The beauty micrometer, also known as the beauty calibrator, was a device designed in the early 1930s to help in the identification of the areas of a person's face which need to have their appearance reduced or enhanced by

make-up Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources or created syn ...

. The inventors include famed beautician

Max Factor Sr. Max Factor Sr. (September 15, 1877 – August 30, 1938), born Maksymilian Faktorowicz, was a Polish-American businessman, beautician, entrepreneur and inventor. As a founder of the cosmetics giant Max Factor & Company, he largely develop ...

A 2013 ''

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

'' article described the device as "a '' Clockwork Orange'' style device" that combines "

phrenology Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the Human brain, brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific ...

, cosmetics and a withering pseudo-scientific analysis". A photograph of Factor, using the device on actress

Marjorie Reynolds Marjorie Reynolds ( Goodspeed; August 12, 1917 – February 1, 1997) was an American film and television actress who appeared in more than 50 films, including the 1942 musical ''Holiday Inn'', in which she and Bing Crosby introduced the song " ...

featured in a 1935 article in science magazine ''

Modern Mechanix ''Mechanix Illustrated'' is an American printed magazine that was originally published by Fawcett Publications. Its title was founded in 1928 to compete against the older ''Popular Science'' and ''Popular Mechanics''. Billed as "The How-To-Do M ...

'' and, when republished by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in 2013, the caption described it as being "a contraption that looks like an instrument of torture". Placed on and around the head and face, the beauty micrometer uses flexible metal strips which align with a person's facial features. The screws holding the strips in place allow for 325 adjustments, enabling the operator to make fine measurements with a precision of one

thousandth of an inch A thousandth of an inch is a derived unit of length in a system of units using inches. Equal to of an inch, a thousandth is commonly called a thou (used for both singular and plural) or, particularly in North America, a mil (plural mils). Th ...

. The inventors stated that there are two key measurements that they looked for: the heights of the nose and forehead should be the same, and the eyes should be separated by the width of one eye. When an imperfection is identified, corrective make-up can be applied to enhance or subdue the feature. The company

Max Factor Max Factor is a line of cosmetics from Coty, founded in 1909 as Max Factor & Company by Maksymilian Faktorowicz. Max Factor specialized in movie make-up. Until its 1973 sale for US$500 million (approximately $ billion in 2017 dollars), Max Fa ...

claims that the device helped Max Factor, Sr. to better understand the female face. The beauty micrometer was completed in 1932 and was primarily intended for use in the movie industry. When an actor's face is shown on a very large scale their "flaws" are magnified and can become "glaring distortions", according to the ''Modern Mechanix'' article. This device was intended to remedy the perceived problem, and the inventors also envisioned it being used in beauty shops. However, it did not become popular and did not gain widespread usage. Only one beauty micrometer is believed to exist. It is featured in a display at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum and came up for

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

in 2009, falling significantly short of the $10,000–$20,000 estimate.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=http://blog.modernmechanix.com/beauty-micrometer-analyzes-facial-flaws-for-makeup/ , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829054845/http://blog.modernmechanix.com/beauty-micrometer-analyzes-facial-flaws-for-makeup/ , archive-date=2012-08-29 , title="Beauty Micrometer" Analyzes Facial Flaws for Makeup (Jan, 1935) , website=Modern Mechanix , type=Blog {{cite web , url=http://blog.modernmechanix.com/machine-measures-beauty-of-face/ , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007013611/http://blog.modernmechanix.com/machine-measures-beauty-of-face/ , archive-date=2012-10-07 , title=Machine Measures Beauty of Face (Feb, 1933) , website=Modern Mechanix , type=Blog {{cite web , url=https://www.wired.com/table_of_malcontents/2007/04/max_factors_bea/ , title=Max Factor's Beauty Capacitor , magazine=Wired , date=April 24, 2007 , author=Brownlee, John , access-date=November 2, 2013 {{cite web , url=http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/09/01/080901crbo_books_updike?currentPage=all , title=Makeup and Make-Believe , magazine=New Yorker , date=September 1, 2008 , author=Updike, John , access-date=November 3, 2013 {{cite web , url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/picture/2013/aug/30/max-factor-beauty-mask-1934-photography , title=Max Factor and his beauty-measuring mask, 1934 – a picture from the past , newspaper=Guardian , date=August 30, 2013 , author=Andreasson, Karin , access-date=November 2, 2013 {{cite book , title=For Appearance' Sake: The Historical Encyclopedia of Good Looks, Beauty, and Grooming , publisher=Greenwood , isbn=1573562041 , date=March 30, 2001 , author=Sherrow, Victoria , pag
192
, url-access=registration , url=https://archive.org/details/forappearancesak00sher/page/192 {{cite web , url=https://maxfactor.co.uk/heritage/the-max-factor-story , title=The Max Factor Story – The Father of Make-Up , website=Max Factor , access-date=November 3, 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212032357/https://maxfactor.co.uk/heritage/the-max-factor-story , archive-date=December 12, 2013 {{cite web , url=http://www.lelalondon.com/2012/09/throwback-thursday-the-beauty-micrometer/ , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130715211752/http://www.lelalondon.com/2012/09/throwback-thursday-the-beauty-micrometer/ , archive-date=2013-07-15 , title=Throwback Thursday – The Beauty Micrometer , website=Lela London , date=September 6, 2012 , author=London, Lela , access-date=November 2, 2013 {{cite web , url=http://www.liveauctionworld.com/Beauty-Calibrator-Beauty-Micrometer-by-Max-Factor_i8750047 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030252/http://www.liveauctionworld.com/Beauty-Calibrator-Beauty-Micrometer-by-Max-Factor_i8750047 , archive-date=2016-03-04 , title=Beauty Calibrator {Beauty Micrometer} by Max Factor , website=Live Auction World , access-date=November 2, 2013 {{cite web , url=http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/8841841 , title=215: The Max Factor Beauty Calibration Machine , website=Live Auctioneers , access-date=November 2, 2013 Cosmetics Physiological instruments