The story
Benefit was founded by the twin sisters Jean and Jane Ford. Born in Indiana, they attended Indiana University before moving to San Francisco. In 1976, the twins opened a beauty boutique named "The Face Place" in San Francisco's Mission District. The Face Place later moved to Kearny Street in downtown San Francisco in the 1980s.
In 1989, the Face Place product catalog was developed. The Fords then focused on department store distribution and renamed the company Benefit Cosmetics in 1990. In 1991, Benefit opened its first U.S. department store in Henri Bendel, located in New York City. In 1997, Benefit went international with its expansion into Harrods in London. Soon after, the Benefit Cosmetics product website was launched.
LVMH acquired Benefit Cosmetics on September 14, 1999. In 2001, Benefit launched its first bath and boudoir line, Bathina. Benefit opened its first "Brow Bar" (a boutique specializing in brow shaping) in 2003, at Macy's Union Square, San Francisco.
From Wikipedia’s article on Benefit Cosmetics, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4