Gothic Horror: Workshop week 1

So good to be in Southampton after Christmas holiday! I got here earlier than I should have, as we were supposed to start the classes on the 25th. Two more weeks and no Uni= boredom. But, fortunately, our lovely teachers organised some makeup and hair workshops for those who want to learn how the style was back in 40's and 50's. I worked with my lovely and talented classmate and friend, Simona. I was her model for the 40's, as we thought I am suitable. Firstly, Simona did the hair, as Helen taught us: she applied rollers all over my hair, and she made two front sections and rolled them as pin curls. For the makeup, she chose something simple. Foundation, deep pink cheeks, a little bit of brown eye shadow on the eyelids and mascara. But because the makeup was quite simple, she added deep red lipstick on my lips, though that was the style. Here's the final look:

I think that's my favorite period of all times. This pin up hairstyle completed with a red lipstick is my idea of elegance, feminine and beauty.

Rolls are quintessential 1940s and an essential part of defining the decade’s look.

Rolls were a totally flexible element of a hairstyle – women could shape and position rolls as they wanted. The hair could be brushed smooth or it could have waves.Rolls could be situated on the top of the head, at the sides, coming back from the forehead or along the back.Side rolls could be positioned wherever. They could be symmetrical on each side of the face, or not symmetrical at all, or there could be just one roll!If needed, the shape and stability of a roll could be helped with backcombing and by using rats – and everything would be held in places with hair pins.A smooth roll going all round the sides and back of the hair that was curled under was a pageboy. This style suited medium or longer hair to be able to achieve the roll. Veronica Lake had a long pageboy.

For the 60's style, Simona was the one who modelled for me. She was suitable cause she has got deep rounded eyes and light hair. I curled her hair with rollers, then I created a front section which I back combed it and left only two pieces of hair on both sides. I fixed the rest of the hair in a low pony tail, as Helen showed us. In the 60's, the makeup is deeper and 'heavier' than the 40's.1960s high-fashion makeup became all about the eyes – the rest of the face was kept more soft and natural, or pale and understated. False lashes were incredibly popular – the accessory of the decade. The strip that bottom lashes came on could be annoying, so girls would cut them into smaller pieces, or just drew them with black eyeliner. Powder eye shadows were matte. You could also get eye crayons and liquid eye makeup in a tube (e.g. Revlon’s Eye Velvet, a matte product available in several shades of green, blue and purple). Compacts containing several colours were available. The mod eye makeup look, exemplified by model Twiggy, was the distinctive black eye shadow line in the crease with a pale eye lid. White was the colour to have, though other colours were worn as well, especially blues and greens.

The fashionable dark crease line was left as a sharp definite line – it wasn’t blended or smudged at all – and was applied in an arch from inner eye to outer eye. Using a darker colour in the crease hadn’t really been done before and this fashion continues today, albeit using various colours and a lot more blending.

Continuing on from the ’50s, the upper eye line was in vogue, flicked out and up at the ends. Eye liner came in pencil, cake and liquid formats in a variety of colours. If someone didn’t have an actual eye liner, block mascara or Max Factor’s Pan-Cake (black was no. 2880!) were good substitutes. If false lashes were worn, eye liner could be used to cover over the edge of the lash strip. Eye liner could be used to paint on bottom lashes (like Twiggy was sometimes seen with).

Eye brows were groomed, shaped and defined with a brow pencil. The thickness of the brow and amount of pencil used ranged from a tweezed lighter touch (e.g. Twiggy) to a heavier pencilled look (e.g. Elizabeth Taylor).Pastel colours like corals, pinks and peach were the fashionable colours, and the look geared towards natural and soft. The trend of applying blusher to more than just the cheeks started in about 1963, and was meant to create a natural glow to the face. A swoosh of colour was added to temples, the hairline and under the jaw to add warmth and subtle definition. Blushers came in a variety of formulations including cream in a tube or pot, liquid washes, solid cakes and a cream that was applied with a damp sponge. Blushers were matte and free from shimmer and glitter.

Corals, pinks and peach were the fashionable colours, as well as beige-pink nudes.Keeping the mouth understated, lips were naturally defined and not lined with a lip pencil.Reds, pinks and browns were still available, being fashionable at the start of the decade and coming back in towards the late ’60s.Traditional lipsticks were mainly matte (though Vaseline could be used to add a sheen if really wanted), though there were lipsticks designed tocreate a sheen. Yardley’s Lip Slickers added a hint of sheen and could be worn over or under lipstick, or just on its own.Revlon had Moon Drops, which gave lips a wet-look sheen, and Max Factor had UltraLucent Cremelipstick.Quite a few pictures in makeup adverts and fashion magazines show models wearing a soft red colour on their top lip and candy pink on the bottom lip (see first Yardley advert at top of page).Lipsticks came in the standard tube and the lipstick was generally rounded at the tip, shaped like a bullet. Long slim tubes were a fashionable design. Lip brushes could also be used to apply the lipstick.

http://hair-and-makeup-artist.com/womens-1960s-makeup/

The final result: