Revlon products are sold in 150 countries and the company has many global locations including Mexico City, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Sydney, Singapore, and Tokyo.

[4] The three men started with one single product, a new type of nail enamel[4] and pooled their resources to develop a unique manufacturing process.

During World War II, Revlon created makeup and related products for the United States Army, which was honored in 1944 with the Army-Navy "E" Award for Excellence.

[citation needed] By the end of World War II, Revlon was the number two cosmetics producer in the United States.

[5] Expanding its capabilities, the company bought Graef & Schmidt, a cutlery manufacturer seized by the government in 1943 because of German business ties.

Other acquisitions, such as Ty-D-Bol, the maker of toilet cleansers, and a 27 percent interest in the Schick electric shaver company, were soon discarded.

In the mid-1980s, Revlon lost ground to Estée Lauder, and Armour Pharmaceutical's haemophilia product "Factorate" infected many people worldwide with HIV and hepatitis C.[14][15] Estee Lauder spent millions of dollars on numerous magazine ads featuring Czech supermodel Paulina Porizkova, shot by famed Chicago fashion photographer Victor Skrebneski.

Revlon compensated with more acquisitions; Max Factor, Ellen Betrix, Charles of the Ritz, Germaine Monteil, Almay, Fermodyl, Lancaster, Aziza, and Halston.

The 1977 acquisition of Carlos Colomer, a Spanish professional beauty supply distributor, brought Fermodyl and Roux and helped introduce Revlon to the world of ethnic care: Creme of Nature, Realistic, Lovely Color and Milk and Honey.

The buyout—engineered with the help of junk bond king Michael P. Milken—saddled Revlon with a huge $2.9 billion debt load, which became an albatross around the company's neck for years to come.

[17] Perelman filed suit in the Delaware Court of Chancery to force Revlon to accept Perelman's offer, and the resulting appellate decision, Revlon v. MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, was a landmark case in determining the obligations of public company directors in hostile takeover situations under Delaware law.

Additional make-up lines were purchased for Revlon: Max Factor in 1987 and Betrix in 1989, later sold to Procter & Gamble in 1991.

[19] In August 2013, Revlon Consumer Products Corp. bought the Colomer Group from CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm, for $660 million.

[23] On September 22, 2014, Revlon's board of directors elected Roberto Simon as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective as of Sept.

[34] In October 2024, it was announced Michelle Peluso, formerly of CVS Health, Gilt Groupe, and Travelocity would be joing as CEO of the company.

[35] On June 16, 2022, Revlon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after struggling with debt, rising competition, supply chain challenges, and falling behind evolving beauty standards.

"[42] MarketWatch quoted industry analysts and commentators as saying that bankruptcy would allow the firm a chance to refresh and regroup as it attempts to compete with newer brands, like Kylie Cosmetics or Fenty.

[45] In December 2022, Revlon announced plans to raise $650 million in equity and transferring majority of the ownership to senior leaders.

The company also announced plans to wipe out the interests of Ronald Perelman by striking an agreement with creditors to give lenders and bondholders ownership of the bankrupt cosmetics maker.

These ads were taken by the top fashion photographers of the day including Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, and John Rawlings.

Richard Avedon, however, after photographing other models for a particular Revlon ad, would call in Suzy at the last minute, sometimes late at night, to do re-takes with him.

This happened with "Stormy Pink," an ad Suzy shot very late at night with a wild white horse in the ocean.

[51] In the late 1970s, Revlon also made history when it created their line of cosmetics, specifically for women of color, called "The Polished Ambers Collection" and selected fashion model icon Iman to be featured in the advertising campaigns.

Revlon was also noted for featuring models of a wide age range in the 1980s, including 13-year-old Milla Jovovich and 60-year-old Audrey Hepburn.

[52] Despite the successful campaigns of the 1980s and 1990s featuring models, in particular Cindy Crawford, Revlon decided to drop fashion models and focus on movie stars, among them Kate Bosworth, Jaime King, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Melanie Griffith, Julianne Moore, Eva Mendes, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Connelly, Beau Garrett, Jessica Biel, Olivia Wilde, Emma Stone and Bond girls.

[56] In 2020, Korean-American singer, actress and fashion designer Jessica Jung was announced as the new global ambassador for the company.

[citation needed] In September 2010, Revlon, with global artistic director Gucci Westman and spokesmodel Halle Berry hosted an event at Fashion's Night Out in New York City to raise funds for the Jenesse Center, a Los Angeles organization for domestic violence victims.

[65] Revlon also hosted luncheons and various other events to benefit the center and partnered with then-online retailer drugstore.com to donate portions of lipstick sales to the organization.

[66] In September 2015, Revlon donated $1 million through its LOVE IS ON million-dollar challenge dedicated to women's cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.