the-mad-curator:

Max Factor’s Beauty Micrometer, 1934
In the 1930′s, make-up legend Max Factor came up with an ingenious invention combining phrenology, cosmetics and a withering pseudo-scientific analysis of a woman’s physical flaws, This “Clockwork Orange” style device analyzes facial ugliness. As the article which contains this image explains:

“Flaws almost invisible to the ordinary eye become glaring dist

ortions when thrown upon the screen in highly 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 operator.”