In November, , the N. Payot et Y. Beaumevieille S. I know next to nothing of Yvonne Beaumevieille, and verifiable information about the origins and the activities of Dr. Payot, before are also very thin. Her graduation as a doctor is the first record I have for her. It was completed in June, , just before his marriage to Nadia. The newlyweds left for Argentina where Edmond took up a position working on the Gran Chaco railway while, I assume, Nadia practiced as a doctor.
The couple remained in South America until December, when they sailed on the S. Vestres from Buenos Aires to New York. In the United States, Edmond took up a position with J. In , they returned to Paris where Edmond was employed on an assortment of public projects before helping Nadia expand her business.
There is an unconfirmed report that she set up a cosmetic laboratory to grind powders in a house at 6 Rue Cuny, Bois-Colombes in If true, this suggests that she may have been involved in the beauty business well before The N. L was based at 12 Rue Richepanse, Paris.
The establishment, which included a sales room, offices and treatment rooms, was inaugurated on Sunday 25th March, with additional facilities opened at 10 Rue Richepanse in May, Above: c. Clients would take the lift on the left to the treatment rooms upstairs Smithsonian. Photographs indicate that Nadia had her own office and probably did consultations there.
Nadia was photographed in the treatment rooms but it seems likely that the day-to-day operation of the salon was left to Yvonne Beaumevieille, the salon directrice whose social connections would have helped bring in clients. She partnered with Dr. Payot and others to establish the business Smithsonian. In , the company was renamed the Laboratoire du Docteur N. Payot products and methods were soon adopted by others.
