Make It Up Monday: Making It Up By Decade - 1940's Femininity

Posted by Heather Coopersmith on May 16, 2016

The Mother of Glamour: The 1940’s When I began writing these articles focussing on beauty trends through the decades, I became fascinated by the different techniques women utilized to look and feel beautiful. The 1940’s saw the emergence of a new sense of empowered femininity that women sought to achieve while their husbands were out fighting the war. The 1940's was all about a heavy foundation darker than your skin tone, penciled in brows with the arch closer to the outer edge, the ever so famous winged liner look, LASHES that had a flutter effect and red lips! This era of beauty has not only stood the test of time but continues to have an impact on the industry as a whole: Dita Von Teese is a prime example of 1940s GLAM! War times were tough financially and the ladies of the time got very creative with products…

5 Clever Beauty Tricks of the Day

1. Women used to shave their eyebrows so they could draw them on...but get this....they did this with charcoal!. They also added Olive Oil or Petroleum Jelly on top of their natural hair penciled in brows for sheen...well, all I can say is, if it was windy outside...them brows weren't going anywhere!! 2. For mascara, women used to mix Petroleum Jelly with coal dust and apply with a fine brush. Can you imagine how heavy your lashes must have felt and what if, heavens-to-Betsy, they teared up? Kudos for the ingenuity! 3. Another super interesting beauty fact, nylons became a sensation but many could not afford them so women used gravy browning (oooffftah) or warm tea bags to color the legs. They even drew a line with charcoal down the back of the leg to give it a true nylon effect...brilliant, I say!! 4. Women used Petroleum Jelly under their eyes at night to help with puffiness...yeah! Throw an ice cube over it in the morning for a couple of seconds....GOLDEN! 5. A creative and easy way to get the rougey, pinched cheek look....just take some of that red lipstick indicative of this era and in a circular motion add to your cheeks...instant flushed look! The motto of the day was put your "Best Face Forward." I am humbled that women made such efforts to look their best during such a troubled time. Women are inspiring, strong and beautiful inside and out. Whether you are applying tea bags to your legs or applying a Ruby Red lipstick from MAC to those lips and cheeks, beauty comes from within and everything else is a cherry on top!

Featured Image Credit

Vintage Woman - Maybelline www.maybelline.com.