The Four Keys to Beauty for Women during Christmas 1941
A 1940’s British War Time Woman’s Beauty Guide.
Back in December 1941, Britain was entering it’s third Christmas at war. Here you can read some of the makeup and fashion advice that was read by many women that cold month as they prepared for what was hopefully a romantic and peaceful hiatus in the grimness of the Blitz.
It’s an eye opener as to the many ways in which women dealt with hard and strenuous times whilst remaining true to their feminine themselves. They did not have the capitalist consumer driven over abundance of clothes, makeup, hair products that festoon our 21st century shopping malls, but despite the rationing and empty shop shelves, women in the 1940s, often having to raid their kitchen for raw materials, were able to evoke a glamor which still shines out at us today.
The four keys to a 1940’s woman’s beauty are COLOR, SILHOUETTE, SPARKLE and CHARM !
COLOR
1940s Hair and Makeup Color advice.
Coloris the most magnetizing force – one of the most appealing things in the world.Do you make the most of the colors which nature gave you?
Take your hair, for instance. Is it bright and colorful, or is it a trifle mousey? Even if you can no longer get your pet henna or chamomile shampoo because of rationing , it is still possible to buy chamomile flowers or henna powder. A teaspoonful of the powder mixed with your shampoo, or used as a rinse will give your hair an added richness!
To make a chamomile rinse, infuse a heaped tablespoon of dried chamomile flowers in a pint of boiling water for ten minutes, then strain and cool.
Brunettes used to give their hair a raven sheen by rinsing it in red wine to which a pinch of soda had been added, and hot rhubarb water mixed with a tablespoon of vinegar is another rinse for flattering brunette hair.
Use the vinegar by itself if rhubarb is unobtainable, and even a pinch of borax added to water helps.
Wartime rationing of lipstick and rouge – Use Nature’s Rouge.
An iron rich diet makes sure of red lips and rosy cheeks, pink gums and colorful hair, for iron is in fact – natures rouge !
You will find iron in watercress, parsley, spinach, dandelion greens, red and white cabbage, in dried figs, raisins and of course – prunes. Prunes are natures lipstick.[ Ed- You don’t have to be this drastic these days – try Besame Red Lipstick and get that 1940s lip effect!]
Eyes – make the most of their color
Do you get the full color value of your eyes? If they are blue – accentuate the fact by using blue mascara and blue or mauve eye-shadow, by wearing blue – though only one small note of it mind – somewhere in your outfit. If they are brown, draw attention to the fact by wearing brown fur or brown velvet. If grey, you can make them appear blue, purple, or green by your clever use of color and makeup. Hazel eye lovelies can make full use of green – the fairy color – using green mascara, jade eye-shadow and wearing jade and other green stones. In fact regardless of your eye color – the in look this year is green eyeshadow -so why not experiment and see!
SILHOUETTE
A 1940s woman’s shape guide
Your physical expression of form is your body. Mold your silhouette so that it expresses beauty ! We fashion our bodies by the food we eat, and by the way we exercise them. It is in every woman’s power to have beauty of form, for it is never too late to rebuild the body, smoothing out bulges, covering protruding bones, or streamlining exaggerated curves.
It is not possible for us average women to have the curves of film stars. The film star figure are enhanced by film photography. The camera thickens, rounds, smooths and slims screen beauties to an ideal that is only for artists to dream about or sighful women at the afternoon film theaters.
Lose your flabby fat by all means with healthy walking. Indeed we are all losing fat these days from running to the air raid shelters. Another point – you cannot change what God in her wisdom has given you. Concentrate on the good points, watch your waist and hips. acquire grace of body and poise and don’t slouch girl when at work.Try and find a quality corsetiere, who will help you choose the correct foundation garments, corsets and girdles that will fit snugly, and present the smooth line you desire without squeezing the life out of you.
SPARKLE
A 1940s woman’s advice on how to sparkle !
A girl with sparkle is as different from the girl who lacks it as a glass of champagne differs from a glass of water. brush your hair till it sparkles with highlights – one hundred strokes every night at bedtime will do the trick.
Put sparkle in your eyes by keeping them active. It is the lazy eyes which become dull and unbecoming. Wink, blink and roll your eyes as often as you think of it. Keep them wide open – they give more sparkle that way!
See your teeth sparkle too. eat plenty of hard tooth cleansing foods. brush your teeth three times daily if you can, using baking soda which is a natural teeth whitener.
Make sure your lipstick flatters teeth rather than splatters ! Keep your mind active by taking an interest in things, and not just the latest scream in fashion,or the latest novel, but the social trend of things, those things that matter to women after the war is won. Equal pay for equal work, family allowances, more democratic education.
Interest in these things will keep your mind sparkling like a diamond.
A 1940s woman’s charm guide
CHARM
The bloom on a woman, that indefinable something which wins love, friends, success, which makes one forget a plain face, a sick body, age and poverty, is not a fairy gift, but something which you and I can attain.
Here are some of its secrets :
Make a clear cut plan for your life and believe that it will materialize. This is the secret. That will give you poise and feminine power which will see you through most of life’s hardships.Banish worry – it harms your health. Wake every day to belief that the day ahead will be a good day, full of joy, love and interest.Don’t look for slights, but assume others feel good about you. this will eliminate shyness, which is enemy to a woman’s charm.
© Glamourdaze 2012
For original 1940s vintage makeup and beauty advice check out the Makeup & beauty – A 1940’s guide
Love this article.
Thanks for sharing.
Miss Stacy Blaise