The Results of My Grandmother's Skin Routine Experiment (Hint - She did know best.)

Hello Everyone!
I love to follow vintage fashion videos on YouTube.

As everyone is trying to find new and entertaining things they can do in their home to keep physical distancing and flatten the curve, one of the popular videos for the last couple weeks for vintage videos seems to be "I tried a vintage skin care routine." or "I tried a skincare regime from my grandmother's beauty book."

This reminded me that I had never completed my posts about my experiment of trying my great grandmother's skin care routine in this blog, so I decided that maybe now was the time.  Don't worry, if you haven't read the other posts, I have linked them in this blog so that you can have your memory refreshed.   In this post, I was going to share how I used the products and whether the results were successful...... so lets find out shall we?

Previously on the Frugal Femme.....

Isn't this adorable?  I have to go back to this site and see if I can't find more cute gifs.  I got this at https://www.primogif.com/p/rhBq4nGXglGqk

In April of last year, I had gotten completely fed up with my middle aged acne.  I had gone online and done the research and tried most of the suggestions that were posted from the beauty blogs, but they were not working for me.  In fact, they seemed to be making it worse.  So, in desperation, I decided that I would try, the best that I could, to follow as near as I could, my great grandmother's skin care routine - because no acne, as far as I could remember, dared to ever have the effrontery to appear on her face. And I figured that, since we shared the same genetics, maybe what worked for her would work for me.
When I first started this post I had been doing this regime for one month, (Because I believe in being thorough.), but it has now been almost a year, so I will let you know what I kept the same and what, if anything, I changed. and in this post I am going to go through how I applied the product and what the results were.

Night Time

The first post in the series listed the products that I was planning on using, their history, and why I had chosen them over other products.  For the full article you click on the link below and read the first part of this series.
https://frugalfemmecarole.blogspot.com/2019/04/living-beauty-vintage-frugally-or-was.html

I had decided that I was going to use Ponds Cold Cream, Thayer's Witchhazel,  Oil of Olay, Frowniers, Smith's Rosebud Salve, and body butter in Kus Kus from Bourbon French Perfume.

Application
Step 1. Slather my face with cold cream.

This is a still from the very first episode of I Love Lucy.  Lucy is reading a murder mystery book and not paying attention to where she is dipping her cracker.  Every time I see this little gag it always makes me smile.

As I have shared before, I do not like washing my face with water at night because it wakes me up and then I can't go to sleep.  So I decided to go with cold cream so that I could do my entire night time ritual in the comfort of my own bed.  (Yes, I am that person.)
I watched several vintage videos to try to figure out if my great grandmother would have applied the cold cream differently than we would today and the only thing that I could notice was that they used an appalling amount of cotton balls and tissue to remove the cold cream.  Now, I am not an environmentalist by any stretch of the imagination, but I do try not to be a completely irresponsible human being when it comes to the amount of waste I produce.  I, therefore, decided that, rather than use tissue or cotton balls, I would use a soft flannel and terrycloth reusable wipe to remove the cold cream.  For this, I decided that I would use a smaller version of the "reusable paper towels" I keep seeing on Etsy.

Now, I could make these, and one day, I probably will.  But I found 10 of the cloths for $5.00 on Etsy already made and they had pastel unicorns on them and I was sold.  Perfect.
The other thing that I noticed in the vintage videos was that they ALWAYS used circular motions when applying and rubbing in the cold cream and made sure the circles always went upward NEVER DOWN.  In fact, several narrators on different videos couldn't seem to stress the NEVER DOWN enough both for the scrubbing of the face and the removing of the makeup on the face.
So circular- upward motions it would be.

I soon realized, the very first evening in fact, that the cold cream did an excellent job of removing my make-up, including my 18 hour lipstick that I usually have to remove with special make-up cleanser.  (So score one for the old school routine.) Also, I did not get the odor free version and I loved the smell.  (Yet another point...) The little re-usable cloths worked like a dream, but they did not leave my face feeling clean,  I still felt like I had too much cold cream left on my face but I had already thought that may be the case.  Which moves us directly into step two.

Step 2.  Cleanse/tone face with Witch Hazel

To help clean my face of the excess cold cream, I decided that Witch Hazel was the way to go.  Again, I was against using the tissue or cotton balls that were recommended in the vintage advice that I was finding.  (It just seemed wasteful.)  I could have used my unicorn reusable wipes, but I decided to use something else instead - crocheted cotton reusable makeup remover pads.  

(I already had these in my possession and knew that I loved them.  I purchased my first set from Etsy and then figured out how to crochet them myself.)  I find the "nubs" naturally created by the crochet process itself work as a natural exfoliator.
Keeping the upward circular motion, I would put the witch hazel on the remover pad, and gently remove the rest of the cold cream that hadn't soaked into my skin.
Oh my goodness, this I loved!!!
I had decided to go with Thayer's Coconut Water Witch Hazel.  The combination of the Ponds Cold Cream scent and the Coconut scent was divine.  I quickly grew to look forward to this part of my routine every night.

Step 3. Moisturize
I started the routine thinking that I would use Oil of Olay both at night and in the morning as my moisturizer.  My great grandmother swore by it and I really wanted to like it.  The problem was, I HATED the smell.   I just couldn't get past it.  Plus, I was feeling that the cold cream was already sort of moisturizing my face, so I quickly decided to nix the Oil of Olay.
(UPDATE:  I do use the occasional moisturizer at night when I feel like I may be getting dry and that my skin needs a little help. I am ashamed to say that my favorite thing that I have found to use is not something that my great grandmother would have used.  However, it had all of the ingredients that several old school homemade face creams did, so I thought I would give it a try:  Korres Wild Rose Night Moisturizer.

This smells divine, but I do not use it every night,  I opt to use it almost more like a light weight facial mask and only put it on about once or twice a week.  I will say, a little of this cream goes a long way, so you can be prudent when applying.
To apply this moisturizer, rather than using the circular motions that I use with all of the other products, I do a gentle tapping of the fingers to "press" the moisturizer into my skin.)

Step 4.  Moisturize some more........
After cleaning my face, I then slather on the body butter to the rest of my body.  Originally, I was using KusKus body butter that was made at a local perfumery in New Orleans.  However, my husband didn't care for the smell, so I had to go back to the drawing board.  (I know, I know, it sounds like I am obsessed with smell.  I swear I'm not.)
I ended up using the same company that provides the hand lotion that I get cranky if I have to live without it: Weleda.

And this one friends is vintage.  Weleda has been around since it was established in 1924 and was in the United States by 1931 - so I don't know if my great grandmother did use it, but she could have and that follows the rules that I have set for myself.  So I slather Weleda Skin Food Body Butter on my legs arms and chest and then use the skin food hand cream on my hands.  I do this step now because it gives time for my cold cream or moisturizer to sink into my skin before going on to the next stage for my face.
As a side note, my husband loves to use this body butter on his tattoos.  He says that they keep his tattoos looking as bright, intense, and colorful as the day he bought they.  So if you have tattoos..........just sayin'.

Step 5.  Frownies
This is the step that I was most skeptical about.  But, the product has been around for quite a while and I do want to get rid of my "elevensies" so I was willing to take a risk.  I was also willing to look ridiculous because there is no way to wear these and look glamorous. NO... WAY.
Don't believe me?
Check this out.

That picture is Gloria Swanson using Frownies in the movie Sunset Boulevard.  This is not her best look.  And before you say that she was supposed to look rough and old the entire movie.

Here she is in another scene.  She looks glamorous.  Her forehead also looks "elevensies" free so, yup was gonna try it looking stupid be darned.
So, for me, other than looking silly to my husband, the hardest part of using Frownies was getting them on correctly.  The directions says to use a little water on the shiny side of the Frownies and then apply to your forehead while gently pulling to smooth the skin.  I don't use water, I use more Witch Hazel and that works fine.  But I was finding that I wasn't smoothing the skin correctly before I put on the Frownies,  or I would get it on right, but I hadn't moistened it enough and it would start to pop off.  Grrrrr...
But once I learned the trick, everything became much easier.

The trick I learned is put the water/witch hazel on the shiny side of the triangle.  Then let is set for a few seconds so it starts to get tacky.  Then put on your forehead while gently pulling the skin where the wrinkle line is.  If you feel like it is not staying on, you can add a few drops of witch hazel to your palm, dip your finger into the witch hazel and dab the outside of the Frownies where you feel like it may not be sticking.

Do they work?

I don't know.  They seem to be working, but I don't know if this is the actual case or just wishful thinking on my part.

Step 6.  Moisturize one more time!!!

The final step to my  nighttime skin care routine is the Smith's Rosebud Salve.  Maybe because it is more pigmented, or maybe because I wear it almost from the time that I wake up until the time I go to sleep, red lipstick has a tendency to dry out my lips.  So putting the salve on helps to prevent my lips from getting chapped and dry.  Because, lets face it, it doesn't matter how great and beautiful a shade of red your lipstick may be, if it goes on chapped, dried, flaking lips - it isn't gonna look pretty.

or........after 8/9 hours of sleep.

Morning Routine

My morning skincare routine is for more simple than my nighttime routine if you ignore the make-up part of the routine.
Below is the link of the products that I chose.

http://frugalfemmecarole.blogspot.com/2019/04/living-beauty-vintage-frugally-or-was_28.html

Step 1.  Wash face with water or witch hazel.
If it is cold outside, I like to use luke warm water and a crochet cloth and clean my face.  If is is hot outside, I like to use the witch hazel and a crochet cloth.

Step 2. Moisturize
As I have stated previously in this blog, my plan was to use Oil of Olay because that is what my grandmother used.  I will say that, for the little while that I was using it, it seemed to be working.  But, again, I couldn't get past the smell.  I could have tried a fragrance free version, but it also bothered me that it didn't have sunscreen.  Since I am so pale I practically glow in the dark, I never go outside without sunscreen so I really wanted a moisturizer option with sunscreen.
After a little bit of research, I decided that I would try Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer Sunscreen SPF 30.  It had the same consistency as the Oil of Olay, being more like a lotion and less like a cream, so it seemed like a very similar option but with sunscreen.
Kiehl's has been around since 1851, so it meets the criteria of products my great grandmother could have used, even though I never saw it on her vanity and the Ultra Facial Moisturizers have been around since the 60s.

All of that covered my actual skin care routine, but we haven't even touched on the fun part yet....... Makeup!!!

I was also worried that it could be my makeup that was part of the problem of my face breaking out.  So it thought I might as well go all in and do the same thing with my makeup.
As I posted before, these were the products I had decided would be the best because they were available in the forties and fifties.

Make-Up

L'Oreal Infallible Concealer
Coty Air Spun Loose Face Powder
Cream Blush (Revlon)
Vaseline
Brow Pencil
Cake Mascara (Used as eyeliner)
L'Oreal Voluminous mascara
Revlon Lipstick (Cherries in the Snow and Fire and Ice)

Everyone applies their make-up differently, and there are thousands of YouTube videos showing people how to apply makeup, so I am not going to do that.  What I am going to do is tell you what stayed, what changed and did it work.  (And maybe show some of the vintage application techniques I learned while researching.)

For me, after putting on moisturizer, my next step is doing my eyebrows.  I tried so hard to use the eye pencil, but I just didn't like the way that it looked on me.
So, I created my own method of doing my brows using an eye shadow almost identical to my hair color and Vaseline.
Yup, you read that right.  Vaseline.
Before I tried the pencil, I was using a brow pomade with a brow brush.  But I had finally used all mine and Lorac no longer made the pomade in my color, thus my experiment in pencil.  I decided that I would make my own pomade.
What I do is get a little tiny tin container, like for lip balm.  You can also use the Vasoline lip balm in the tin - the ingredients aren't really that much different, and you can get the lip balm in a coconut scent. Then, I take a stiff bristled makeup brush, I find that my brow brush works perfect for this, and I scrape along the top of the shadow to create a loose "powder".

I don't scrape up alot because a little goes a long way.  I put that powder in the top of the tin, then I dip the same brush into the Vasoline and get a tiny dallop of Vasoline.

I tried so many ways to take this picture, but no matter how I tried it always looked a little gross.  I guess Vasoline just isn't that photogenic by itself.

Again, a little goes a long way.  Then, like Bob Ross mixing his paints, I mix the eye shadow and the Vasoline together to create a "pomade".

You would be amazed how long this lasts me.  I won't need to make more for at least another two to three weeks, a little goes a long way on my puny brows.

I then apply the pomade with an angled brow brush.  If I accidentally put too much on and it kind of "clumps" together and looks too heavy I brush my brows with a clean, round mascara brush.

This is a picture of me taken after I have worn my makeup all day.  So they do last.

I love how this works, and no, I don't have a problem with this coming off.  After about five minutes, tops, the Vasoline soaks into the skin and the brows are left smoothly shaped and colored.
I also don't have a problem with this causing breakouts.
AND it is so much less expensive than buying brow pomade.
I know this may not work for everyone, but for those of you with invisible brows like me, its worth trying.
Once I have brows and I stop scaring myself with my own face, I move on to the rest of my makeup.

Concealer
I am a middle aged woman, so I do not use near as much concealer as you see those gorgeous 20 year olds using in their YouTube videos to make themselves look airbrushed.  When I try that, it just settles into my wrinkles and makes me look even older.
A little goes a long way on me so I use it sparingly under my eyes and around the creases of my nose.  If I have a breakout, of course I try to cover the blemishes by using the dab and pat method, but that is is it.

Powder
This is where I have two products that I now rotate between.  Both of these work equally well for me which one I uses just depends on my mood and how long I want to take on my makeup because one method does take longer than the other.
Coty Airbrush Powder
The first thing that I learned both from vintage videos and modern videos from makeup artists was that I had not been putting my powder on correctly.  For decades I had been using a round tip brush and was brushing on the powder.  Imagine my chagrin when I found out that the brush I had been using to put powder on my face was designed to brush powder OFF my face.  Ooops.
Lesson number one that shocked me......

GRANDMA BAKED

And I am not talking about cookies, although most vintage ladies probably did that too.
Okay, so maybe saying that they baked in the early days may be a bit of a stretch, but it's sure darn close.  One of the videos that I watched with appalled fascination was a tutorial by Ern Westmore.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3bB-13dtnQ

For those of you who have never heard of Ern Westmore.
He was a famous make-up artist in the late forties and early fifties.  In a tutorial video that you can find on YouTube (see the link above) you can see him applying loose facial powder to a "regular housewife like you" model.  He applies foundation (vanishing cream), creme blusher, eye shadow, and eyeliner.  Then he takes a powder puff, virtually drenched in powder, and presses the powder onto the entire face - and I do mean the entire face.  Including the eyelids.

But he does under the eyes first and lets that sit for a moment and then powders the rest of the face.


Looks like baking to me!
I have not yet tried to powder my entire face with loose powder.  It just seems like it would feel odd.  Instead I went with the advice of makeup artist Wayne Goss.  Did I go with his advice because he's  not bad looking and has a sexy accent?

..........  Ummmmmmm.........  No comment.

But in his YouTube video:  DO NOT USE A POWDER BRUSH TO APPLY POWDER!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9lyg9DNfsY&t=75s
he says that the brush that I had been using to apply powder was made to actually brush excess powder off of the face, not to apply powder. The best way to apply loose powder, he says is to apply the powder with a powder puff.  Well that sounds glamorous and vintage and wonderful!
So out came my vintage, never been used, lambswool aqua powder puff and my ceramic powder container shaped like a lady and I was in vintage heaven. For the full technique, I would suggest watching his video, but the press and roll technique is the one that I like the best when I have the time.  And did I mention I get to use my powder puff?

If I want to get ready a little faster, then I use the other vintage product that I stumbled upon after using the Coty Airbrush for quite some time.

Max Factor Creme Puff Foundation

I have always been a fan of Marilyn Monroe and while reading about her life and her beauty routines I saw that one of the products that she is believed to have used was Max Factor Creme Puff Foundation.  If it worked for Marilyn, I was more than willing to try it.

I love this campaign slogan, and I wish they would bring back the vintage style packaging.

I have used the powder puff method with this product, but usually I use a flat edge foundation brush.  This is faster than loose powder, so this tends to be my go to when I am in a hurry.  It is also my preferred method when I have to travel because I don't have to worry about it spilling.

After concealer and powder I apply the cream blush and do my eyeliner and put on mascara.  (Since I was not breaking out around my eyes, I am not going into depth with these steps.)

But I know your question is:  Did it work?
Did switching to your great grandmother's products work?  Did you still break out or do you have clear skin.
YES!!!!!  It WORKED.
Here are two pictures of me that I took a year after I started using these products and which I have continued to use after the experimental stage.  I have done my brows and put on powder, mascara, and tinted lip balm and that is it for these pictures when it comes to makeup.  And they were taken outside while I lay on my hammock with natural sunlight.

As you can tell, not a blemish in sight.  But I thought that I would show you the procession so you could see how quickly it worked.

So in the first picture, you can see that I am broken out on both cheeks and a little above the eyebrows on the forehead with no makeup.  The second picture was a week later.

About two weeks into the experiment, the right side of my face has started to clear up and the left side is better, but the acne is still there.

And just a few days later, it looks like it had done its job as if by magic.

   

I know, you just can't take this much beauty and glamour.

And for the most part, my skin has stayed clear.  This is a photo of me taken last week with no make-up on.

I do still get the occasional breakout, usually a few days before my lady time.  But never a breakout like I was experiencing last year.  Maybe one or two blemishes that are easy to hide with concealer and that disappear within a few days which is nothing like the almost rash-like acne I was experiencing just a year ago.
So I am very happy that started using products that I thought my great grandmother might have used.  And how does the makeup up look?

Pretty good.
I tried two new lipstick colors by Revlon.  Which, I have to admit I was skeptical over.  I'm sort of a snob when it comes to lipstick and it is one of the things that I splurge on, so I was a little reluctant to change out my department store lipsticks (Mac, Chanel, Dior, Sephora) to a drugstore lipstick.  The two colors I chose because I remember them being in my great grandmother's make-up drawer, and because research showed me that these two lipstick shades have been in production since the 50s.
I went with Cherries in the Snow:

And Fire and Ice:

Neither of these shades look like their advertisements although Fire and Ice was by far closer to its advertised color than Cherries in the Snow.
Cherries in the Snow calls itself a red, but it borders on raspberry pink.  In fact, I think that some people would straight up call it a pink.  I didn't think that I would like this shade because I tend to go for blue reds that are almost a burgundy or maroon color, but I put it on anyway and was surprised how much I liked it.  The pigments were strong and the lipstick stayed on just as well as my department store brands.  As for the color, I soon grew to fall in love with it because it went so well with my spring and summer wardrobe colors. Fire and Ice is an orange-red or tomato red.  It also works well with summer fashion. After a year, both of them are purse lipsticks.  For me, purse lipsticks are lipsticks that I wear almost daily and I keep them in my purse in case I need to make touch-ups.  So I would say they were a successful experiment.

Fire and Ice

Cherries in the Snow

 

So, yet again, vintage has not let me down.  Other people may not like their great grandmother's skin care and make-up regime, but it really worked for me.

Of course, this just means that one other thing other than my wardrobe, many of my cookbooks, my decorating style, and my house are now vintage.  Ah well, as long as its vintage fashion not values, I think I'll be okay.

The next post I plan on doing some more recipes and tell you about my escapades in home sewing.

Living Beauty VIntage (Frugally) or Was Grandma on to Something (Part 2 - The Daytime Products)

Hello Everyone!
In part one of this series I explained my reasoning for trying a vintage beauty routine (my middle age acne that won't go away), my inspiration for the products chosen (my great-grandmother used them or could have used them when she was young), listed the night time products I planned on using, and gave a history of the product showing that I verified that it was a vintage beauty product that is still around today.
In part two of the series, I am going to give the products that I have chosen for a morning routine, and give my reasons for why I thought that they would work for a vintage beauty routine.

This is a beauty goal, I want to look like this.... with red hair.

Skin Care Morning Time

Morning Products Selected
Water - Cold or Warm (Pick your poison) and a terry cloth washcloth or a large cotton crochet make-up pad
Rose Water or Thayer's Witch Hazel Rose Petal (Non-Alcohol)
$10.99
Oil of Olay Beauty Lotion
$12.00

Okay, okay, I know compared to the first post there are not a lot of products for the morning skin care routine.  I also know this may horrify some of you.  But the truth is, I just don't have the time, nor the inclination to have a multi-step morning routine for cleaning my skin.  I would much rather spend that time getting my last few minutes of sleep.  So sue me.

History of the Products

Water

So, yeah.  Can't get much more basic than water, but this was one of the main steps in all of the vintage beauty routines that I researched.  It is also is one of the edicts that my great-grandmother lived by- you always washed your face with warm, not hot, water, first thing in the morning. No, she did not use soap.  But she would use a cloth that exfoliates.  A terrycloth washcloth or a cotton crocheted pad does quite nicely, and she would make certain to move the cloth/pad in upward circles being careful to never pull on the skin.
I have to admit, this is not something new that I am adding to my routine.  Washing my face with warm water and a cloth is something I do every morning already.  Sometimes, if it is hot outside I will use water that is so lukewarm it is practically cold, but that is the only change that I have made to great grandma's face morning face wash edict.

Rose Water or Thayer's Witch Hazel non-alcohol Rose Petal
Rose water may be the most frustrating product that I researched.  Why?  Its no secret that rose water existed back in the day, I mean its been around since the Greeks and Romans, but I have not been able to find any vintage brands that made rose water that still exist today.  I don't know why.  Maybe its because ladies of means distilled it themselves from roses in their green houses.  Or maybe its because it was a product that went out of favor for a while and is only now starting to become popular again.   If you try to purchase rose water today, or look it up on the internet, most rose water items are new brands, have claims that the product is from Morocco, and aren't just straight rose water but have other things added to them.  Gah!!!  This probably is fine if you are only using it for your face, but I also wanted a rose water that I could use in recipes.
So, I decided to make my own.

Rose Water Toner

This rose water recipe will also work in food recipes that call for rose water, as many Middle Eastern dishes do, and makes a very delicious warm tea.  It also smells amazing.

Ingredients
1-2 heaping tsp organic rose hip and rose petal "tea"*
2 cups water

*I get my rose hip and rose petal blend from a tea store. Just make certain, if you do this, there is no actual tea mixed in with the rose hip and rose petals.  I genuinely don't think that tea leaves will hurt anything, but it may change the flavor if you are using it in recipes.

Instructions
1.  Pour two cups water into a kettle and place on high heat.
2.  Bring water to just before a boil.  I know that my water has almost reached the boiling point when my kettle starts to make a creaking sort of noise as the water starts to agitate.
3.  Pour the water over the rose hips and rose petals.
4.  Let the petals steep in the leaves for at least five minutes.  If I am not drinking the tea, I like to let the mixture seep until all of the pink color as been soaked out of the rose bud mixture.  It looks gross, but it makes a stronger scented toner.
5.  Strain the tea into an airtight, sun proof container.

I do not know how long this mixture keeps.  I make it in small batches only.  I also usually drink one cup of the two cups of the rose water with honey and then use the remaining cup of rose water as a toner and it lasts me for about one to two weeks.  So I can tell you that it can last for at least two weeks.

So, if you do not want to make your own rose water, but you still want to use rose water and go vintage with the brand - the best product, for your face only, is Thayer's Witch Hazel Rose Petal non-alcohol.  But, if you don't care that the brand is vintage but that the product is what was available when great grandma was young, go for a rose water product that only has the two ingredients - rose and water.  Although, in my research I did see that some vintage rose water also contained glycerin, so that could be a third ingredient and would still fall under the "product my great grandmother could have used."

Oil of Olay Beauty Lotion
I thought about using another type of moisturizer - because the modern lady in me says that I can't possible use the same moisturizer for both day and night time.  But that is what my great grandmother did.  Umm, okay.  But I'm here to tell you right now, I don't trust it.  But I guess it wouldn't be a true experiment if I was 100% certain that it would work.
If you want a little history about Oil of Olay Beauty Lotion, you will have to look at the first post in this series as I covered the history of Oil of Olay in Part One of this series.
https://frugalfemmecarole.blogspot.com/2019/04/living-beauty-vintage-frugally-or-was.html

Not Going Anywhere without my Face on.

I know some people are just naturally beautiful and can look gorgeous without a speck of make-up on.  I am not one of those people.

Yeah, I warned you it wasn't pretty.  And this isn't even 100% make-up free, I have done my brows for this picture because, otherwise, I look like I have no eyebrows at all.

In fact, when I my grandmother decided I was old enough to wear make-up, and took me to Merle Norman to get my first make-up products, I was ecstatic.  Finally, I could make my face look better!  Imagine my disappointment when she told me that I wasn't old enough for a brow pencil or red lipstick.  What?!?!?!  But red lipstick was what all the ladies in the classic movies I loved so much wore!  And everyone but me seemed to have eye brows.  How could I be denied these essential beauty items?!?! My fourteen year old heart was broken.  I haven't worn Merle Norman since, I really couldn't tell you why, but I do use items for my brows and am obsessed with red lipstick. In fact, I am a little embarrassed to admit that red lipstick is my addiction, I currently own about twenty four different shades of red lipstick. And, you can ask my sister, I will find any excuse/reason to buy a red lipstick when I am feeling down.

Fifty shades of red?  Not quite, but you can see I love a red lip.  I agree with Dita von Teese, I do not strive to have the natural look, I want to be glamorous.  In my mind, if I liked the natural look I would like my face more, and I don't.

I was aware that my make-up could be what was causing me to break out just as much as my skincare routine.  So I decided that, if I was going to do great-grandma's beauty routine, I was really going to do her whole routine.  This included using make-up she could have worn and applying it the way she would have back when she was young.

There was just one small problem.  I honestly don't remember a lot about the specific products that she wore, as a child I did not care whether she wore Revlon or Maybelline,  but I do remember the colors.  Armed with this knowledge, a cup of tea, and my laptop, I hit the internet and researched.  (Yeah, not going to lie, this whole endeavor was ALOT of time spent researching.  Probably more time than I should have spent.)  I looked at vintage make-up guides, videos, magazine articles, and ads trying to figure out what brands they were using and the colors that they were wearing.  The following list of items is what I finally decided to use for my great experiment.

Make-Up

L'Oreal Infallible Concealer
Coty Air Spun Loose Face Powder
Cream Blush
Vaseline
Brow Pencil
Cake Mascara (Used as eyeliner)
L'Oreal Voluminous mascara
Revlon Lipstick

L'Oreal Infallible Concealer
My great grandmother, as far as I know, did not wear concealer.  I am trying to cover up acne, which I am hoping this skin regime will clear up and solve, so, until that happens, I most certainly will wear concealer.  As far as I can tell from my research, concealer was around in the forties, it just wasn't a very well known product.
Concealer was first invented in 1928 by Lydia O'Leary who wanted something to help cover the wine colored birth mark on her face.

I don't know how much old school Photo Shop this picture had done to it, but if it even worked half as well, this advertising would have worked for me.

She called the concealer Covermark and it was the first foundation to have a patent.  She did advertise the product, but it seemed to be seen, even by her, as an item that could help people hide burns and birth marks rather than as a simple make-up product.  Although, in the advertisement below, it does say that it works for acne and dark eye circles, but it also advocates being used on the face, arms, and back.

https://glamourdaze.com/2017/02/1930s-makeup-the-arrival-of-the-concealer.html

Although make-up artists and Hollywood stars knew the wonder that was concealer, it did not seem to reach the main stream population until 1954 when Max Factor produced the first commercially available concealer Max Factors Erace.

Both of these companies exist today and both of their concealers are available for purchase.  But I chose not to use either of them as my concealer.
Why? Covermark is not readily available where I live and costs $54.00.  This was more than I wanted to spend for a concealer.  Max Factor's Erace is $6.94 and is very available, but it comes in stick form.  I do not care for stick concealer because it does not blend well on my face, I have to tug at my skin to get it to blend. Also, I was trying to use products that my great grandmother would have used in the forties, so it felt a little like cheating to use Max Factor's Erace.  I decided that I had to go another route.
Although Hollywood elite seemed to know about concealer, the advice given in beauty guides in the thirties and forties was for women to use a lighter foundation and a different colored face powder to correct facial blemishes. I decided that a concealer that had the consistency of a thicker foundation was the modern day answer to my problem and would be the equivalent of what my great grandmother would have had available in her youth.  I chose L'Oreal Infallible concealer for three reasons: 1.  It was the consistency I was looking for; 2. L'Oreal has been around for forever so it was a brand that my great grandmother could have used; and 3.  It is the drugstore concealer recommended by drag queens.  And if a drag queen tells you that a concealer works, you can take that advice to the bank.  (I will give more a of a history of L'Oreal further down in this blog.)

Coty Air Spun Loose Powder

This product, along with Oil of Olay Beauty Fluid and Ponds Cold Cream has been around for so long that it has become iconic.  In spite of this, I had never used it.  My great-grandmother, however, most certainly did.  I remember the cardboard container and powder puff sitting on her bathroom vanity.  Thus this product was a no brainer for the new beauty regime.
Coty Air Spun Powder was created in 1934 and, as far as I can tell from my research, has changed their recipe/formula very little since its creation.   (If you are interested in a more in depth history of facial powder and Coty Air Spun in paticuliar, I have included a link below for an article that contains all that information.)
http://cosmeticsandskin.com/aba/coty-air-spun.php

In my opnion, Coty Air Spun Powder is the very epitome of a vintage beauty product that can be purchased today.

Coty Air Spun display from 1935.  Don't you love how beautiful and art deco it looks?

Cream Blush
Okay, so, I so totally cheated on the cream blush.  When doing my research it became very clear to me that though powder blush was available in the forties, the most popular type of blush, or rouge as it was know then was a cream rouge.

Cream rouge was available in a pot or in sticks and was applied with your fingers.  I usually use a powder blush, but this was my biggest breakout zone so I though that using a cream blush couldn't make it any worse.  (For those of you who were wondering, yes, I scrubbed my make-up brushes thinking that may have been part of the problem and I was still breaking out.)

The three rouge shades that were available in the forties were: red, coral, and vibrant pink. (With an emphasis on the vibrant.)
I already had a cream blush stick from Tarte that had been given to me as a gift, that was a coral color.    No, it does not fall under my category of frugal make-up items, as the cost is $30.  But I didn't purchase it, and you cannot beat free.  For the vibrant pink rouge I went with Revlon's Photo Ready Cream Blush in flushed for $7.00-$10.00.

Told you, that is a truly vibrant shade of pink - its almost scary.

The only red rouge blush that I have been able to locate so far is from NARS or Besame cosmetics, neither of which is inexpensive nor truly a vintage brand.  However, if you want to get vintage colored cream rouge and not have to do the research to see if it is a vintage color, you can't go wrong with Besame Cosmetics cream rouge.  Every product that they create has been diligently researched and is based off of a genuine color found from make-up in the past.
But enough about that, lets talk about rouge and Revlon.
Rouge has been around since the Ancient Egyptians and its popularity has peaked and wained throughout the centuries as, for a while, it was considered a product that was only worn by harlots and prostitutes.  The Egyptians could also to have been said to use the first, that we know of, cream blush as they would crush up red ocher and mix it fat to put on their cheeks and lips.  Despite its checkered past, by the 1920s makeup companies like Guerlain and L'Oreal made blush readily available to the masses.  And motion pictures, or more importantly its gorgeous, female stars, made wearing blush not only socially acceptable but desirable.

Bless you Hollywood.
I chose a Revlon blush because Revlon as been around since 1932.  The company started with making nail polishes and quickly branched out to other cosmetics.  During World War II Revlon was even creating make-up related products for the United States Army (a topic that I am further researching because I find it fascinating) and, by the end of the war, they were one of America's top five cosmetic companies.  So I was fairly certain that, at some point in her young life, my great grandmother wore Revlon cream blush.

Brow Pencil and Vaseline

This may be the product that was the most controversial when I researched it.  (Meaning the Vasoline not the eye brow pencil.)
I first looked into it as an option as a nighttime moisturizer because of the stories I remembered hearing of Marilyn Monroe using it as a moisturizer to help her achieve that dewy look that she was famous for.  According to stories from her make-up artist, Monroe used Vasoline under her foundation and on her cheek bones as a high lighter, she also used it on her lids and brows to add sheen.
https://www.marieclaire.com/beauty/news/a16013/marilyn-monroe-beauty-secrets/

I also remembered hearing that it was used on the lids of movie stars in the 30s and 40s before Marilyn.  Although I may try it on my lids - just to see what it is like- I am slightly terrified to use it as a moisturizer or highlighter, but I was deeply intrigued about using it on my brows. 
Vaseline, as we know it today, was patented in 1872.  Notice I don't say created or invented.  It seems to be a byproduct of oil rig pumps.  Vaseline is a purified version of this byproduct.  For this experiment, I am going to use Vaseline as a sort of brow pomade in combination with an eye brow pencil.
As for the brow pencil, yet again the ancient Egyptians were the first recorded people to use a cosmetic for their brows.  A more natural, yet contained brow, was all the rage in the forties, and with my invisible brows, doing nothing was not an option. 

These are my invisible brows.  No, I have not plucked them.  This is their natural shape and color, left to their own devices they are underwhelming and do nothing to frame my face.

I could not find when brow pencils began to become commercially available, but they were used in beauty tutorial films of the times, so I know they existed.  Thus, I added a brow pencil to the morning beauty routine.

Cake Mascara
Ummmm.  Yeah.  I don't have acne around my eyes and this is something that I already use, was vintage, and liked.  So it is not a new addition to my beauty routine.  But I don't use it as mascara very often.  I prefer to use it as an eyeliner, in place of liquid liner, to make my wings. 

The only make-up that I have on my eyes in this photo is cake mascara.  I used it as both the mascara and the liner.  Also, isn't the difference in the brows from this picture and the one before amazing?

Ironically, doing your eyes in this way is not, at least for the forties, a look they would have worn.  I I also don't ever remember my great- grandmother ever using eye liner.  However, I like how my eyes look with wings and I am not going to stop doing it.
Now that I have justified my reasoning for cake mascara, on with a bit of eyeliner history.
I will give you one guess for the first recorded people to apply eye liner.  Did you get it?

If you guessed the ancient Egyptians, than you are totally correct!
Using bone and ivory make-up applicators, which, I am not going to lie, sound terrifying as something that is going next to your eye, they applied eyeliner made out of kohl on a daily basis.  (In fact, eye liner was such an important part of the daily life of the ancient Egyptian, both male and female, it was used as part of the payment that pharoah made to his workers.  (Once, the pharoah Ramses III did not send his payment of eyeliner and grains and the Egyptian workers staged, possibly the first, workers strike in history.)

Cosmetic set of Kohl Tube and Applicator, Razor, Tweezers, Whetstone, and Mirror Dynasty 18, early ca. 1550–1458 B.C

Liner fell out of vogue until the Victorians. Victorian ladies most created their own eye liner out of things like ash, fat, and elderberries, but it wasn't until the invention/discovery of petroleum jelly in the 1870s, the main ingredient in vintage mascara that allowed cake mascara to be created.  The first commercially packaged mascara was produced by Eugene Rimmel in 1917.  It was a cake mascara that was made of petroleum jelly and coal dust.

1947 cake mascara by Rimmel.

Ironically, although Rimmel is still around and selling cosmetics, they no longer even produce cake mascara.  Cake mascara has become something of a novelty product and cannot, as far as I know, be found in drugstores.  The easiest, commercially available cake mascara, is created by Besame cosmetics.  I don't have any complaints about the product really, it does what I want it to do.
But you can pretty much only find it in black or brown. 

It is also more a little expensive, being $25 plus shipping.  Although, I will attest that cake liner lasts a lot longer than tube mascara and, fortunately, unlike other mascaras it is safe to use after six months.  Also, their packaging is soooooo pretty.
However, being a red head, I like to line my eyes with a sort of plum/burgundy liner.  A color that looks very close to Clinique's black honey color and looks less harsh with  my pale skin.  If you are not uncomfortable purchasing from an Etsy vendor, I highly recommend the shop KeepingItNatural, where I have been ordering my cake mascara for years and they make the plum/burgundy cake mascara that I have just described.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/82306520/black-creamy-cake-mascara-cake-mascara?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=keepingitnatural+cake+mascara&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search_click=1&frs=1

Unfortunately, their packaging is not as pretty, but they are vegan and cruelty free.

L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara
Didn't we just talk about mascara?  Ummmm.  Sort of.  We talked about cake mascara that I use as eye liner.  Although I do occasionally use it as mascara as well, I also use tube mascara, and I know that tube mascara is what my great-grandmother wore so I thought that I would include it as well.
If you haven't already guessed, ancient Egyptians were also the first recorded people to wear mascara.  Although, I am not certain that it is something that I would have wanted to wear.  Their mascara was made of kohl, honey, water, and (wait for it) crocodile dung.
As explained above, eye liner and mascara became popular again during the Victorian era and cake mascara was invented in 1917.  But one could, passably, argue that none of these items are mascara as we know it today.
Although Rimmel may have been the first cake mascara, Maybelline was, arguably, the cosmetic company that perfected it and made it popular in the United States. 

1934 Maybelline cake mascara ad.

They too introduced their cakes mascara in 1917, but theirs seemed to be a more reliable and consistent formula than Rimmel's.   Cake mascara was pretty much the only mascara that you could get until 1957 when Helena Rubenstein introduced her "automatic mascara". 

This was the first mascara that came in a tube with the applicator inserted in the cream mascara.  Basically the mascara application we know today. Other companies soon followed the trend.

I know what you are thinking.  If Maybelline was one of the first to make mascara, and they are still around, and they make Great Lash, which is arguably one of the best mascaras ever made, why did you not choose them for your mascara instead of L'Oreal?
Two reasons: 1. Great Lash causes me to have an allergic reaction where I have swelling and itching around the base of my eye lashes.  I do not know why this is so, but it is.  And 2.  L'Oreal Voluminous carries my burgundy color, which is very important to me since Clinique Chubby Lash stopped carrying their Black Honey color at Sephora.  Oh!  And it is also recommended by drag queens.

L'Oreal is another cosmetic company that has been around for, seemingly, forever.  L'Oreal was created in 1909 and started as a company that carried hair color and bleach.

This ad is so pretty I would use it as art in my home.

Very quickly however they branched out into other cosmetics.  For this reason, I felt that I could, justifiably, put it down as a "vintage product" to use for my great grandmother's beauty routine experiment.

Revlon Lipstick and Lip Liner
Last, but not least, we come to the my favorite cosmetic: lipstick!

I chose Revlon simply because I could easily find two of the colors that my great grandmother wore, although not necessarily in the forties.  However, I distinctly remember them in her make-up drawer so I felt they had to be included. 
Everyone knows that they had lipstick in the forties.  A red lip has become one of the iconic images of the decade, so I didn't really have to research this.  But I did!
Contrary to popular belief, Cleopatra did not invent lipstick.  Nor, surprisingly, did the ancient Egyptians. No, as far as we know, the first people to create and wear lipstick were the ancient Sumerians.

But probably not these Sumerians, these Sumerians don't look like inventing lipstick would have been important to them.  Although I could be wrong.

And using lipstick was a pretty popular thing until Queen Victoria. 

Queen Bess said yes to red lipstick.

And here is Marie Antoinette rockin' the red lip.

But not Queen Victoria.  How Rude!

She deemed red lipstick to be rude and unseemly.  Oh Victoria why?!?!?!
It wasn't until the 1920s that lipstick started to make a comeback, even though suffragettes were wearing it as early as 1912 as a statement of feminine independence. (Maybe because Victoria had been dead for a decade and her disapproval no longer mattered?)  Although the first commercial lipstick was invented, while the queen was still around, in 1884 by Guerlain.  But, they were French, so maybe what the queen thought didn't matter as much. 

Thankfully, due to movies and changes in attitude about what was glamorous and appropriate lipstick caught on.  And by the forties, red lips were all the rage!
https://glamourdaze.com/2012/07/1940s-make-up-the-lipstick-decade.html

So there was not a doubt in my mind that I was going to wear lipstick as part of my great grandmother's beauty routine. 

Wooh!

That was longer than I expected it to be.
In the next installment of the series, I am going to let you know how I applied the products and whether the experiment was successful or a total failure.  Wish me luck and I will be posting again soon!  (For those who don't give a hoot about vintage style and beauty products, I promise that I will try to have a Frugal Femme craft or recipe up soon.  Maybe, since it has been so pretty outside lately, I will include one of my favorite recipes that my husband does on the grill.