The Vintage Mafia - Sunday Sale and Social pt 1

Yes people, part 1, because we will definitely be back for more.

Our inaugural sale at the Love Shake went very well - we were rammed from 3:30 - 5:30 and then things slowed down but I went away with more money and less stuff than I started with and that is a success in my book!

We were true to our brief and made sure everything was reasonably priced  - none of  your vintage fair style inflation here my lovelies.

I also got to catch up with some chums I hadn't seen for ages and drink a particularly delicious strawberry shake.

Yes, a fun time was had by all.

Please make sure you pop down next time (if you can) to say hello, eat, drink (there is beer and wine too) and peruse our very reasonably priced vintage clothing and accessories  from the 40's - 80s.

Another make-up look - 1930-ish

Hello lovelies.

As you can probably tell, I'm getting all overexc ited with my make-up at the moment.  This is because I have decided to take a make-up artist course later in the year.  I need to learn something new and it might as well be something I will love and use so make-up it is.

This morning, whilst getting ready for our sale (anyone in London - please come to this today and say hello) I decided to try an earlier look - so I combined a couple of the 20's faces in Lauren Rennells' book (see previous post) to create this which I think looks like a late 20's early 30's makeup:

Face: 

• Revlon Colorstay foundation - 110 Ivory
• Coty Airspun loose powder - Translucent Extra Coverage
• MAC blush - Dame

Eyes:

• Natural Collection eyeshadow - Spring Green
• Besame eyeshadow - Pistachio
• MAC eyeshadow -  Vanilla
• Max Factor kohl pencil - 020 black
• Rimmel professional brow pencil - 002 Hazel
• Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara - black
• Ellnet hairspray on a brush to set brows

Lips:

• MAC liner - Redd
• MAC liner - Cherry
• Besame lipstick - Carmine

So, foundation and powder - no under eye concealer today, too lazy.  I then started on the eyes.  I used the Spring green in a light wash all over the lid and up to the brow and then the pistachio, a dark, shimmery colour just in the inner corner or the eye.  The MAC Vanilla used on the outer eye, above the crease to create a fade effect across.

The brows were different, I don't have thin enough brows for a real 30's look so went for the sort of stubby late 20's effect that some actresses seemed to favour at the time by concealing the hairs at the tail of the brow and squaring off the shape with pencil.  This does look fairly obvious close up, as you can see but I can live with that util I get my hands on a less gingery pencil.

The lips are the other main change, here the top lip is under, rather than overdrawn, creating a more rosebud effect in comparison to yesterdays wartime frown.  The cupid's bow is rounded and then the line to the corner dips down.  For this I used Besame Carmine, one of my very favourite lip colours - an orange with just a touch of milkiness to it.  I darkened the very inner corner of the mouth with a darker lipliner to add a little depth.

I like this look, though clearly my brows are far too big.  It is quite different from my usual 40's look for which I very rarely use coloured eyeshadow, if any at all. 

I'm feeling a bit Bette Davis in "Of Human Bondage" with all this make-up on and crazy frizzy hair.

Book review and practical: Retro Makeup - Lauren Rennells

Morning all, and what a very fine morning it is too.  I've had 12 hours sleep and have nothing to do today except watch Poirot and knit.  Lovely.  Oh, and wade through six months of ignored messages on OKCupid, but I might not bother with that, it is always so disheartening.

Anyway, today I want to bring to you a review of Lauren Rennells new book, "Retro Makeup - techniques for applying the vintage look."  A good few of you will be familiar with Rennells work after her book on vintage hairdressing proved so popular.  I still only have the first edition, bad me.

Anyway - back to the make up.

I received the book on Thursday and tried the first look from it yesterday morning (pics to come).  It is a very clearly written book, providing plenty of fascinating history of makeup from Victorian times onward and with tutorials for looks from the 20's to the 60's.

I love this book for a number of reasons - firstly it is really good to read about make up history, about which products were available and how they were used and what women were trying to achieve.  I especially love that the book confirms my belief that make up pre 1950 wasn't all matte.  I've done plenty of my own research on this and yes - lip glosses were made in the 30's as were shimmering eyeshadows.  I don't know where this belief that everything was matte came from.  I have a feeling it is down to most of our images of make up of the era coming from movie star screenshots where shimmer products would not have been used so readily due to lighting issues and the like.

I also love the attention to detail given to what I see as the two pillars of a vintage face; lip and eyebrow shape.

Finally, I love that the book does not recommend any particular brand or particular products (Besame is mentioned but not insisted upon) - very useful for those of us on a beauty budget - we can't all afford to use 100% MAC after all, and so many make up tutorials seem reliant on the big brands that it is nice to see something that isn't pushing you toward high end products.

Now - to the actual looks.  A few looks are given for each era with recommendations for all skintones.  This is a great thing as it is useful to see more than just a flapper for the 20's, a Harlow for the 30's and a red lip for the 40's.  Yes, these are the "classic" looks but they certainly weren't the only ones.  A refreshing touch of realism.

The look I tried yesterday was a wartime one, late 30's - early 40s.  The look is based on Hedy Lamarr's strong face and is one which is very beginner friendly (yay) and which can easily be taken from day to evening.

I started with a matte base of foundation and powder (all products listed below) and then focused on the eyebrows before anything else.  I used tips in the book to accentuate my natural arch and make my thick brows appear thinner without over plucking (a combination of hairspray on a brush and then pinching the hairs together as well as concealing some hairs with makeup)  very useful I must say.  I was pleased with the results.  I then darkened and defined my brows with pencil and lifted them with a highlighter.

The entire lid was powdered with a neutral and ever so slightly shimmery shadow and then a thin line of black eyeliner applied across the upper lashline.  Quite a departure for me as I am usually a liquid eyeliner devotee despite it not being 30's/40's correct.n  I added a light coat of black mascara to gently curled lashes.

Only after completing the eyes did I put on my blusher, I didn't want the blusher to look to heavy and that is always a danger when applying before eye makeup.  I like a heavy blusher look usually but this face doesn't need it.

Finally I moved onto lips.  This is a heavily overdrawn mouth - here the top lip only is overdrawn from the tip of the cupids bow and out over the end of the upper lip slightly to give a slight false frown look, part of Ms Lamarr's dramatic and serious image.

I'm afraid I hadn't set my hair so you will have to put up with my Shoreditch topknot.  Try to imagine centre parted brunette curls please instead of a yellow mess.

Products used:

Face: 

• Revlon Colorstay foundation - 110 Ivory
• YSL Touche Eclat
• Coty Airspun loose powder - Translucent Extra Coverage
• MAC blush - Dame

Eyes:

• Natural Collection eyeshadow - seashell
• Max Factor kohl pencil - 020 black
• Benefit eye bright pencil (in the water line and at the arch of the brow)
• Benefit Boi-ing concealer to cover hairs at the under/inner point of brow for a thinning effect
• Rimmel professional brow pencil - 002 Hazel
• Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara - black
• Ellnet hairspray on a brush to set brows

Lips:

• MAC liner - Cherry
• MAC lipstick - Ruby Woo

This is a good bold but not over the top daytime look, and with the addition of false lashes, a shimmery gold shadow, a darker lipstick or, if you are me, all of the above, it would make a fantastically dramatic evening face too.

I'm no expert, and my application is far from perfect, but I'm very pleased with it myself.

I thoroughly recommend the book as being very useful for both the beginner and the practised vintage makeup wearer.

Happy Birthday Coca-Cola!

Yes, I am a few days early, Coke’s official birthday is on Sunday when it turns 125, but I’m an eager sort of girl and couldn’t wait.

I love Coca-Cola – not that diet muck, the full calorie, full caffeine Coca-Cola is the one for me.  I know it is bad, with its 7 spoons of sugar per can, but when a gal needs perking up on a hot day or after a hot night on the town, nothing seems to do the job better than an ice cold coke.

To celebrate it’s big birthday, Coke are reissuing their original glass bottle from 1899; known as the Hutchinson or “Hutch” this is the more square bottle with embossed glass which preceded the curved bottle that we are so familiar with.

It wasn’t until 1916 that the contour bottle came into creation, it was a very deliberate marketing ploy, a bid to pull away from copycat brands.  The curved shape and striations made it easy to pick out, as at this time , without refrigeration, bottles were kept underwater and it helped to be able to “feel” what you wanted when you couldn’t see it!

The design was a winner and in 1950 it was the first commercial product to be featured on the cover of TIME magazine, despite this however, the design was not trademarked until 1977.

These limited edition bottles are being served at the 50’s retro Coca-Cola soda bar in Selfridges which opened on 17 June.  I’m planning to make a visit soon as it is only open for four more weeks!

Anyone fancy a soda?

Beauty find - Salux Bath Cloth

I'm a lazy person - a lazy blogger, late sleeper, domestic slattern - and so I'm always looking for the easy way to do things.  I write my blog posts in my lunch break at work, bathe at night so I can get up later and clean during the ad breaks.  Yep - lazy but clever...

One of the things I'm usually far too lazy to do is exfoliation.  I know it is important, it makes your skin feel smoother and look healthier and all that jazz.  Who wants their body to be grey and rough - not me.  Most exfoliants don't work for me though- products with granules need rinsing out of the bath (ugh), body brushing adds a whole new step to your routine (blah), those shower puff things are all suds and no action (meh), those glove things - it takes ages to get them on and my cats seem to think they are fish and steal them out the bath (hah!) and loofahs, don't remind me of the dank odour of a slowly rotting loofah (gag).

As a result I'd given up on the whole exfoliating business for a while, I've been single for 18 months or so and frankly couldn't be bothered with that level of upkeep if no one was going to marvel at the after effects of all that work.  Then I stumbled upon the recommendations section of Makeupalley and saw the rave reviews on this product - the Salux Bath cloth.  The Alley is rarely wrong and I decided to give the Salux cloth a go.

I ordered mine from eBay, all suppliers seem to ship from overseas and so I was surprised when my cloths arrived within the week.  Brilliant service.  The cloths themselves are long and fairly narrow and made of a similar stuff to those exfoliating mitts but in a much more user friendly towel form.  They come in a variety of colours and while apparently they come in two weaves they feel the same to me - both devilish rough!

I was scared to try these at first, they are rather vicious feeling things, but after lathering up with one in a long hot bath, I have to say I am sold.  They are rough but not too rough, easy to use either balled up or stretched out - enabling you to get to every hard to reach bit of your back.  They dry quickly, are cheap, long lasting and hygienic and, frankly, make my skin feel absolutely incredible.  I've been stroking my arms in admiration all day as a result.  Vain, moi?

So, I'm back to my smooth and glowing best.  All I need now is someone else to stroke me....any volunteers?  ;-)

Old Movie Madness: The Divorcee (1930)

I'm fairly new to Norma Shearer, she isn't an actress I've ever felt particularly drawn to and so this was an experiment for me.

The Divorcee is the story of Jerri Bernard and Ted Martin - a well to do society couple. Opening on their engagement the film starts with both celebration and tragedy as one of Jerry's spurned lovers drinks too much and causes a car accident in which one of their female friends is horribly disfigured.

Fast forward to their third anniversary and the golden couple seem as happy as ever until Ted's sour faced mistress crashes their party. Hurt and embarassed, Jerry cannot forgive Ted his indiscretion and attempts to even up the playing field with a one night dalliance while Ted is away on a business trip.

On his return she tells him that she has "settled the odds" and, in classic "one rule for the goose and another for the gander" mode, Ted flies off the handle and cannot forgive her for the very act he claimed was "meaningless" on his side.  Men, eh!

They divorce and Jerri loses herself in a whirlwind of short lived affairs with unsuitable men, reaching her lowest point when she rekindles her affair with her former lover, now married to the woman he disfigured in the car crash.   At her emotional rock bottom Jerri realises that she still loves Ted and and returns to him to try and rebuild their relationship.

The film is visually beautiful, if you can get over the very odd face of the male lead (Chester Morris, playing Ted) but hey - that is just personal opinion.  Ms Shearer's gowns are by the incredibly talented "Adrian" and she looks stunning in them all. 

As with many early talking pictures the acting style is very theatrical, and you do occasionally feel you are watching a stage play, however Shearer's deft touch relieves this somewhat.  I'm not convinced by Shearer in the role however - she seems a bit of a cold fish to be out carousing with various playboys.  Her husband, the producer, himself had doubts and she had to work hard to steal the role out from under Joan Crawford (and if the stories about Joan are true that is literal ;-)  ).  She won an award for the part though, and to give her credit she does act her socks off.

This is a pre-code flick, dealing with the later taboo subject of sex outside marriage, here, a woman exercises her sexuality without being damned for it and the film is worth watching for this alone.

The movie is available on youtube, if you don't mind watching it in parts.  I say go for it!  Part one is linked below.

 

Giveaway winner!

And the winner is:

Miss Meetah!

Please send me your address (have sent you a quick tweet so you can message me that way) and I'll get the tights out to you this week.

Congratulations!