In 1916, hairdresser Charles Jundt took over the Manhattan beauty salon of the New York City Ritz (later the Ritz-Carlton) hotel.
In 1932, at the age of 24, Richard B. Salomon was named president of Charles of the Ritz, Inc. Twenty years later, he was elected chairman and chief executive officer.
Charles of the Ritz expanded distribution from upscale salons into upper-end department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.
In 1984 Charles of the Ritz launched Forever Krystle and Carrington, successful fragrances based on American television drama Dynasty characters.
In 1986, Squibb sold the entire division back to Yves Saint Laurent for $500 million, who invested heavily in a new men's fragrance called Jazz.
Still reeling from its unsuccessful takeover attempt of Gillette in 1983, Revlon declared they were interested in several acquisitions and also bought Max Factor, Almay, Halston, Borghese, and Germaine Monteil.