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Dear Atria, looking at the pictures you may think they show some sort of middle-ages torture machine, but surprisingly not - it's actually the Max Factor beauty calibration machine.
In 1932, makeup legend Max Factor came up with an ingenious invention combining phrenology, cosmetics and a pseudo-scientific analysis of a woman's physical flaws. Max Factor's 'Beauty Calibrator' enabled Hollywood makeup artists to pinpoint where facial corrections needed to be made. This machine, also known to the trades as the Beauty Micrometer, revealed that a natural 'Perfect Face' was a myth.
In 1932, makeup legend Max Factor came up with an ingenious invention combining phrenology, cosmetics and a pseudo-scientific analysis of a woman's physical flaws. Max Factor's 'Beauty Calibrator' enabled Hollywood makeup artists to pinpoint where facial corrections needed to be made. This machine, also known to the trades as the Beauty Micrometer, revealed that a natural 'Perfect Face' was a myth.
Flaws almost invisible to the ordinary eye become glaring distortions when thrown upon the screen in high, magnified images... the device, remotely resembling a baseball mask, fits over the head and face with flexible metal strips which conform closely to the various features. The strips are held in place by set screws, allowing for 325 possible adjustments. If, for instance, the subject's nose is slightly crooked - so slightly, in fact, that it escapes ordinary observation - the flaw is promptly detected by the instrument and corrective makeup is applied by an experienced makeup artist.
Max Factor Cosmetics Co., 1932
We have seen the Beauty Calibrator made by Max Factor at Hollywood Museum when visiting with Baba. It is the only one in existence. The concept is that the human face has 'flaws' which can be detected by the wire cage wrapped around the head and can then be 'corrected' with pancake shading makeup applied precisely in strategic areas to achieve the 'perfect face'.
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