Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on August 17, 1906, Hazel Bishop graduated from Barnard College in 1929 and attended graduate night courses at Columbia University while working as a hospital technician. From 1935 to 1942 she was an assistant in a dermatological laboratory, and in the latter year she took a job as an organic chemist with the Standard Oil Development Company. From 1945 to 1950 she worked in a similar capacity for the Socony Vacuum Oil Company.
In 1949, after a long series of home experiments, she succeeded in perfecting a lipstick that stayed on the lips longer than any then available. In 1950 she formed Hazel Bishop, Inc., to manufacture her ╥Lasting Lipstick.╙ The lipstick was a great success in the market, and rival manufacturers soon introduced similar ╥non smear╙ products. She was president of the firm until November 1951, when she resigned in a dispute with the majority stockholder. A lawsuit was finally settled in 1954, by which time Hazel Bishop, Inc., had annual sales in excess of $10 million, and in selling her interest she severed all connection with the firm.
She then organized Hazel Bishop Laboratories to conduct research into consumer-oriented chemical products. A leather cleaner was developed in 1955 and other personal care and cosmetic products followed, various other companies being formed to manufacture them. In November 1962 she became a registered agent for the brokerage firm of Bache and Company. She was successful on Wall Street and some years later became a financial analyst for Evans and Company. Hazel Bishop was a member of numerous professional organizations.
