Makeup in the 1940’s

For this task I have researched what makeup trends were around during the 1940’s, in America. This will help ensure I create a look realistic to the time, during my final assessment. It will also give me further understanding into how they created these looks.

The desired look

Overall, the look that defines this decade consists of a reasonably natural face, topped with a red lip. Foundation was usually very neutral, or occasionally gave a gentle sunk-kissed tone. Some very subtle, natural color would be added to the cheeks, creating a natural, rosy glow. During this time it was popular to wear brushed, shaped brows – of a medium thickness – that were lightly shaded in with a pencil. Eye shadow was worn very sparingly with a touch of mascara, to ensure all attention was kept on the lips. 

Color harmony between products started to become extremely popular during the 1940’s. Primarily, one’s hair color was used to determine what color range was best suited, but eye and outfit color was also considered. Beauty guides often advised women to color match their lips, cheeks and nails, to create an overall collected look. Regardless of a woman’s background or class, all women made huge efforts with whatever they had access too, to ensure they always looked their best.

Influences

War

During the 1940’s, the second world war had a huge impact on the fashion and beauty industry, after rationing was introduced. Wartime restrictions had a massive impact on daily life with the cosmetic industry coming as no exception. Alcohol shortages lead to a drop in the production of cologne, lack of fats and oils lead to soap rationing and due to its key part in the make up of munitions, geletaine was no longer available for cosmetic production.

Rationing caused a halt in the production of many cosmetic products, leading many women to experiment with household items in a bid to find alternatives rather than go without. These experiments lead to women using burnt cork for mascara, cochineal or beetroot juice for lip and cheek stain, and even using gravy browning for a fake tanner. Many women also began to use any form of old makeup they may find in second hand shops – this even included the daily use of theater makeup.

Packaging was also affected during the period of rationing, after war efforts called for the ration of materials like metal and plastic – as they were needed in the production of items for battle. This meant any cosmetics that were produced often came in cardboard packaging. Many cosmetic companies used this information to help support the war effort, providing their factory spaces as places for production of first aid kits and dye markers for the US Navy. Revlon was one of the first cosmetic companies to take this step.

Some cosmetic products, like lipstick, just managed to survive the rationing process. During the 1940’s, in the rise of war,  lipstick was worn as a sign of patriotism, and was used by women to symbolize their femininity even while carrying out the ‘men’s work’. Brands embraced selling patriotism, by selling many shades of red cosmetic products. Elizabeth Arden even released a collection in 1941 named victory red, with its tagline reading “Victory red… a beautiful red to brighten today and challenge tomorrow”. Women in the US loved the symbolic meaning behind wearing their red lipstick, so held mass protests against the War Production Board’s plan to ration this product, which eventually led to its survival from rationing. However, women in the UK weren’t so lucky, and had their lipstick rationed from them.

The end of the war did not immediately signal the end of rationing, but items slowly but surely returned to the shelves. Eager women would que for hours after the release of cosmetic products back into stores, in order to get their fix of what they had missed so dearly.

Film stars

Visiting the cinema was a popular way to spend an evening in the 1940’s, with an average weekly movie attendance of around 80 million people! Movie star glamour was hugely admired, and copied by women all over the world. Especially now that movies had begun to be shown in color more regularly, women were able to mimic the colors they saw on screen, as well as the look itself. 

An extremely popular trend of this decade was set by actress Joan Crawford. In the late 1930’s Joan appeared in a Max Factor campaign sporting a rounded lip. This look later became known as the hunter’s bow, or the smear. This campaign also led Joan to be credited for making arched brows more popular.

Magazines

Film magazines, such as; Photo play and Modern Screen, showed the realities of life as a Hollywood star. These magazines would use movie stars to help document current trends in fashion and beauty,and even explore what they believed what the future trends may be. Furthermore, these magazines would show everyday women at work looking extremely glamorous, in addition to having focused fashion and beauty pages. These images set potentially unrealistic beauty standards for working women across America.

Products 

Foundation

In the 1940’s, foundation shades were designed either to be natural or to add a subtle, healthy glow. The natural sun kissed look was extremely popular. 

Most foundation products were available in cake form, mainly with a matte finish. However, some had a light, sheen finish.

Max-Factor’s pan-cake was ultimately the most popular foundation product of this decade. Initially designed for the film industry, actresses fell in love with its flawless finish and began wearing the product off screens. Max Factor seized the opportunity, that everyone wanted to look like their favorite movie stars, by releasing pan cake to the public in the late 1930’s. Max-factor followed their previous success of pan-cake when releasing pan-stick, another  product initially designed for on screen wear, to the public in the 40’s. This cream foundation came in a  tube, making it extremely easy to apply, leading it to major success.

Powder

Loose and pressed powders were available for setting foundations and eliminating any unwanted shine. Compact pressed powders would be used to touch up on the go, after everyday women began to see film stars apply their makeup in public – on films. This gave the everyday woman the confidence to do so.

Eyebrows

Eyebrow pencils were used to shape and define the eyebrows after grooming them with a comb. Pencils came in black and brown shades, and pomades were also available for those women with thicker, and harder to tame brows. However, many women used Vaseline to tame and shape their brows, as a cheaper alternative.

The brows would usually be combined into an arched or rounded shape, making them much more defined than those of previous decades, but they were not left overgrown, too wide or excessively full. 

Eye shadow

Wartime caused a huge halt in the production of many cosmetics, making products like eye shadow extremely hard to came by. This lead many women to create home made solutions, such as; burning a candle under a saucer to create a residue that could be mixed with Vaseline to create a grayish toned eye shadow.

Colors were limited meaning muted colors like grey and brown’s were most popular, however sometimes greens, violets and blues could also be found. After the end of World War Two, many new colors made an appearance on the shelves, especially in the evergreen shades of brown, green, violet and blue. Fancier colors like gold were also introduced and were a popular choice for evening wear.

Eye shadow would be applied to the lid with one’s finger and then blended up towards the brow. This could be taken slightly beyond the outer corner of the eye but there was no dramatic wing, like we see in many glamour makeups in the later decades. Additionally, women tended to only wear one color eye shadow, there was no darker color in the crease, or highlight in the inner corners or on the brow bone.

Eye liner

During the war, eye liner was used in small amounts, only to help enhance the lash line. Rationing meant eyebrow pencils would be double purposed, and used for liners – or vice versa. 

The end of the war called for a more dramatic, stronger line behind the lashes. Additionally, extending the line slightly to create an almond shape was also becoming popular. This continued into the 50’s, where it was known as the doe eye look.

Mascara

Eyelash products during this decade were available in shades of black, brown and blue. Block/cake and cream mascara were the most popular formulas. Mascara was mainly applied to the top lashes, but was occasionally applied on the lower lashes too.

Lipstick

Red was the prominent colour of the 1940’s, symbolizing patriotism and femininity. Various shades of red appeared throughout the decade, with undertones including; blue, brown, orange and pink. Dark and brick reds were the most popular during this time.

After the war ended,many new, brighter shades were introduced – like pinky reds. Women yearned for brighter colors after the dark, dull lives they had lived through the war times so these new shades became extremely popular. 

Lip pencils also began to spring into importance during this decade.

Lipsticks were often matte, meaning women had to apply petroleum jelly over the top if they desired a shiner finish. There were a few specialist products designed for this use, one of the products available was known as ‘lip pomade’ and was made by Max Factor.

Furthermore, the hunters bow- a deep, rounded lip- rose to popularity during this decade. This trend is said to be created by actress Joan Crawford. Lipstick applicators were created to help make it easier to achieve a flawless, full, rounded lip.

Rouge

During the 1940’s, rouge was available in cream and dry formulas. Pressed powders often came in small cardboard pots, or in compacts. Peachy, coral and pinky tones were the most popular during this decade.

Rouge would have been lightly applied, directly on the apples of the cheeks and then blended out to create a natural glow. 

This product could also be applied around the face to create a light contour. During the period of rationing many women even applied lip sticks to their cheeks in a bid to replicate rouge.

Nail polish

Nail polish was a staple in many women’s beauty routines during the 1940’s. Reds were the most popular colour, but polishes in darker green and gold shades were also worn often. 

Generally, the colour of a woman’s nails would match her rouge and lipstick shade. Brands began to make this co-ordination process easier, when releasing collections of matching products including lipsticks, rogues and nail polish every time they released new shades.

Stockings

During wartime, nylon stockings were in short supply as nylon was needed for production towards the war effort. This led to women experimenting more with makeup to find a solution to this problem by creating the illusion of stockings. Women used leg makeup – originally designed to create a tanned appearance- along with makeup pencils- to create the illusion of a seam line up the back of the leg. Women who didn’t have access to leg makeup would often improvise using gravy browning or watered down coffee on their legs in a bid to replicate this effect.