Stuck at home and feeling bored? Why not challenge yourself to a 7 day challenge of makeup through the decades? Dip into the eras and learn where some of your favourite makeup styles originated! Here are some quick tips for the classic makeup looks of each decade.
The 20’s:
Rewind 100 years and we are in the roaring ’20s. Think flappers and the vamp makeup of the Hollywood Icons. The ’20s are when it became acceptable for women to look like they were actually wearing makeup and they were living for it!
Inspiration: Clara Bow
- Foundation was generally fairly pale as there weren’t many well-made options available.
- Very thin pencil eyebrows either curved and sloping down or straight across.
- Dark smokey eyes – Sweep your eyeshadow across the mobile lid to just above the crease keeping it in a nice half-moon shape. Using the same colour smudge under the lower lash line as well. Popular colours were browns, blacks, dark greys, navy and dark greens. Finish off with mascara
- Small doll-like lips were the trend. This was achieved by emphasising the cupids bow and centre lower lip but not taking the lipstick all the way out to the outer corners. Popular colours were carmine red and deep plum.
- Blush was also a deeper red applied on the apples of the cheeks and blended out.
The 30’s:
The ’30s were all about embracing femininity. For makeup, this meant the looks started to soften from some of the harsher aspects of the ’20s.
Inspiration: Marlene Dietrich
- Foundation shades hadn’t changed too much since the ’20s. However, the world had discovered tanning, so bronzing products started to become quite popular.
- Blush was set high on the cheeks and blended right out to the hairline to create the look of a heart-shaped face.
- Eyebrows – thin but curved drawn on with pencil
- Eyeshadow wasn’t quite as harsh in colour as the ’20s with most women opting for shades of brown, blue, violet and green across the mobile lid and underneath the lower lash line. Finish off with mascara on the top and bottom lashes.
- ● Lips reverted to a more natural shape following the natural curve of the mouth. Popular colours included raspberry and orange-based reds.
The 40’s:
In the 40’s makeup became a sign of support for the war. Lipstick came in shades like “Victory Red” and packaging became wartime propaganda. While supplies were short women became quite resourceful and found ways to use products for multiple uses. For example, mascara doubled as eyeliner and lipstick was also blush. The key aspects of 40’s makeup though are the brows and lips.
Inspiration: Rita Hayworth
- Keep your foundation base very simple, no contouring or highlighting would have been used.
- Blush was scarce so it’s not a defining look of the era. You can you a light wash across the apples of the cheeks to add a splash of colour to the cheeks.
- Eyebrows – Keeping the natural shape, fill in with powder where needed.
- Eyeshadow was a rarity with a very limited range of colours. Soft greys and browns were used sparingly if at all. Mascara on the top lashes only.
- Lips were the focus of the ’40s with red being the colour of support and victory during the war. There are two distinctive lip shapes: Full, rounded and overdrawn and what is known as the Hunter’s Bow or Smear lip shape most famously worn by the actress’ Lucille Ball and Joan Crawford. See photos below for reference. Lip shades came in cherry red, scarlet and orange-red.
The 50’s:
The 50’s bought in the decade of blonde bombshells, singing in the rain and winged eyeliner. As more households got their hands on a TV set, the influence of film and TV stars spread. Makeup was easily accessible again and glamour was in.
Inspiration: Marilyn Monroe
- Start with a simple foundation base.
- Apply blusher in a coral/ peachy tone to the cheekbones. Blush wasn’t heavily used in the 50’s.
- Brows were generally quite strong with a defined arch. Use a powder product with a small angle brush to emphasise or create the arch. You don’t want them to look drawn on though, so don’t overfill.
- Eyeshadow shades popular at the time were pale blues, greens and browns. Apply a pale base onto the socket blending up towards the brow bone. Go a little heavier with the same shade in the crease and outer corner to create some depth.
- A cake liner was the go to eyeliner of the decade but you can just use your liquid eyeliner pen if you prefer. Apply a thin layer across the lash line bringing out into a small flick on the outer corner. When doing the flick, keep your eyes open and look straight ahead. This allows you to draw a flick that suits your eye type. If you are using a cake or gel liner and a small angled brush you can use the brush to stamp out the flick before filling it in. If you are using an eyeliner pen you can do the same thing with the tip with the thickest part of the pen closer to your eye to get that nice thin and sharp tip to your wing. If you go too far out with your wing or it’s a little shaky, you can easily clean it up with a cotton tip and some makeup remover by running it along the underside edge of the wing on the outer corner. For the lower lash, you can run a brown liner along the lash line if you want extra definition. Finish off with mascara on both the top and bottom lashes. You can add false lashes if you want a more glam look.
- Lips were kept natural in shape, not overdrawn like the ’40s. Popular colours were scarlet reds, corals and watermelon pinks.
The 60’s:
The 60’s was the birth of flower power, the mini skirt and newfound freedom! Graphic liner, frosted lips and LASHES were all the rage.
Inspiration: Twiggy
- Apply your foundation base as you normally would.
- Blush in a peachy tone on the cheekbones.
- Brows were fuller in the early ’60s and got thinner throughout the decade. Women used to ruthlessly pluck out half their eyebrows till they were almost non-existent. So unless you really want to go that extra mile, I would just recommend filling them in where needed.
- The eyes were the statement look of the ’60s. Start with a matte shadow in white, blue, green, pink or purple (pastels were very “in” in the makeup scene) up to the crease. Then taking a pencil brush and black eyeshadow, draw a line just above the crease of your socket. Keep it in a half-moon shape but you don’t need to take it all the way to either corner of the eye. Use the same shade and lightly smudge underneath the eye. You can make this more dramatic using eyeliner if you choose.
- Using an eyeliner of your choice, create the same wing liner as above in the ’50s. For the classic Twiggy look, you can also use your eyeliner to draw on graphic lashes underneath your eye. Make them slightly longer on the outer corner of your eye. Finish the eye with mascara on the top and bottom lashes. False lashes were very popular in the ’60s with some people wearing multiple pairs at times for extra drama. They would also wear pairs on their bottom lashes if you didn’t want to draw them on.
- The lips were kept very pale. Frosted lipsticks were the trend in shades of peach, gold, pink and sometimes even lilacs. Some women would even just use foundation to conceal them altogether.
The 70’s:
The 70’s were all about disco babies! Think influencers like ABBA, Farrah Fawcet, Cher, David Bowie and Afro’s! Tan skin was in fashion and the makeup was all about creating “glowing skin”.
Inspiration: Agnetha Fältskog
- A bronzey glow was the look for the 70’s so make sure to warm up your face with a bronzer after applying foundation.
- Highlighters started to come into fashion to amplify the look of a healthy glow. Apply on top of the cheekbones.
- Blush was peachy/bronze tones to give the face a natural flushed glow. Apply on the cheekbones and blend out.
- Eyeshadow was kept very natural during the day but we will be going for more of the evening disco vibes. Pale blues, turquoise, lavender and browns were in, as was shimmer. Pick one of these shades and apply liberally across the socket to just above the crease. You can bring it out in the winged shape on the outer corner of the eye (they did occasionally take the eyeshadow all the way up to the brow bone, see above regarding questionable makeup choices). Bring the same colour shadow underneath the eye as well. Feel free to add shimmer on top. Finish with mascara on the top and bottom lashes.
- Eyebrows were still following the trend of the over-plucked late ’60s, so keep them thin.
- During the day, lip-gloss or balm was used for a glossy look or for an evening or more glam look, earthy toned lipsticks were used topped off with a gloss.
The 80’s:
Think big, think bold and when you think you’re done, go bigger and bolder. That about sums up the ’80s! The decade of spandex, neon, punk, bright colours and far more questionable choices than the ’70s! In terms of makeup, it is such a fun era to recreate because there is just so much colour involved! Bust out your bright palette and let’s get cracking!
Inspiration: Grace Jones
- Apply foundation as you normally would.
- Blush was big and bright in the ’80s. Pick a strong pink colour and apply quite heavily to the cheekbones and bring it right up to your temples, remembering to blend out to your hairline.
- Brows were left natural and unplucked, just brush them into shape and fill any noticeable gaps.
- When it came to eyeshadow there was no limit to colours you could use. It was free for all! I’m going to go in with an electric blue on the socket, all the way up to the brow bone. I’m then going to get a bright pink and use it as a highlight in my inner corner and to also shade underneath my lower lash line.
- I’m then going to take a blue eyeliner and use it on my waterline, as well as on my upper lash line.
- Apply mascara liberally on both the top and bottom lashes. If you have a fun coloured mascara, this is the time to use it!
- To finish off this look pick a bright coloured lipstick, reds, pinks, purples were always a staple but again, there were no limits to the colours you could use. I’m going to use a cherry red lipstick with a slightly darker more brown-based lip liner to give a bit of dimension to the lips and create a fuller look.
Want to learn how to create these looks in more detail and become a master of different techniques? Check out the courses available at The Australian Academy of Cinemagraphic Makeup. They offer short courses in Basic Makeup, Intro to Prosthetics, Lash & Brow courses and the Diploma of Screen and Media in Specialist Makeup Services, which is a 12-month course that covers makeup and hair for film, television, fashion, editorial and special effects and is the highest qualification you can receive in Australia. They now also offer a Certificate III in Hairdressing for all those MUA’s wanting to upskill, or for anyone that has a passion for hair.