Everyday Makeup: The 1920s

As I touched on in the 1910’s makeup post, societal thoughts throughout America and Europe changed drastically after the war. In Britain, women won the right to vote in 1918. American women won their suffrage two years later, and many European countries soon followed suit. In America, the 20s began with the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment which established the prohibition of alcohol. Although this, of course, stopped nothing. The stress and sorrow that came with the war left society with a “live like no tomorrow” outlook, leading to the extravagant, hedonistic decade we know as The Roaring 20s. This was a time when art and luxury thrived.

During the war, women’s roles changed like never before. Going into the 1920s, many were not-so-ready to let go of that newfound independence. With women outnumbering the male population after the war, they continued to stay in the workforce. More present in the public than ever before, the same pressure towards beauty lingered. However, with the evolution of women’s gender roles there was a great desire to redefine feminine expression. Dresses became thinner and looser, hair became shorter, and makeup became heavier.

The Basics of 1920s Makeup

Brows: With continuing success in the film industry, Hollywood starlets continued to influence beauty of the day. Because of actress Clara Bow, thin eyebrows became very popular for makeup looks at this time. It was popular to tweeze the brows ultra-thin and darken them with a line of eyeliner, sometimes extending the tail of the brow down towards the outer corner of the eye.

Eyes: Kohl eyeliner and shadows were used for dramatic eye looks. However, heavy eye makeup was not too common in most daily beauty rituals. Shadows were applied –typically with the fingers– on the top lid and the bottom lash line to contour the eyes. Eyeshadow was primarily in neutral brown, black, green, and blue. Whereas today, we angle our eyeshadows outward and upward towards the temples, it was trendy in to 20s to angle the eye-contour downwards past the outer corner of the eye to give the illusion of large doe eyes.

To line the eyes, kohl eyeliner is applied along the lashline. The line should not be harsh and would ideally just blend in with the lashline. One misconception I see often in 1920s recreation looks is the use of winged-liner. If a historically-accurate look is the goal, keep in mind that winged-liner was not on-trend until the 1950s.

Lips: An accentuated cupid’s bow was desired for a rose-bud effect. This is achieved by drawing the lipstick to defined points above the lip. Soft reds and oranges along with deep shades of red and pink were popular lipstick shades of the time.

Face: As for the face, it remained most sought after to be as pale as possible; however the obsessive association of paleness to wealth was slowly easing up, especially now that it was less looked down on for a woman to be in the workforce. As a result the purpose of facial powders was less for whitening and more to even out the complexion and to hold the rest of the makeup in place (now that they were wearing enough make up to hold into place).

The application of facial powders remain much the same as it did before, with rouge blended into the apples of the cheeks.

A note on everyday makeup: When we think women of the 1920s and their fashion, the image of the flapper comes to mind. We think of her with heavy, dark makeup, short fringe dresses, and a party-girl attitude. A niche style icon, she did not wholly represent women’s fashion and beauty of the time. An everyday makeup look for the average woman was still kept relatively light and simple.

My favorite products for the look

Wet n Wild lipsticks in shade “Will you be with me?”,”Just Garnet”, and “Honolulu is Calling”

LBCC Vegetal Red Rose Liquid Rouge, based off of a 1922 recipe

Besame Cosmetics Cake Mascara. My favorite because it can be used as mascara, eyeliner, and a brow filler.

For more about 1920s beauty and makeup inspiration, check out my

1920s Beauty Pinterest Board!

The Birth of Modern Beauty: The 1910s

Early silent film actress, Lillian Gish

As I discussed previously, makeup use had yet to be widely accepted during the Edwardian Era. Beauty was to be simple and natural and any obvious attempt to change one’s appearance through the use of cosmetics was viewed as –well– trashy. My favorite thing about the history of beauty is noticing the patterns of current events and how heavily they can challenge beauty ideals of the time.

Sirens of the Silver Screen

The experimentation of filmmaking continued to develop and the first film studios began popping up from coast to coast in America– the first one specifically happened to be Thomas Edison’s Motion Picture Patent Company which was located in New York. The short-lived company existed from 1908 to 1915; their most notable productions including Frankenstein (1910) and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1910). However, the popularity of the cinema did not pick up until the film industry moved out west and films became longer in time. Then, the actors and actresses starring in these films were finally seen as entertainers themselves.

With the new fixation on the actresses in these early films came the growing desire to appear as they did. Throughout most of history prior to the 1900s, women continued to DIY their own makeup or make new uses of the few makeup options that were available to achieve these looks. However, the growning fascination with the time’s popular culture lead to some of the first commercially available makeup products.

World War I

I’m sure we never would have thought that beauty and war could go hand-in-hand. Surprisingly, though, war has a very direct impact on the beauty trends. When The Great War began, the men across America and Europe left home to fight in the trenches. This meant that it was up to the women who stayed behind to pick up the men’s jobs to keep things going in their country. It was also common for women to volunteer for the Red Cross so they could aid the men who had been injured on the battlefield. A woman’s role became redefined as she did her duty for the sake of her country.

As a result, society felt the need to find ways to reinforce gender roles as women had to do jobs that were traditionally masculine. The use of makeup was now encouraged as a way to reinforce their femininity. The message in this was to remind both men and women that a woman’s main duty was still to her appearance. For the women volunteering in the Red Cross, the use of powders and perfumes were not allowed. However, it was still encouraged for these women to stay looking fresh-faced to help boost morale.

Personally, I find it sad that makeup use was only socially accepted in this era as a way to remind women of their place. In fact, you can see the same pattern just over 20-years later during World War II. Since then, there has always been a fine line between makeup being a tool for expression or a tool of oppression. While I myself love makeup, it’s an important correlation to make and we should keep it in mind in terms of today’s cosmetic industry.

The Firsts

Max Factor was a pioneer in modern makeup; he even coined the word “make-up”. The Max Factor brand was first developed in 1909 specifically for makeup on film stars. By 1916, he oppened up sales outside of the film industry, selling eyebrow pencils and eyeshadow to everyday people.

As for mascara, the first commercially available mascara was produced in 1917 by Eugene Rimmel. This was a cake mascara created from petroleum jelly and coal.

Lipstick, though used since ancient times, was not sold commercially until 1884 by Guerlain, a French perfume company that still exists today. The lipcolor was made with deer tallow, castor oil, beeswax, and pigment. These early commercial lipsticks were packaged in paper pots and tubes. It was not until 1915 that a man named Maurice Levy produced lipstick in cylindrical metal containers.

Get the look with modern products

Keep in mind, even though more accepted, the ideal look was “natural.” A light dusting of the face with powder and some dabs of rouge with light lipstick and eyes were ideal. Here are some modern products I love for creating an authentic 1910s beauty look:

1834 Perfumed Solid Kohl To Blacken the Eyelashes & Eyebrows

Fat and the Moon Lip Paint in Mortar & Pestle

Guerlain KissKiss Lipstick

Do you have any favorite products that you use for any historybounding looks? Name them in the comments and I’ll check it out!

Edwardian Beauty Trends: Everyday Makeup

Going into the 20th Century, the western world entered into a modern age of make-up. With the end of the Victorian period, the Edwardian period began with the short reign of King Edward VII from 1901-1910– the same period as the later years of La Belle Époque through Europe and the continued settlement of the American Frontier. This was a time of advances in photography, film, and transportation. In particular, the Edwardian era was a transitional time for women with growing literacy amongst women of all classes and a persistent interest in political involvement. During this period of the 1900s, women’s suffrage started to gain more support across America and Europe. Regardless of increasing support of women’s rights, however, there were still certain expectations as to what a lady should or shouldn’t put on her face.

When it comes to beauty trends during this period, make-up remained as simple as it was in the late 1800s. Pale skin continued to be a sign of wealth and a trait that many attempted to achieve with the use of lemon juice tonics and various face creams. Foundation was not commonly used except by actresses and “women of ill-repute.” Instead, blotting papers with a light dusting of powder were used to keep the face looking as naturally fresh as possible. A natural look during this period was ideal, so most available make-up consisted of blotting papers and pots of cream rouge. Rouge is a red-colored cream formula that was applied to the cheeks and lips for a natural pink glow. For the lips, rouge was applied very lightly for a natural bitten look rather than layered-on lipstick. At this point in the 1900s, a heavy use of makeup was frowned upon– beauty was simplicity.

Getting the look with modern products

Palladio Rice Paper Sheets are perfect blotting papers with on side dusted with facial powder. Can be used alone for a natural look or on top of foundation to keep the shine away. The Palladio Rice Paper is available in a small package to carry for your midday touch-ups. I also love that they are vegan, cruelty-free, and paraben free.

Fat and the Moon Ruby Red Tinted Balm is a wonderfully simple and versatile zero-waste, natural, and organic blush option. Marketed as a balm, you can still use it on your cheeks and it’s sheer enough to be a very authentic Edwardian blush –or you can just pinch your cheeks throughout the day.

Pond’s was founded in 1846. So, by the time the 1900s rolled around, this was already a well-established and trusted beauty product. Used as gentle cleansers and effective moisturizer, Pond’s Cold Cream continues to be a popular product today.