Tutorial - 1920s-inspired hair and makeup

The image of the 1920s ‘flapper girl’ is iconic; we love the idea of the sequins, the feathers, the jazz, the parties… It’s also around the time when women started to wear makeup on a regular basis, as before this point, it was mainly worn by actresses and prostitutes. Makeup came back into fashion partly because of the improvement in the economy after the first world war, which meant that more companies were able to manufacture makeup in greater quantities. Another factor was that department stores such as Woolworths were becoming more prominent, meaning that it was easier for women to try and buy a wider variety of makeup. Third, films, and particularly magazines, made it possible for women to copy the makeup and styles of film stars, although they could only see the general shape and style of the makeup, and not the colour at this point.

I used various sources to try out a 1920s-inspired look on myself, and share the experience on this blog!

Here is my face and hair pre-makeover:

First, I applied foundation, concealer and powder. Complexion was an important aspect of beauty at the time, so an even base is crucial.

Rimmel Match Perfection foundation

Natural Collection CoverUp Cream concealer

Rimmel pressed powder

Dark, smoky eyeshadow was favoured in the '20s, so I applied the medium brown shade all over my eyelids, then applied the darkest brown shade at the outer corners of my eyelids. Finally, I applied brown eyeliner on my lower eyelids.

Revlon brown eyeshadow palette
Rimmel soft kohl eyeliner in Sable Brown

Then, I applied a thin line of black liquid eyeliner on my upper eyelids, with a small flick out to the side, and applied mascara to my upper and lower eyelashes.

Maybelline Great Lash mascara
Rimmel Exaggerate eyeliner in 003 Black

(I know this photo looks like I'm crying, 

but I just had a cold)

Finally, I applied a dark red lipstick; red was the most popular colour of lipstick at that time.

Rimmel Exaggerate lip liner in 024 Red Diva

Maybelline matte lipstick in 975 Divine Wine

To complete the look, I curled my hair using heated rollers.

I don't own one of the classic feathered headbands, but I tied a piece of black lace ribbon around my head, and pinned my hair around it to give the appearance of short hair, as this was fashionable at the time.

Here is the final (heavily filtered) version that ended up on my Instagram:

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial: I'm not an expert in hair or makeup, so it's a little slapdash, but I think it turned out quite well! 

Bibliography:

http://hair-and-makeup-artist.com/womens-1920s-makeup/

http://glamourdaze.com/history-of-makeup/1920s

http://www.artdecosociety.org/gatsby/f_hair-makeup.htm