Many inventions are designed to make our daily lives easier. A lot of those new inventions were patented by men, which means that statistically, some products for women were also invented by them. It doesn’t matter if their ultimate goal is to be rich, famous, or to help women, these genius inventions are extremely useful, and many of them haven’t changed their design in decades.
1. Hair conditioner
At the beginning of the 20th century, the French perfumer Edouard Pinot brought his new invention to the World Exhibition in Paris – a mustache and beard conditioner. It contained special oils and did a great job of conditioning the hair. At some point, hair conditioner became a staple in every woman’s daily routine, and now it’s used by men, women, and probably even dogs—anything with hair.
2. Handbags
This women’s accessory was invented by a man. Samuel Parkinson and his wife were going on a trip, and he noticed that the usual cloth bag that women usually carry for personal belongings would not survive the long journey. He decided to try something different and ordered several small bags in various sizes from his tanner – HJ Cave. We can only imagine how excited Parkinson’s wife was when she received those one-of-a-kind designer handbags.
3. Bobby pins
These little metal objects are always lost and not always around when you need them. And, according to Hollywood, bobby pins are the best lockpicks money can buy. So who invented them and why are they called “bobby” needles? Remember those good old days in the 50s when every other girl was rocking bobbed haircuts? Neither do I, but Louis Marcus is partly responsible for inventing these pins for that particular hairstyle.
4. Curling iron
Speaking of hairstyles, another big trend called the “Marcel Curl” in 1872 was thanks to Marcel Cato, who popularized the curling iron. The funny thing is, he wasn’t even the one who invented it. That honor went to Hiram Maxim, who patented his strange invention in 1866. However, Marcel developed his own device in 1890 because the old one would often burn the hair when used by a normal person.
5. Fake nails
It’s a different one. You’d think some beauty-obsessed fashion freak or something invented fake nails, but actually, a dentist made them. Fred accidentally broke one of his nails while doing some slack work. It didn’t take long for Slack to think of a way to fix that by creating a fake one. Since then, men and women around the world have been wearing artificial nails in all kinds of situations.
6. Straps
Sanitary pads were first used on the battlefield to prevent bleeding on the battlefield. It was Benjamin Franklin who saved thousands of lives with this nifty product. Franklin’s sanitary pads also inspired the creation of paper napkins, which helped the two Johnson brothers launch their little-known company, Johnson & Johnson, in 1888.
7. Hair dye
In 1907, chemist Eugene Schuller invented and patented the first permanent and safe hair dye. Before this, women used henna or harsh chemicals to change their hair color. Young Schuller saw how upset his wife was because she couldn’t find the right shade, so he came up with a solution. This is how Aureole dye was born, but you may know it by its modern name – L’Oreal.
8. Mascara
Mascara was invented by English cosmetics merchant Eugene Rimmel in the 19th century, but didn’t become popular until Terry Williams perfected the composition and pushed it into the world of cinema in the early 20th century. Originally, her mascara was made from coal and petroleum jelly, but it was very unstable. Over time, Williams added some wax and applied it to the cones with brushes.
