Clairol is a personal care products division of Procter & Gamble and was started in 1931 by Americans, Lawrence and Joan Gelb, after discovering hair-coloring preparations whilst traveling in France. The company was widely recognized in its home country of the United States for the "Miss Clairol" home hair coloring kit that was introduced in 1956, and, by 1959, Clairol was popularly considered to be the leading company in the US hair coloring industry. In 2004, Clairol registered annual sales worth approximately USD$1.6 billion from the sale of its hair products. As of 2012, Clairol... manufactures hair coloring products that are sold under the brand names, "Natural Instincts", "Nice ’n Easy" and "Perfect Lights". In 1949, the single-step Miss Clairol Hair Color Bath was introduced to the U.S. beauty industry. When Clairol sales representatives gave a live demonstration of Miss Clairol at the International Beauty Show in New York City, thousands of hairdressers and beauticians gathered to watch. Bruce Gelb, son of Lawrence and Joan and a former Clairol executive, described the scene in the New Yorker article: “They were astonished.
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