Welcome to Makeup Mondays! Here you will find a weekly guide to retro makeup, with application guides and my favorite product recommendations.
I’ll start by introducing myself—my name is Amanda Lee, and I am a makeup-aholic! My obsession started at an early age, and I have to say that it has grown over the years—
To start our application series, I will begin with a brief guide to foundation—after all, foundation prepares and perfects your canvas for the flawless application of color products! Period looks have one thing in common—smooth, creamy skin. The soft matte look that was so popular in our favorite eras was achieved with a few different products. Many women applied a powder base of vanishing cream, and topped this with an application of powder. Cream/stick, liquid, and water-activated cake makeups (Max Factor’s Pan-cake made it’s debut in 1937) were also on the market, and the desired coloring varied by era: Cream or ivory in the 20s, “Gardenia” or “Tea Rose” in the 1930s, a slight rosy glow in the 40s. Nowadays, we have a wide range of foundation choices, and one can choose the best formulation and color to suit her skin, and the preferred look is to match your natural skin tone as closely as possible.
I’m rather fond of cream and powder makeups, particularly those by pro “stage” cosmetic lines, such as Graftobian, Ben Nye, Joe Blasco, and RCMA. Although these brands, preferred by many in the film and stage industries, conjure up images of thickly applied, ‘pancaked’ makeup, they are actually an underutilized resource for high quality cosmetics at a reasonable price. The foundations have a higher pigment-to-filler ratio, in order to stand up to the rigors of the set (hot lights, long hours, and the like), and so the careful application of a very thin layer can provide superior, natural-looking base. The shade ranges are also much wider than your typical drugstore or department store lines, which makes it easier to find a perfect match, and one can also blend shades easily. My personal favorites include Graftobian’s Hi-Def Cream Foundation and Ben Nye’s Color Cake; both work great for street wear and photography. Other favorites of mine include NYX Twin Cake (NYX is an inexpensive, yet high quality, drugstore line), Shu Uemura Nobara Cream Foundation, and MAC Full Coverage.
To apply, I prefer to stipple (patting the product gently and evenly onto the face) the foundation using a damp sponge; this method works well for cream, stick, and liquid foundations. Water-activated cake foundations are also applied using a dampened sponge; swirl the sponge in the cake to create a medium-thick liquid, and then apply using the aforementioned stippling method. One can also apply foundation using a brush, such as MAC’s 187 or a kabuki brush—experiment to see which method you prefer.
Once applied, I like to finish with a dusting of colorless or translucent powder. My favorites are Ben Nye Neutral Set, Kryolan Anti-Shine Powder, and the vintage classic Coty Airspun. Airspun can be found in translucent shades at many drugstores and in other shades online; my preferred shade is Rachel No.1, a pale cream. Loose powder can be pressed on with a puff—pour a small amount onto a large brush, rubbing it into the applicator before pressing it onto the skin in a rolling motion—or dusted on with a fluffy powder brush.
So there you have it—your canvas is primed and ready for the next step. So stay tuned for next week’s article, which will cover blush application and delve into the art of contouring and highlighting!
xoxo,
**You can visit Amanda Lee on her personal blog too**
AlleyKat’s is thrilled to have Miss Amanda Lee offer all the fantastic info she has spent years acquiring. We can’t wait to learn more and from now until next Monday, we will be working on our foundation applications!!
Hey Amanda Lee- One Question though…do you have a brand that you prefer for those of us that are pasty white. As in casper colored. We have found the right coloring to be very difficult to find.
Thanks!
~Kat~
I’m very glad to join the team here!
As a fellow member of the “Casper” crowd, I do have a few foundation recommendations for our readers!
My current foundation favorite is NYX Twin Cake in Pale, a very light neutral cream powder foundation (the next shade, Shell, is the same intensity as Pale, but cool or pink-based.)
Graftobian Hi-Def Foundation in Graceful Swan and Cinema Secrets cream foundation in 601-18 are both fantastic neutral to slightly yellow-toned cream foundations, and both are very high quality products, too.
Ben Nye Color Cake in Bisque is also a fantastic pale option in pancake form.
And MAC offers their Full Coverage Foundation in W10 (a very pale pink-based color) through their Pro store.
The above are my top picks (I’m very hard to match), but other brands worth looking into for a possible match are LORAC, Nars, MUFE, Illuminare, Alima, Bobbi Brown, and Laura Mercier.
I hope this helps!
Lovely article, really enjoyed reading it.
I adore Guerlain loose powder as it smells of violets!!
xx
Excellent post! I have been thinking about working matte foundation into my makeup routine, so this post was very informative.
Thanks doll,
The Glamorous Housewife
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I adore the scent of violets; I may have to look into Guerlain’s powder
The nice thing about the pro cream foundations I mentioned is that they are not drying or heavy mattes, and can be powdered down as much as you like to achieve the right finish.
Curious- What does our resident Makeup Expert think about the new found Bare Mineral phenomenon?
As a fellow lover of Ben Nye, I can attest to the quality of the brand. However, any tips for those blessed with overly shiny faces?
I’ve found with the neutral set powder from Ben Nye, as the pores produce more oil the powder does not work so well, you end up seeing the pores more well defined as everything else is matte.
Wonderful tips, Miss Amanda Lee! Thank you for providing us with the “star secrets” that shaped the glamour era! I’m going to have to give “stippling” a try. I’ve read that Audrey Hepburn used to apply her make-up this way.
Not sure if you’ve taken notice of it yet, but there is a fabulous new foundation on the market by Sally Hansen. It’s called Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Your Skin Makeup, and can be found at CVS and Rite Aid. It has the loveliest finish and feels so good on your skin. It even seems to improve the look of your skin, nourishing it with natural botanicals. It gives medium to full coverage, and has a creamy, velvety finish. The lightest shades (Porcelain and Ecru Beige) are perfect for the fair of skin, and they have a luxurious loose powder that really perfects the ’40s look.
Warmest regards,
Cate
It’s so nice to read everyone’s responses–thank you for taking the time to reply!
Kat~I have not found a mineral makeup that works for my temperamental skin, but there are some good brands out there. Alima is a popular, and it comes in a nice range of shades. Illuminare is a liquid mineral makeup that also receives good reviews and is popular with makeup artists. It doesn’t come in as many shades, but the colors are on the forgiving side.
GingerLeigh~Have you tried Kryolan’s Anti-Shine Powder? That seems to have a little more oomph when it comes to controlling the oilies. Primer helps too; Cinema Secrets makes a good one, and some sunscreens, like Shiseido’s SPF55 lotion, have excellent oil-controlling properties. Also, blotting papers are very helpful (Palladio makes great inexpensive papers with rice powder on one side), either in lieu of a powder touch-up or before re-powdering. These soak up the oil so that the powder doesn’t clump up on the skin.
Cate~I have heard of this line–it was created by Carmindy of “What Not to Wear” fame. The foundation isn’t quite light enough for me (I’m nearly paper white, sigh), but it is an excellent product, as are her powders and blushes. I’ve heard good things about the eye shadows, too, and you certainly can’t beat the price!
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