I have recently stumbled on a little but very interesting book titled The Art Of Dress, written in 1830 by a cavalry officer, in which he gives fashion and beauty advice to men. Some of his tips are still relevant today, while others are quite… weird. I thought some of you may be interested in them and so, here’s what the author recommends to take care of skin, hair and teeth:

Skin

Our cavalry officer thought that one of the main causes of a bad complexion was not washing often enough. He recommends to wash both summer and winter in warm water as this softens and refreshes skin. But even more important than water, in his opinion, is soap. He recommends Brown Windsor Soap, a scented soap that was very popular in the nineteenth century (it was actually a favourite of both Prince Albert and Napoleon!). For those with rough skin, he recommends using Scotch Oatmeal, which whitens and softens the skin. “But it should never be used until you have well washed with soap, when it requires a little fresh warm water, and should then be sprinkled on the towel and rubbed on, after which it should be well washed off again.” Oatmeal by the way, is an exfoliant which is why it works as described, but I’m not sure our friend knew that.

Hair

“The chief attributes of hair should be curl, strength, and gloss. All three of which, however sparing nature may have been in her gifts, art can make up”, writes the officer. He recommends to apply oil (Macassar Oil is his favourite) on dry hair every morning to moisturize it. The proper way to do it is by rubbing it well at the roots and then brush it well. “Brushing is as absolutely required by the hair, as washing by the face, it is this that bestows that fine gloss which so much improves the appearance of the hair, at the same time excluding all dandruff,” he continues. In addition, he also recommends to trim hair every month to avoid split ends. Washing hair instead should be done once a fortnight in the summer and half as often in winter (gross, isn’t it?), and with hot water. Soap should be used only in winter. Finally, he gives a recipe to beautify hair:

Of fine Beef Marrow take 1/4 lb.
Of Burnt Brandy two table spoonfuls.
With the same quantity of the best Flask Oil.

These should be mixed and allowed to simmer over the fire, when it should constantly be skimmed until it boil; when, after boiling a little time, the perfume bergamot, musk, lavender, or rose, as preferred, should be added, when it should be potted and tied up. This, if properly managed, will keep any time, and will be found to impart a beautiful freshness to the hair.

Teeth

Our officer stresses the importance of cleaning teeth every morning since early childhood, and rinsing them well with water and a soft brush before going to bed, to keep them in good condition. He also recommends not too rub the nail enamel too long with any powders not to damage it. But not all his advice is good. He actually thinks the best way to preserve teeth is by using tobacco! He backs up his claim by saying that “you will never see an old or inveterate smoker with bad teeth”, which is odd because we now know that tobacco is bad for teeth and can, among other things, lead to gum disease and tooth decay!

I hope you enjoyed this post and if you want more beauty and fashion tips from our cavalry officer, then check out The Whole Art Of Dress, which is available for free at Google Books.

Do you remember Lola Montez? She was an Irish dancer, actress, courtesan, mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and a lecturer! What a busy life she led, huh? And as that wasn’t enough, in 1859, she published her book, The Arts Of Beauty, in which she shared lots of tips on all aspects of beauty and even gives advice to men on how to win a lady! I have already shared some of these tips in a previous post, but I had left out her advice about hair and so I thought it was high time to remedy this. So, what has Lola to say about haircare?

How to get beautiful hair

Lola thought that “without a fine head of hair no woman can be really beautiful.” She argued that even the most beautiful woman on the planet would look ugly if her head was shaved. She also believed the same to be true for a man: without beautiful locks, their appearance suffered too. Because of this, it was essential that anyone took proper care of their hair. But how?

She recommended to start taking care of it from childhood. Children should wear their hair short and thus their locks should be frequently cut. Every morning, their heads should be washed by scrubbing their scalps with a damp sponge and cold water. Their locks should be brushed for about 10 minutes a few times a day, but combing it often with a fine tooth comb should be avoided as the points of the teeth could scratch and irritate the scalp. All these rules, but that of cutting hair frequently, should be followed by adults as well.

Lola though brushing was an essential step in any hair care routine and gives the following tips on what brushes to use and how to take care of them: “Two brushes are indispensable for the toilet – one for the rough use of cleaning the hair, and the other for polishing it. A black brush should be used for the former, and a white one for the latter. Ladies need not be told that washing spoils brushes. The way to clean them is to rub them thoroughly with bran, which removes all the grease, and leaves the bristles stiff and firm as ever. When the bristles of a brush become too limber for use, they may be hardened again by dipping them in one part of spirits of ammonia, and two of water. This will also thoroughly cleanse them from all greasy substances.”

Hair Care Recipes

1. To prevent the hair from falling off
“A remedy for weak and falling hair has been sought for by beautiful women, and by men too, with as much avidity as ever the mad enthusiast sought for the philosopher’s stone”, wrote Lola, before sharing a recipe a London physician gave one of her friends and that seemed to have helped, or so she claims:

Boxwood shavings 6 oz
Proof spirit 12 oz
Spirits of rosemary 2 oz
Spirits of nutmegs J oz

The boxwood shavings should be left to steep in the spirits, at a temperature of 60 degrees, for fourteen days, and then the liquid should be strained off, and the other ingredients mixed. The scalp to be thoroughly washed, or rubbed with this every night and morning.

2. To prevent the hair from turning grey
Lola believed that no powders nor other compounds could prevent hair from turning grey. Because the appearance of grey hair could be hastened by great grief, perpetual anxiety and care, she recommended “temperance, moderation in all things, and frequent washings with pure cold water”.

3. How to color grey hair
But hair will turn grey sooner or later. So, what could women do to hide that? Lola advices her readers to stay away from hair dyes containing dangerous substances such as poisonous mineral acids, nitrate and oxide of silver, caustic alkalies, lime, litharge and arsenic, as they can harm both hair and health. Instead, she suggested this recipe:

Gallic acid 10 grs
Acetic acid 1 oz
Tincture of sequi chloride of iron 1 oz

Dissolve the gallic acid in the tincture of sesqui-chloride of iron, and then add the acetic acid. Before using this preparation, the hair should be thoroughly washed with soap and water. A great and desirable peculiarity of this dye, is that it can be so applied as to color the hair either black or the lighter shade of brown. If black is the color desired, the preparation should be applied while the hair is moist, and for brown it should not be used till the hair is perfectly dry. The way to apply the compound is to dip the points of a fine tooth comb into it until the interstices are filled with the fluid, then gently draw the comb through the hair, commencing at the roots, till the dye has perceptably taken effect. When the hair is entirely dry, oil and brush it as usual.

4. Hair cleansers and brightener
To cleanse and brighten hair, Lola recommended this recipe used daily by a great beauty at Munich: “beat up the white of four eggs into a froth, and rub that thoroughly in dose to the roots of the hair. Leave it to dry on. Then wash the head and hair clean with a mixture of equal parts of rum and rose water.”

I hope you enjoyed this post, and if you’re interested in reading the entire book (and it is a very fascinating read), The Arts Of Beauty is available for free at Google Books.

The love story of Napoleon and Josephine is one of the most well-known. When they met, he was a young French General while Josephine was a widow with two children. Her husband had been guillotined during the Terror and she herself had narrowly escaped death thanks to the fall and execution of Robespierre. Napoleon fell madly in love with her and the two got married.

Their love story didn’t start well, as Josephine didn’t like Napoleon much at first and cheated on him, and ended in divorce, but the two nonetheless remained devoted to each other. When Napoleon died, his last word was “Josephine”. Hers was “Napoleon”. Tragic, isn’t it? We are all acquainted with their story, their accomplishments and their fall from power, but what is less known is that this imperial couple left their mark in the history of fragrance too.

Scented baths and perfumes

Like all women, Josephine loved perfumes and scented baths. She often treated herself to luxurious baths infused with Houbigant’s ‘Quelques Fleurs’, the first true multifloral scent ever made. Her favourite floral notes were rose and violet (the latter was a favourite of Napoleon as well), which are beautiful and feminine, but she also loved sensual exotic scents that included musk, vanilla and cinnamon.

Josephine also introduced Napoleon to perfumes and scented baths, and he soon found out he loved to smell good. He preferred citrusy scents such as Aqua Admirabilis, created by Gian Paolo Feminis, which is said to be the first coulogne ever made, and Eau de Cologne by Houbigant, which he used every month for rubdowns. Once on the throne, Napoleon would commission unique scents for him and his wife too. But let’s start from the beginning.

Le Vainqueur and L’Imperatrice

Jean Francois Rancé was a talented perfumer. His company had become famous for his perfumed gloves which were loved by the aristocracy and, in 1795, Rancé decided to turn entirely to perfumery. He was also an admirer of Napoleon and created several fragrances inspired by him such as L’Eau d’Austerlitz (The Water of Austerlitz) i La Gloire a l’Aigle Francais (Glory to the Eagle of France). His creations were modern and refined and soon won him the attention and recognition of Napoleon and Josephine.

Legend has it that before his coronation, Napoleon asked Rancé to create two fragrances, one for him and one for Josephine. He specifically asked the perfumer to make sure that his fragrance didn’t overshadow and overpower Josephine’s when they were in the same room, but they also had to be in harmony so that, when the two lovers came together, they would merge to create a whole new and unique scent. Napoleon’s scent was called Le Vainqueur (The Victor), while Josephine’s L’Imperatrice (The Empress). It was presented to her in a beautiful Sevres porcelain box.

I’ve also heard a different version of the story. It says that Rancé had created Le Vainquer for Napoleon and Josephine liked it so much that she asked the perfumer to create one for her too. Personally, I tend to believe the first version but, whatever their origin, all the courtiers fell in love with the scents and wanted to smell like the imperial couple. Napoleon though wanted exclusivity and demanded the perfumes not be released for 200 years after the coronation!

The time was up in 2004 the two fragrances were relaunched. L’Imperatrice was renamed Josephine while Le Vainquer retained its name and they can both be bought on europerfumes.com and retail at $135 and $120 respectively. I’d really love to try Josephine. And you?

If you think that misleading advertising and individuals without scruples exploiting women’s desires to look beautiful and young forever by selling them “miraculous” treatments of dubious efficacy are a modern phenomenon, think again. Women have always wanted to look beautiful and younger and in mid-Victorian London the trade of beauty products was already a very lucrative one.

At the time, cosmetics were frowned upon but women simply didn’t care. They were becoming more and more concerned about preserving and enhancing their natural beauty and so many turned to those who sold “beauty”. There were a lot of them around who advertised their magical creams and concoctions in the papers. One of the most famous and popular at the time was Madame Rachel, of Bond Street.

Who was Madame Rachel?

Madame Rachel, whose real name was Sarah Rachel Leverson, was born in 1806. An illiterate woman deserted by her husband, Sarah was a fish-fryer from the slums of Clement St Danes and later a dealer in second-hand clothes before entering the beauty business and opening a store in the smart Bond Street. Madame Rachel claimed she decided to start her career in beauty after her beautiful locks, of which she was very proud, were shaved off when she was ill with fever and a medical man told her he would give her a lotion that it’d make it grow back quickly and more beautiful than before. Apparently, the product worked and Madame Rachel decided to enter the beauty business herself. Soon, she made a fortune.

A professional beautifier

Madame Rachel claimed that she could restore youth to her clients and make ugly people look beautiful. She sold numerous beauty products, such as “Jordan Water”, “Magnetic Rock Dew Water of Sahara, for removing Wrinkles” and “Venus’s Toilet”. Despite the exotic and intriguing names, they were just simple concoctions and some of the ingredients used were toxic too. Also very popular was her famous “enamelling process” which involved: removal of facial hair, followed by alkaline toilet washes, application of a thick paste (which usually included arsenic or white lead among its ingredients) to fill in wrinkles, and finally a touch of rouge and powder.

She also released a book, called Beautiful Forever, about “Female Grace and Beauty”, in 1863. Despite her products being very pricey (the “Jordan Water” cost £1500 in today’s money!) and just not as effective as they claimed to be (she also claimed she and her daughters were a lot older than they appeared), not to mention the dangerous ingredients they contained, she had lots of clients and made thousands of pounds a year. Some clients became addicted to her products and would spend enormous amounts of money on them, sometimes piling up debts they were unable to repay!

A trickster and a criminal

Had she stopped at that, she may have been able to live comfortably and tranquilly for the rest of her life. Instead, she engaged in more sinister activities too. It seems, for instance, that she would encourage her clients to take an Arabian bath and then would make men pay to spy on them! But what eventually got her into trouble was cheating vulnerable old spinsters out of their life savings by convincing them that aristocratic bachelors wanted to marry them. Obviously the marriages never took place. One of her victims was Mary Tucker Borradaile, a 43 year old widow.

Mary Tucker Borradaile first met Madame Rachel in 1864 and became a faithful client. Two years later, Madame Rachel suggested her to try a treatment, which cost £1000, that would make her beautiful forever. To convince her, Madame Rachel made the widow believe Lord Ranelaigh was in love with her and wanted to marry her. Mary believed her lies and paid, only to find out that her “lover” knew nothing of what was happening and had no intention of making her his wife. Madame Rachel was charged with obtaining money under false pretense. A trial ensued and she was found guilty. She spent 5 years in prison and, once out, she went back to her beauty business and sinister activities. She ended up in jail again and died there in 1880.

If you want to know more about Madame Rachel, then I highly recommend Beautiful For Ever: Madame Rachel of Bond Street – Cosmetician, Con-Artist and Blackmailer by Helen Rappaport.

Nowadays women turn to plastic surgery, cosmetic treatments and expensive creams that promise miracle results in an attempt to turn back the clock. But the desire to look young forever is not new. Women always felt it and some went as far as to use poisonous remedies that eventually killed them. One of the most famous victims of this desire was Diane De Poitiers, mistress of Henry II, King of France. She was twenty years her senior. But who was Diane De Poiters? And how has she managed to keep her young royal lover enthralled until his death?

Who was Diane De Poitiers?

Diane was a beautiful woman, with flawless porcelain skin and luscious golden locks. But it wasn’t just her looks that enchanted men. Diane, a widow with two children who had served as a lady-in-waiting to a succession of French Queens, was a well-educated woman for the standards of her time, witty, clever, elegant and a keen sportswoman and art lover. And when the young 12-year-old Prince Henry, who had spent a few years as a hostage of the Spanish king, finally returned home, Diane was chosen to teach him courtly manners. Henry was already enthralled by her, but for a few years nothing happened.

In 1538, Henry and Diane finally became lovers. She was in her thirties, he was only nineteen. And married to Catherine De Medici. The two women were rivals for Henry’s affection, but it was clear that Diane was the winner (but she did insist that Henry pay more attention to his wife in public and fathered children with her). And when he become king in 1547, she was the power behind the throne and in charge of pretty much everything. The king even allowed her to sign official letters (which she had also written) with “HenriDiane” (and you thought nicknames such as Brangelina and Zanessa were a modern invention..). But royal mistresses hold power only until the king lives and when Henry suddenly died in 1559, Diane had to pack her bags and retreat to one of her country estates.

Diane De Poitiers’ beauty secrets

Diane was said to still be remarkably beautiful even in her 50s. But this beauty came at a very high cost. Diane exercised by running daily, hunting and riding, swam in cold river water and followed a strict diet. Every day, she would also take a bath, which was followed by massages performed with perfumed oils and other beauty concoctions. All this undoubtedly helped, but Diane had another, more dangerous beauty secret: she drank gold.

Drinking gold was quite common among wealthy women during the Renaissance. Back then, gold was considered to be an elixir of life and so was a treatment prescribed for a wide variety of illnesses. In addition, gold was also thought to have aphrodisiac properties and to preserve youth and beauty, all things that it was essential for a mistress to have, especially when her lover was a much younger king. While the trick seemed to have worked (Henry wasn’t always faithful to her, but his fascination and love for her never stopped), it also poisoned her.

When her remains were exhumed and examined in 2009, forensic experts noted that, for a woman that led such an active and healthy lifestyle, her bones and hair were very fragile. Both are symptoms of gold intoxication. Her white complexion was also caused by anemia, a result from consuming drinkable gold. When a lock of her hair still preserved at the Chateau d’Anet, the place where she died, was tested, it was found it contained 500 times the normal level of the precious metal! Eventually, it killed her. She died at 66, still beautiful. And while it is true that she had a remarkably long life for the standards of her time, it could have been even longer if she hadn’t poisoned herself.

Is the price to pay for eternal youth really worth it in the end?

Hannah Glasse was the Julia Child of her day. Born in London in 1708, but grown up in the North of England, she moved back to her birth place after her marriage to Irish soldier John Glasse. The couple had eight children. In addition to taking care of her big family, Hannah spent time writing a book, The Art of Cookery, which was published by subscription in 1747. The book was a huge success. Written in a colloquial style, it features both English staples such as Yorkshire pudding and French (although she wasn’t too fond of their cooking), Jewish and Indian recipes! But what has this to do with beauty? Well, at the end of the book, Hannah also shares a couple of DIY beauty recipes. I thought it’s be nice to share them, so here they are:

A fine lip salve

Take two ounces of virgin’s wax*, two ounces of hog’s lard, half an ounce of spermaceti**, one ounce of oil of sweet almonds, two drams of balsam of Peru, two drams of a alkanet root*** cut small, six new raisins shred small, a little fine sugar, simmer them all together a little while; then strain it off into little pots. It is the finest lip salve in the world.

*pure beeswax
**sperm-whale wax
***it is a rare pink dye

How to preserve hair and make it grow thick*

Take one quart of white wine, put in one handful of rosemary flowers, half a pound of honey, distill them together; then add a quarter of pint of oil of sweet almonds, shake it very well together, put a little of it into a cup, warm it blood warm, rub it well on your head, and comb it dry.

* This was a method practised by Mrs Dukely, Queen’s Charlotte’s tyre-woman.

If you’re interested in food history and recipes of the past, you can read the whole book, The Art Of Cookery at Google Books, for free.

Photo: Frontispiece to Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy.

The Empress Elizabeth of Austria, also called Sissi or Sisi, was one of the most beautiful women of her time. And she knew it. It was her beauty that got her the crown that was supposed to be worn by her elder sister, Helena. Their parents hoped Helena would end up marrying the Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph, and was trained and groomed since childhood for this. But when Franz Joseph laid eyes on Elizabeth, he instantly fell in love with her and a proposal from the Emperor just couldn’t be refused. But the marriage wasn’t a happy one. Sissi was a woman who always longed for freedom and independence, but found herself imprisoned in a golden cage for the rest of her life.

Maybe it’s because of this that she became obsessed with her beauty and staying thin was so important to her. She hated what pregnancies did to her body and the thought of growing old. She once exclaimed: “Ah, the horror of growing old, to feel the hand of Time laid upon one’s body, to watch the skin wrinkling, to awake and fear the morning light, and to know that one is no longer desirable! Life without beauty would be worthless to me.” Sad, isn’t it? But how did this beautiful Empress take care of her appearance? Read on to find out..

How she maintained her slim figure

Empress Sissi had a slim figure (her waist was only 19 inches/50cm) and was very proud of it. And she went to great lengths to keep it that way. She hardly ate anything all day and exercised a lot. While walking was a common, even recommended, exercise for women at the time, she went for very long walks, which could last up to 10 hours! The protests of those poor, exhausted souls who had to accompany her on such walks never stopped her from walking so much, only physical pain or illness did.

Sissi was also obsessed with gymnastics which attracted a lot of criticism as it was considered very eccentric. She even had a gymnastics room installed at her palace and could be seen dangling from the rings! In addition, Elizabeth was also one of the best horse riders of her time. It is thought by many historians nowadays that the Kaiserin had anorexia. It was her looks that made her husband fall in love with her and made her Empress, leading her to live a life that though envied by many, is full of pressures, restrictions and demands. Her life was strictly regolated by etiquette and she couldn’t control it. What she could control though, was her looks..

Empress Elizabeth of Austria order card and bills for cosmetics

Skincare

Empress Elizabeth of Austria used lots of creams and lotions on her face. She doesn’t seem to have stuck to something specific but liked to try new things all the time. Some of these recipes are rather yummy, like the strawberry cream used as a facial mask, while others a bit gross, such as the raw veal she applied on her skin at night or the slug cream made with lard, marshmallow roots and ground slugs, which took more than 4 hours to make!

One of her lotions was called Cream Celeste, made by mixing spermaceti, cera alba, sweet almond oil and glycerin. This is a rich cream and she would use it to keep her skin well-moisturized during the long winters. Cold Cream, instead, would be made with beeswax, sweet almond oil, rosewater and cocoa butter. This cream, which gave a pleasant and refreshing cooling sensation was appreciated by many ladies at court too. To tone, she used rose facial tonics.

But who made all these recipes? They were either prepared in the court pharmacy or by one of her ladies-in-waiting. This could, depending on the recipe, be quite a time-consuming task. Some of these recipes, in fact, had to be stirred up to 12 hours! But that’s not all. To keep her skin soft, Elizabeth would bathe in warm water infused with olive oil and at night, thinking it would help her stay slim, she would sleep with cloths soaked in vinegar above her hips.

Dressing table of Empress Elizabeth, Emperor's apartments, Hofburg, Vienna

Makeup

Empress Sissi may have been starving herself and exercised to exhaustion to maintain her thin figure and tried every possible concoction to keep per face looking young and beautiful, but when it came to makeup, she wanted nothing to do with it. She loved natural beauty and thought makeup interfered with nature’s work. She didn’t wear makeup herself and was also very critical of women who she thought wore too much of it. One of those women was the beautiful Princess Pauline von Metternich. Of her, the Empress said: “She wears two inches of red powder on her lips and is dressed in material from countries that are far away even though she is too flat’. Ouch!

Hair Care

Empress Elizabeth had long, luscious, chestnut brown hair that almost reached the floors. One of her best assets, her hair was her pride and glory and she spent two to three hours a day taking care of it! She hired Franziska (Fanny) Angerer Feifalik to take care of it, which attracted lots of criticism at court because Fanny was a former theatre hairdresser. The Empress would sit on a low chair in the center of her dressing room, while her hairdresser, all dressed in white, including white gloves (she had to remove her rings too) would proceeded to comb and style her hair into elaborate hair-does. Once done, stray hair would be collected from the comb and cloth and counted. If too many had broken off, the Empress would get upset.

This operation would last from two to three hours so the Kaiserin kept herself busy by learning languages such as Hungarian and Greek. Washing her hair was another very time consuming operation, performed every fortnight with a mixture of cognac and egg yolk. Considering how difficult it is to remove egg from hair, albeit beneficial it is, and how long her tresses were, it’s no wonder that it took the Empress the entire day to wash her hair!

Source

The Second World War (1939-1945) is one of the most important events of the twentieth century, and one of the most disastrous too. Sixty million people (the majority of which were civilians) lost their lives in the conflict and incomparable destruction was left behind wherever it was fought. But during this terrifying time, while worrying about theirs and their loved one’s safety and watching the destruction of the world as they knew it, women would still worry about looking good.

It may sound silly to some to worry about such a thing as beauty while your town was being bombarded and people dying all around you, but a swipe of lipstick or using hair dye was a way to retain their humanity and dignity (wars always bring out the worst in people) and femininity, to put on a brave face, to boost their morale as well as that of the soldiers, and have some fun, even if only for a little while.

Cosmetics in Europe during World War II

During the war cosmetics were expensive and hard to find. That’s because everything, including the ingredients used to make them, were used mostly for war efforts. And everything was rationed too. In such circumstances, even taking a bath or washing your hair wasn’t easy. You would have only a few inches of water available, which certainly weren’t enough to fill a bath tube and shampoo (if you were lucky enough to get it) was rationed. Soap was another luxury during the war and most of the time, people washed themselves using only that little bit of water they could get.

Because everything was scarce, women had to be creative and resourceful: if they wanted to dye their hair they could only use vegetable dyes and if they wanted to shave but didn’t have a razor, they’d use a soapy pumice stone instead. As for hair, it was usually wrapped in scarfs or hairnets which served two purposes. It would hide a bad hair day (after all, not everyone had shampoo, remember?) and, if the women had a job (and many did as they had to do the jobs men left behind when they went to fight) it’d avoid their locks from getting tangled in machinery.

Cosmetics in the USA during World War II

The situation was better in America. The USA too participated in the war but it was fought predominantly in Europe, eastern Asia and the Pacific so America was spared most of the vast devastation that hit those parts of the world. But even if this meant that cosmetics were more easily available and people didn’t run the same risks as those under bombardments, lots of American men enlisted and bravely fought in the war. Those who were left behind weren’t in the mood for excess, celebration or show off their wealth.

Because so many men were away fighting, more and more women had to go to work. To retain their femininity and boost their morale, women (encouraged by society) would apply makeup. The beauty ideal of the time was a sophisticated and glamorous but natural and subdued look. On the eyes, women would apply natural eyeshadows in brown and grey tones, a touch of eyeliner and mascara, while the brows were kept quite thick but had to be perfectly arched and defined with an eyebrow pencil.

On the face, they would first apply a dark but warm foundation and, on top of it, a powder that was actually lighter than their skintone. This would give skin a rosy glow. Natural pink shades were used on the cheeks while the nails were painted in lots of different colors, from pinks to reds and mauves, to greens and blues. And what about the lips? Red lipstick was all the rage and was considered a natural look back then!

The popularity of the red lipstick was partly due to Elizabeth Arden. She was invited to create a makeup kit for the American Marine Corps Women’s Reserve. The aim was to boost their morale and Arden created a red lipstick that matched their uniforms. It was also during this time that companies started to realize how popular camouflage products (back then used on wounded soldiers) could be. They are now known as concealers and widely used by women (and men) worldwide.

After the end of the war, cosmetics became less expensive and easily available everywhere. Women finally had the money to buy what they wanted and the beauty industry soared. And even if nowadays the recession and economic crisis mean most of us can’t spend as much money as we’d like or were used to on cosmetics and other trifles, just thinking about what our grandmothers went through and, even today, what’s happening in other parts of the world where people are affected by natural disasters, wars and poverty, just puts everything in perspective, doesn’t it? We’re so lucky and can’t often appreciate it!