AlleyKatsStore.com

A warm hello again to my readers!  Since we finished our vintage face how-to series last week, today we are going to start a new feature—a spotlight on retro cosmetic brands.  I’ll be featuring different brands on a regular basis, along with other vintage tidbits and articles, in order to make Makeup Mondays a well-rounded resource.

Today’s brand is Julie Hewett; I made mention of this brand in last week’s article covering lipstick, and it’s definitely worthy of its own feature article!  Julie Hewett is a well-known veteran makeup artist actively working in Hollywood today, and she is also a member of the exclusive Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.  When working on the set of Pearl Harbor, she was unable to find a suitable Technicolor-red lipstick—and so her cosmetic line was born.

The  Noir Collection, six red lipsticks that run the gamut from a wine-red 20s shade to a bright crimson 1950s red, is perfect for vintage lovers.  The shades are wonderful, period-perfect reproductions, and the formula is exquisite as well.  Unlike dye-based lipsticks, the Noir reds are pigment-based—this makes for rich shades that stay true longer, and that won’t  fade to a less than desirable stain.  Pigment-based lipsticks also won’t react with the chemistry in your skin—no dreaded fuchsia quick-change act to be found here!  The color can also be removed completely and will not stain the mouth; should you want to change the shade you are wearing, there will be no color left behind to alter the next shade you apply.  The Noir collection also including matching lip liners of equally good quality; liner is a must with intense lipstick colors to prevent bleeding and help the color stay longer.  As it can be hard to find the right shade to coordinate with your lipstick choice, it is always nice to have a perfect match at the ready!

Julie Hewett also offers up both powder and cream eye shadows worth checking out.  The Hue Colors are shimmery creams that are perfect for creating a glossy 1930s eye; Lilies in the Snow is an excellent shade for this, and the other shades are pleasing as well.  Application of the Hue Colors takes a bit of work (the lid must be properly prepped with foundation/powder, the color applied in a thin layer, and finished with a dusting of colorless powder), but this is a unique product worth checking out.  The powder shadows are smooth and creamy, and there are many shades to choose from to create a vintage eye (Cappuccino and Runway are two lovely neutrals; her palettes, including Twilight and Petit Four, are worth looking into as well.)

Her Cheekies and Shimmies are interesting products as well; Cheekies are lightweight creams that can be applied as blush or lip color, and Shimmies are delightful highlighters for cheeks and eyes.  The Rosie Cheekie is a wonderful  flushed pink, and Jami is a nice neutral pink; Goldie Shimmie is perfectly glamorous, and Pinkie is a soft rose gold.  Again, application of cream products necessitates a bit more work, but the payoff is worth it in the end!

So there you have it—a brief review of Julie Hewett.  This unique line is a must for vintage lovers to check out!

xoxo,

Amanda Lee

Hello again, my wonderful readers! I hope you enjoyed last weeks article about brows and liner; this week we’ll be discussing the icing on the cake, if you will: Lipstick!

Lip color and shape are perhaps the easiest, most memorable ways to achieve a vintage look. Mouths were very defined, painted in luscious, eye-catching shades, and each era had its own distinct shape for the mouth. In the 1920s, bee-stung lips were all the rage, and came about due to the products available at the time. Slippery and with little staying power, the best way to ensure that your lipstick wasn’t a smeary mess in a very short time was to apply three thumb prints of color—a dot in the center of the lower lip, and two dots of color of the upper lip. The effect created was also known as the cupid’s bow, and the 20s mouth is very doll-like indeed. As the 30s rolled around, the desired shape became full and elongated, with the top lip exaggerated into the style known as the “cruller” or “Crawford Smear” . The overdrawing of the mouth stayed with us into the 40s, though during this time the lips were less exaggerated, with more of a natural fullness. And in the 1950s, women continued to exaggerate their top lips, moving away from the rounded look popular in earlier eras, and instead drawing the cupid’s bow into a pointed shape.

Now, when it comes to color, red is always a popular vintage choice across the decades. But don’t feel as if you are limited here—the red shade category is vast, with a color to suit everyone! Reds run the gamut from cool to warm and soft to bright; you may need to try several shades to find the one that best suits you, but this is a challenge worth undertaking. As a cool-toned, fair blonde, I favor bright blue or true red shades to add oomph and a pop of contrast. Warm-toned complexions will do well to try warmer, orange-based shades, or those with a brown base. If you have trouble with red lipsticks pulling a quick-change act and turning a less-than-desired fuchsia tone, you might try experimenting with a brown-based brick tone, as these may pull a truer red shade when paired with your chemistry.

Color trends by the era varied—orange tones, deep reds, deep brownish reds, and plums in the 1920s; light rose, raspberry, and Chinese red in the 30s, cherry red, crimson, vermillion in the 40s, along with raspberry, light red, and reddish orange shades for more natural looks; and in the 50s, everything from light pinks, bright pinks, various reds, and coral and pink-orange tones. As you can see, red is not the only shade to choose from—pinks and corals are always quite suitable for a vintage face, as are softer rosy shades, shocking pink, and bright corals are all good options to look for.

When wearing red, lip liner is a must to define the shape of your mouth and help prevent the lipstick from straying as well. Application with a lip brush also helps ensure a smooth, even application. To balance the face, one can carefully sculpt her mouth according to her face shape; makeup artist J. Del Russo advised women in Charm Magazine to carefully make up their lips, like so:

The Long Face—Outline the lips using a brush; beginning at the outer corner of the upper lip, draw a line toward the center. Then repeat the process from the opposite corner. Eliminate any point at the cupid’s bow, as this will only tend to elongate the face. Now, staying within the natural lip line, outline the bottom lip and fill in the outline. For a more generous and rounder looking mouth, it Is often advisable to build up the size of the upper lip slightly, and it is most important to accentuate the corners.

The Round Face—In the round face shape, correct application of lip rouge is all important. Follow the directions for outlining the lips as given above, but in the round face technique, accent the cupid’s bow. In drawing the lower lip, take care to “square” the outline and you achieve this by drawing a firm out curving line from the corners to the center of the lip in a sort of reverse cupid’s bow. This squaring does wonders for eliminating the roundness of the jawline.

The Oval Face—Brush as directed for the long face—but follow the natural lip line and draw the corners of the mouth clearly so that the full natural curves are enhanced.

Favorite reds of mine include MAC Ruby Woo, Russian Red, and Dubonnet; Besame Red, Cherry Red, and Red Velvet; Revlon Cherries in the Snow, Fire and Ice, Love That Red, and Really Red. For day-to-day wear (and for many of my shoots), I am also a fan of a liquid lip color made by Lip Ink; this indelible product looks like a traditional lipstick, but won’t smear, bleed, or transfer to your glass or beau. It’s the bees knees, for sure! Lip Ink Red is quite similar to MAC Ruby Woo; other colors of interest include the brick shade Lava Red (similar to MAC Dubonnet) and the orangey Fire Red (similar to Revlon Fire and Ice.)

And there you have it—a guide to making up your vintage face from start to finish! Stay tuned for another exciting makeup article next week!

xoxo,
Amanda Lee