Clairol is a personal-care-product division of company Procter & Gamble, specializing in hair-coloring and hair care that begun in 1931 by Americans Lawrence and Joan Gelb, along with business partner and lifelong friend, James Romeo, after discovering hair-coloring preparations while traveling in France. The company was widely recognized in its home country, the United States, for its "Miss Clairol" home hair-coloring kit introduced in 1956. By 1959, Clairol was considered the leading company in the U.S. hair-coloring industry. In 2004, Clairol registered annual sales worth approximately US$1.6 billion from the sale of its hair products. As of 2014, Clairol manufactures hair-coloring products sold under the brand names "Natural Instincts", "Nice 'n Easy" and "Perfect Lights".