Beauty has many colours..

It´s been difficult to find vintage fashion pictures of women of colour. But there is always the exquisitely beautiful Lena Horne !

A transforming product - lipstick !

Lipstick is a great invention ! :) It really can change your appearance !

   Although I think Dita looks very 

sweet without make up too !

MAC LIPSTICKS

A lot of vintage girls use Mac. I love Mac ( although I´ve recently discovered Bobby Brown ! ) Mac has a lot of pigments in their products which is why they have such a vivid colours. They also have a good range of matte lipsticks which is great, as they stay on longer. Then, if you want a little shine, you can simply do so by adding  a litte lip gloss. Just dab a bit on the middle of your upper and lower lip for a nice "sexy "pout" ! ;)

Mac  has two great "reds"  - Ruby Woo  (left) and  Russian Red (right) 

( the images does not do the two colours full justice ) 

I have Russian Red which is a great colour when you want a lipstick that has blues in it, yet works well with warm olive toned skin.

Here is a sweet 1940s tutorial on make up !

Make your own Cold Cream !

The lovely Fleur de Guerre wrote a post about that most classical of creams - cold cream. This was such a staple ware in the the lives of the 1940s woman. She would use it to clean her face with or use it as a face mask in the evening. Read Fleurs post here.

For those of you vintage lovers that want to try making your own I found the below recipe. I made one little addition, some rose oil for fragrance. If any one of you ladies give it a go, please let me know how it went.

Also, if you like making your own skincare products, you might want to try the recipe for Floral Water that I posted on my other blog.

HOMEMADE COLD CREAM

1/4 teaspoon borax

1/4 cup distilled water

1/2 cup oil that is liquid at room temperature (Almond is nice)

1/2 ounce (by weight) grated beeswax ( about 2 tbs )

If possible work with glass containers as it can get a little messy.

1. Dissolve the borax in the water. Set aside.

2. Mix together the oil and beeswax.

3. Heat the oil/beeswax mix in a microwave until the beeswax is melted in and the mixture is clear. Or you can put the beeswax in a container that you then put in a pot of water. When the water starts boiling the wax will slowly melt.

4. Heat the borax/water mix in a microwave or on the stove for a minute - almost to boiling.

5. Slowly pour the borax/water mixture into the oil/beeswax mixture, using a stick blender to mix as you pour.

6. Beat very well with the stick blender until the mix is glossy white and slightly thick. If you wish you can put a few drops of essential rose oil into a little almond oil and mix in for fragrance.

7. Pour the (hot) cold cream into a jar with a lid and let it cool to room temperature.

NOTE: If you don't have a stick blender you can beat the cold cream with a whisk or in a regular blender, but the cleanup will be much more difficult.... By using glass containers and a stick blender you will be able to simply wipe most of the excess off with paper towels, then wash in hot soapy water. Cleaning plastic measuring cups, and a whisk or (worse yet) a blender of this wax-containing product is difficult and a pain in the neck....

How to refill a vintage powder compact

Another great beauty recipe ! I have several compacts that it would be nice to be able to use.

You will need

A vintage compact

Some loose face powder

Rubbing alcohol

A small bowl and something to stir with

A spoon

1. Remove the net from the compact ( if there is one ), as well as any powder left inside.

2. Clean the compact with rubbing alcohol.

3. In a a small bowl, mix loose powder of your choice with a small amounts of alcohol, a little at a time. Stir to make a smooth creamy paste.

4. When your done, fill the base of your compact with the paste. You can use the back of an alcohol dipped spoon to smooth out the mixture. Or you can use something that will leave a fine imprint, like a piece of cloth.

5.  Let the compact dry opened overnight. Then your´re ready to go !

Morning becomes me... ;)

Ms Rosina Lee wrote a really neat post on gloves on her blog. It´s great - check it out ! Here is as promised, a picture of my vintage 1940s much loved dressing gown.