Avon

Avon traces back to 1886, when travelling book salesman David H. McConnell found that the perfume samples he gave away were more popular than the books, and founded what became the California Perfume Company. Renamed Avon in 1939, it built one of the largest direct-sales networks in the world, putting millions of women into paid sales work decades before that was ordinary and reaching customers far outside department-store retail.

Its makeup range — Anew skincare, True Color complexion products, Glimmersticks eyeliners and the long-running Skin So Soft line — is priced for volume and sold largely through representatives and catalogue ordering, though the brand has moved substantially online. Avon's historical significance is hard to overstate: much of what modern beauty takes for granted about sampling, representatives and direct customer relationships started here.