Marilyn Monroe's makeup was flawless. It had
to be because of the cameras and lights that were fixed on her at red carpet
events. For this reason it took 6 hours to get her prepared for every
appearance she made. Each aspect of her makeup was carefully considered,
regarding her skin, lips and eyes.
To begin with, Marilyn placed a layer of thick
moisturiser, like Nivea Creme, all over her face to create an even base for her
foundation to sit on. It's always a good idea to moisturise your face before
adding makeup anyway, because it keeps your skin looking and feeling healthy.
This step added a shine to her skin that made her look more youthful. If you
have oily skin you might want to skip this step, or alternatively, apply a
lighter moisturiser.
They next step was her foundation, you can
use any brand/shade you're comfortable with- Marilyn liked to use Max Factor.
After she'd applied her foundation the next step was to contour and illuminate
/highlight her face. The purpose of contouring is to add definition to your
cheekbones (do the pouty fish face to find where you need to apply), jaw line,
temple/hairline and nose, just to pull everything together and make your face
look tighter. For this you'll need a bronzer WITHOUT glitter, try to get a
matte bronzer. There are many Youtube tutorials that can visually demonstrate
how to do this, but for now I'll say that the trick is not to add too much and
to blend afterwards or you'll end up with exaggerated orange/brown lines all
over your face. Marilyn liked to contour her face, particularly down the sides
of her nose, because even after her surgery to narrow it down she still felt it
was too big.
Again, the key to highlighting is to use very
little. Apply a small amount of the product on to your ring/little finger and
dab gently. Highlighting accentuates your best features and gives you a healthy
glow. At the minute Revlon do a nice selection of liquid skin illuminators in
different shades for different skin tones. The places Marilyn liked to
highlight were: the top of cheekbones, her Cupid's bow, the bottom of her chin,
along the brow bone, down the bridge and on the tip of the nose and her forehead.
Marilyn wasn't one to apply too much powder,
but a light dusting of setting powder can't hurt to make sure everything stays
where you want it. Nearly every cosmetic brand has a translucent powder.
For her eyes, Miss Monroe used two clever
techniques to make her eyelashes look fuller. After applying winged eyeliner
with a brown pencil she did two things to make her eyelashes look thicker: She
applied a line of white eye shadow just below her winged eyeliner to accentuate
it, and then- this is important- she would mirror the winged eyeliner on her
bottom lash line with a brown eye shadow or pencil to give the appearance that
her lashes were so thick and heavy they created a shadow. If you look very
closely at her eyes in photographs you can sometimes see this trick. Her second
trick was to push her false lashes down as the glue was drying to give a
sleepy, seductive look.
Now finally *drum roll* her lipstick. The famous red
lips. Or so you thought. It's important to acknowledge that despite popular
believe Miss Monroe did not wear red lipstick while she filming. Due
to the lighting and the quality of the film they were using at the time, a red
lip on set would appear bright orange on screen. Because of this Marilyn's
makeup artist used a selection of pinks of different shades. The trick to
making her lips look fuller was to use three different shades. The darkest pink
was used around the edges of her lips; the lighter pink was applied to the
middle of her lips- and then blended out so she didn't look like a clown. The
last step was to apply the smallest amount of white powder to the centre of her
lips. All of this gave a 3D effect giving Marilyn those famous pouty lips.
Lots of Love
Jessicat X
I wanted my first proper post on this blog to be about vintage-style Pin-Up makeup. If it's a look you've never tried before, or you're struggling with winged-eyeliner or creating the perfect red lip, there's lots of examples to copy from and help to be found. For a start there are many vintage-inspired Youtubers that do amazing online tutorials. Just a few examples are:
Cherry Dollface: https://www.youtube.com/user/Thecherrydollface
MissButterflyDaisy: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuO116AsXju1cUkRimaemBQ
PinupDollAshleyMarie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFePO_WlCZViwi-lz4qLulA
The classic Pin-Up Look consists of: Matte foundation, a red lip, winged-eyeliner, neutral eyeshadow, neatly filled in eyebrows (NO Scouse brows, please) and light blush. Celebrities I turn to for inspiration for this look are Marilyn Monroe (Obviously..) and the Burlesque Queen! Dita Von Teese.
Most people have difficulty with the eyeliner and lipstick. Winged eyeliner is tricky to those who haven't practiced it. My personal recommendation if you're a beginner is NOT to start with a liquid liner, because unless you've had a product recommendation you have to try dozens to find one that gives you the results you want, plus it's more difficult to control a liquid. The best type of liner that gives you a decent level of control (And a sharp pointy wing!) is a gel liner with a brush. Maybelline have a good one out at the moment that comes in black, brown and violet, which is around £7-9 in Boots/Superdrug. A decent gel liner doesn't fade/smudge during the day (you don't want panda eyes..). I'd recommend using this product until you're comfortable enough to try a liquid liner.
Another point I want to add to this is that although the classic look is a black coloured liner, you can make the look more wearable during the day by changing to a brown liner. This is what I do for days when I'm in university. It gives a softer, more natural effect, whilst still giving the same pin-up look.
(*Little interesting fact: Despite popular belief, Marilyn Monroe wore a brown pencil liner, not a black liquid.)
One technique to get a straight, pointed winged eyeliner, is... as silly as it sounds...to use cellotape. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. If you place the edge of the tape to line up with your bottom lash line it gives you just the right angle you want for your wing.
If you make a mistake, I recommend using a baby wipe or cotton earbud. Both of these are easier and quicker to use than makeup remover (Too much faffing).
Right. Red Lipstick.
It's not as scary as it looks. And one thing we need to tackle right now is men's hatred of it. If your man doesn't like the way you look in red lipstick... Well that's just tough. He won't get any kisses.
There's a shade for everyone, but mostly it matters on your colouring, specifically your undertone. SO, to explain: I am very pale and I have a blue undertone. A good lipstick for people with a blue undertone is MAC's Ruby Woo. Your best bet is to ask at a cosmetics counter for their assistance in finding you the right shade (Don't be scared, that's what they're there for).
While you're buying your lipstick don't forget to get a matching pencil lipliner too. This is important. A lipliner will not only keep the lipstick on for longer, but it stops the colour bleeding out above and below your mouth (Clown Alert).
THEN: Sharpen the lip pencil, go around your lips and create an outline, lightly fill the lips in with the pencil, add a layer of lipstick (using a lip brush, this is important because it gives you a more precise result) blott with tissue paper, and then add another layer of lipstick... And you should be done.. But don't worry if it doesn't look right the first time, it takes practice. Believe me.
That's it I think..
Lots of Love
Jessicat X
When I'm sat sighing over old black and white
photographs of dresses and hairstyles that I long for, or when I approach
my makeup in the morning and the first thing I want to achieve is killer
winged eyeliner and a red lip, I often wonder why it is that I am attracted to
vintage style so much.
For me, I can narrow 'Old Hollywood' into three
categories that I find myself inspired and influenced by: the notorious femme
fatale, the irresistable pin-up and the forever classy, by this I mean the
styles of Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn.
So what is it about vintage style that appeals to
women these days? Many of us in Western society are lucky enough to be at
liberty to make whatever lifestyle choices we want. So with this is mind why is it
that we still look back for the influences of icons such as Rita Hayworth, Ava
Gardner, Marilyn Monroe and Lana Turner, to name but a few. If we go back to
those catergories I think it is fairly simple to find a link between the
qualities that these ladies shared, to the type of woman females want to
represent in today's society.
If at first we look at the femme fatale. What is she?
Mysterious, charming, sensual. Many femme fatale characters are also
manipulative, but not in a petty way as you find in many of the leading ladies
of reality T.V shows. A femme fatale would use her intelligence to gain the
upperhand over, in many cases, an infatuated male. It is also worth a mention
that their acts of manipulation are not for cruel purposes, but to
reach a higher level of independence. In short these women demanded respect. Through this the femme fatale is beautiful, memorable and badass.
Now the pin-up. Who do we instantly think of? Come on,
you know.. It's the Queen. Miss Monroe. The 'Pin-Up Look' is still a makeup look
we want to achieve today, and why? Because when we wear it we feel pretty AND
sexy, but at the same time it makes us look neat and happy and healthy. For me
'Bedroom Eyes' and flawless skin are a must before I leave the house. But
there's something more: The origins of the pin-up. A pin-up was a poster of an
alluringly positioned lady for a lonely soldier to 'look' at *cough-cough* while he
was away at war, which suggests something else about a woman's character and it
shouldn't be whispered. Women are allowed to feel sexy and they love sex. Marilyn Monroe definitely
wasn't afraid to admit it. I recently watched an excellent documentary, which
described that sex to Marilyn was like icecream - Something to be enjoyed, easily and often. Again, this is another aspect of the female character
that women these days are striving to establish as a social norm.
And last, but definitely not least, the classy ladies.
I passionately believe that women such as Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn should be the
primary role models for young girls these days. When I think of either of these
ladies I think of eternal class, flawless careers (and outfits), infinite
charm, and above all, talent beyond a doubt. Women with dulcet tones and delightful manners, but
women who could also defend themselves with intelligence and fiery determination if
necessary.
For all these reasons, I support the massive following of Old HollyWood that I find on
websites like Tumblr and Youtube. I want it to continue and that's the reason I
want to create this blog. I will be posting as many vintage and
vintage-influenced photographs, articles, products and product recommendations
that I can find.
Lots of love,
Jessicat x
