelous was promoted for eye matching makeup! These are the eye color based ads that come up most often during google searches.
Now that I have shared with you a brief history of Marvelous, I'd like to share with you my small collection. To start, I was originally just looking for empties to restore and refill with my favorite, current products. I was even considering color matching if I found some compacts with a bit of product still in them. However, it is through this that I discovered unused products that I just had to get my hands on as well!!
Most abundantly you will find the rouge compacts. These will be sold empty, with some product, or if you are lucky like me unused! My first 2 purchases came from either Ebay or Etsy, I don't remember which. The first one, which came empty, is a hinged compact that measures 1.5 inches wide. It has a mirror on the inner lid and features the iconic kneeling lady of silver embossed on a textured silver circle. This compact is slightly more domed shape than that of my unused compact. The unused compact has the silver kneeling lady against a black square with a silver arch and silver deco lines aimed at her. This compact comes with a mirror also as well as the original poof which has a backing of silver with RICHARD HUDNUT printed in red. The rouge has Richard Hudnut embossed still and from the bit of coloring that has transferred to the poof, we can see that this shade is a bright orangey red. I am unsure which shade of rouge this was for or if it was part of the eye color matching line as the sticker on the bottom has been lost to time. It's the only thing missing from this otherwise perfect compact. That is of course unless there was some sort of cellophane separating the powder and puff.
My next two purchases also came from Etsy and Ebay as well. The Dusting Powder Tin is probably the next most common item for sale. This container use to store powder that one would dust over the body to soften and scent the skin. Like one would use baby powder today. Again, I wanted to restore and refill one of these tins, but none were both in my price range and my acceptable condition. So I put off the search for a while. It then so happened that I decided to browse Marvelous products for sale again when I happened across a listing for a completely unused Dusting Powder tin. However what sold me was that it came with the original puff and information sheet! Then I saw the price! It was too good to be true! It was comparable to the prices of empties that are listed on both Etsy and Ebay! I did not waste a second -- I hit Buy Now immediately! Oddly enough it was within the hour of buying the tin, that I was emailed a discount offer on a Marvelous lipstick I had in my watched items for a bit of time. I was on such a buy high that I had to accept that offer and bought the lipstick too!!
Having received the tin, I was amazed at how pretty the puff was! It is soft with a pocket for you to slide your fingers into when using the puff. It even still has the original tag attached to it! I can only imagine that this is pretty much exactly what the Tati Beauty Blendiful is like. Folks went mad over this "new, innovative" product of hers, which goes to show you that there is nothing new under the sun. Of course, I can only speculate that it is similar as I have never handled a Blendiful and I realize that one is meant to powder while one is meant to blend powder and liquid makeup products. It is the information insert in the Dusting Powder tin that I was most excited about!! I learned more about what products were available and could see a color chart intended for use of the products not designed for the eye matching lines. I mean, there was a Marvelous deodorant!! Can you believe it?
The lipstick was always meant to be a fixer upper. Like the rouge, I planned on cleaning, restoring, and matching the lipstick that still remained in the slide tube. This one was a bit grody, especially since the oils and base had separated over the years and created an unsightly buildup. I am guessing this is what is causing the push lever to cease up. Hopefully once I am able to give it a good cleaning, this will work itself out as well. I am excited to swatch the lipstick and see if I can't find a match for the color. Unlike the other products I have, the lipstick retained its original sticker and is designed for the eye color line. It is labeled Patrician for Blue Eyes. Sadly, my eyes are brown/hazel.
It was when I was trying to finish up details in order to film a video sharing my collection that once again I came across another product for sale. This time it was an empty mascara case. I hadn't seen one for sale since my Marvelous journey started, so once again I snatched it up without hesitation. Unfortunately, this one came without its original brush, but I figure I could replace it if I ever come across another mascara case for sale. The mascara case would have originally contained a mascara cake. Like the mascara cakes sold currently by Besame. Only this one would have been long and thin with Richard Hudnut embossed on it. Just like the Besame cakes, one would wet the brush, rub it in the cake, and then brush that onto one's eyelashes. It was interesting to me that the case had a metal lid, but the bottom was all a molded plastic. The plastic was thick and sturdy. I thought for sure the plastic would have been an insert. They definitely didn't cheap out when it came to this. I am assuming the bottom was made out of plastic (as opposed to the full metal seen with the rouge) because of the moisture introduced when activating the mascara. The moisture would have definitely destroyed the metal had it been made from it completely.
That is it. As of the date of posting this, that is my small collection of Marvelous products. I look forward to growing and using (packaging not products) my collection. Please feel free to watch the video I made about these items as well. Let me know if you too collect Marvelous or any other Richard Hudnut line by commenting below.
Thank you for reading this!
xoxo Lolita
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