1920s Makeup
Buy vintage collectable 1920s cosmetics here.
In the 1920s makeup came out of the closet, and became if not exactly respectable, an essential part of the fast living, young lady's beauty kit. No self-respecting flapper would be without her compact, her rouge and her lipstick. Applying cosmetics in public, along with smoking and necking were the new emancipated women's ways of shocking their elders. Silent movie stars like Clara Bow, Pola Negri, and Theda Bara influenced the look for 1920s makeup. The eyes were the window to the soul, and the actresses main expressive tool were huge eyes, rimmed with kohl. The face, in contrast, was whiter than white, and the lips blood red. The vamp look was topped off by the turbans or cloche hats made popular by Paul Poiret and other Paris fashion houses. Said to be coined by Max Factor, the term makeup became widely used in the 1920s. Pancake makeup had been invented in 1914, and mini powder compacts, rouges and lipsticks began to be manufactured which could easily fit into the smallest of clutch bags.
More elegant and with designs more for the evening were brands such as Nuit de Paris and Neige de Cevennes, whose powder and rouge boxes were works of art. 1920s cosmetics, compacts and lipstick holders became more and more decorative, with jewel encrusted compacts in every precious material, and soon cheaper imitations flooded the market, and even the throwaway cardboard brands were works of stylish design and elegance.
By the thirties, makeup styles became less flash, and more mainstream as more and more ordinary women took to wearing makeup. Foundation colours were more skin tone and ivory, with pale pink rouge and softer colours like peach and raspberry for lipstick. Stronger colours made a comeback in the later 1930s, with the influence of Hollywood, though the fresh-faced outdoor girl next door look still prevailed. Early cosmetics are a great collecting area, and I've selected a range from Ebay USA and Ebay UK for you. Check out my Safe Buying Guidelines for a happy online buying experience. Return from 1920s Makeup to Art Deco Fashion 1920s Fashion Return from 1920s Makeup to Art Deco
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