I think by now on the blog it’s easy to grasp that I love and am very heavily influenced by vintage style, make-up, hair and aesthetics. Particularly, the period between 1920 to 1965 and specifically the 1940s and 1950s. The way women used to do their make-up and take care of their skin has influenced how I’ve done my make-up and my skincare routine for the best part of ten years.
My make-up look is not period specific for day to day make-up but a mixture of make-up fashions and styles across the decades. Most notably, I wear red lipstick, 1950s cat-eye liner, 1940s think pencilled eyebrows and 1920s style rouge. If I’m going for a period specific look and I have more time on my hands I will try to match my hair, foundation garments and make-up to match the style of clothing I’m wearing.
For hair I normally do a basic pin-curl set and style and brush it out in the morning. For most people their set and style will be different as your hair type will be different from mine. Google or internet search how to do a basic set and style with pin curls and adapt it to suit you. For my day to day set and style I go for a 1950s style curly bob look or roll my hair up at the back and add flowers or clips as accessories.
Now onto the make-up! I will wash my face with a mixture of cold water and eucalyptus oil and apply a layer of cold-cream. I will leave the cold cream on for a few minutes then rinse it off with a face cloth. The cold cream leaves your skin feeling soft and ready for applying foundation if you wear foundation.
Next foundation, concealer or no base make-up at all! A lot of vintage enthusiasts will either go without foundation or use a really pale foundation, powder or concealer for that pale, flawless skin that was fashionable between the 1920s and 1960s. If I’m using foundation I use Chanel (check shade) and apply it with my ring finger in upward strokes.
I then apply blush to the apples of my checks in circles and blend in for a 1920s style blush look. After this I’ll brush out my eyebrows using the end of this Boots Natural brown eyeliner pencil and fill in my eyebrows. I pluck my eyebrows myself and use my eyeliner to measure the start and end of my eyebrows to pluck them correctly.
I use a little Vaseline (another vintage make-up tip!) to keep my eyebrows in place and then pluck any stray hairs. After this, I add on some pale peach eyeshadow and draw on my cat-eye eyeliner. A tip for putting on this eyeliner is to lean your arm against the mirror/wall to keep your hand steady.
I then finish of with some mascara and a squirt of Chanel No5 (as any vintage girl worth their salt wears Chanel No5 as it is such a classic perfume). Next, I’ll take out my pin curls and use a soft brush to paddle brush the curls over the back of my hand and form curls with my hands. I will use a tail comb to fix any loose hairs and spray liberally with L’Oreal hairspray. Et voila! I’m ready for a day of awesome vintage-ness!
