This is a 1920’s flapper girl look I did for a college
newspaper article thingyyyy. I thought it would be perfect to do a blog post on
this look with it being so close to Halloween – this makeup is so quick and
easy to do and would make a great “last minute Halloween plans” costume. Throw
on a feather headpiece and it’s the perfect Great Gatsby-esque look! Being a
history student and makeup lover, with a particular place in my heart for the
20’s, I’m hugely interested in makeup through the eras and the Jazz Age was one
of the most innovative times for makeup trends. This post is going to include a
list of the products used and a little more information on makeup at this time
if you’re interested!
The 1920’s is such an exciting period in the makeup world! A
new century had brought new inventions, (like the traditional swivel lipstick
in a tube we use nowadays!) and heightened feminist/ suffragette movements
along with female employment in typically male dominated fields made women
embrace their right to wear as much makeup as possible. The Great War had ended
and makeup was no longer seen as solely for harlots, it became commonplace for
the everyday woman. The look I’m doing is a very dramatic and stereotypical of
a flapper girl performer at this time, most women would not have worn their
makeup to this extent on a daily basis but the techniques applied for all of
those who wore cosmetics! I think it’s important to mention that this look was
really only sported in the states. I’m not sure about the UK, but I know
Ireland was extremely conservative in regards to women and their looks at this
time, so you can bet there wasn't a woman in Connemara rocking a smokey eye!
I chose not to photograph a step by step tutorial for 2
reasons; a) it is SO simple... seriously guys, the messier and more blown out
the better – no winged liner and no fuss! And b) my most recent Autumn FOTD
(linked here with step by step photos) is the exact same concept and placement.
The only difference is with a 1920’s look, keeping the eye shape circular and
rounded on the edges is key – blown out but not winged out! The desired eye
look of that time was a very heavy down-turned, almost “sad” eye. This was aided
by the very overly plucked, thin and rounded brows of the time. I chose not to
glue my brows down and redraw them because thin brows just aren't my thing. You
can of course keep yours true to their natural shape and it will still look
good, but if you want to keep it historically accurate then that’s something to
think about! Remember that you can always take different bits of this tutorial
and alter them too suit yourself and your preferences… there’s no harm in a
modern day flapper girl!
Foundation &
Base:
Skin at this time was matte matte matte. A flawless ivory
full coverage base with tonnes of powder is what you want to achieve this look.
Whilst there was no Kim K-esque contouring at this time, I chose to lightly
contour my cheeks with a very ashy and grey toned powder to mimic something
that would have been done for black and white film stars at this time. Keep the
cheeks rosey/pink/red and place the blush on the apples of the cheeks.
Eyes:
As I said before, the eye shape was circular. Brows were
downward and the shadow was kept dark and sooty. I used a warm brown in the
crease to help blending (you could use your bronzer) but mostly grey tones
would have been used at that time. After I placed the brown in the crease, I
applied a black eyeliner as a base all over the lid. I blended this out all
over the eye (keeping the shade rounded) and then set the black eyeliner with a
matte black eyeshadow. I repeated this step on the lower lashline, smoking it
out and bringing it quite far down with the black eyeshadow. Then I put a black
kohl pencil (which would have been used at the time!) all the way around the
inside of the eye.
You can choose to leave the entire lid matte black, but from
reference images online and after some research I learned that it was also
common to add a dark blue or green shimmery shade on the centre of the eye. If
you don’t have a shimmery colour dark enough, simply add the bright colour over
a black eyeliner to deepen the colour. Something that was very common at the
time to add shine to the lid was to pop a bit of Vaseline on. I don’t recommend
doing this for a party because it will crease in a split second, but it’s
interesting to know their tips and tricks at that time. It’s so funny how this
look is coming back into fashion with the halo/spotlight look! I don’t think
we’ll ever see a comeback with the 1920’s brows, though.
I applied mascara,
(which at that time would have been a cake mascara applied with something that
resembles a toothbrush) and added top and bottom false eyelashes. This adds a
huge amount of drama to the look and makes it more flapper girl-esque. False
lashes were worn at this time, and sometimes lashes were painted on the bottom
with eyeliner. False eyelashes during the 20’s weren’t really for giving
massive lift or volume, and were slightly more spaced out. They were really
only to give basic length!
Lips:
At this time, there were actually ad campaigns emphasizing
the desired lip shape. Lipstick was hugely important in the 20’s, worn by almost all women. Metal template tracers were invented to ensure the perfect sculpted lip
shade! Helena Rubenstein invented a lipstick that promised flawless cupid bow’s
whenever you applied it. The “cupid’s arrow” shape was made popular by women
like Clara Bow. Keep the lips defined, straight and angled with sharp points on
the Cupid’s bow. Lips were sometimes even underdrawn. I kept with my natural
lipline but made the shade more pointed on top. Experiment with different
shades; dark reds, purples and browns were common at this time in matte
textures.
Products Used:
- MAC Pro Full Coverage Foundation
- NYX Blush - Taupe (contour)
- Wet n Wild Blush - Heather Silk
- Urban Decay Primer Potion - Original
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow(s) - Buck (Naked Palette), Blackout (Naked 2), Fringe (Electric Palette)
- Urban Decay Eyeliner - Zero
- Eyelure False Eyelashes (top&bottom)
- MAC Lipliner - Vino
- Wet n Wild Lipstick - Cherry Bomb
And that's everything! Thanks so much for reading. I wish I had more time to do some Halloween looks but I have 3 history assignments due in right before Halloween. I'll be more on top of things next year though! Let me know what you think of this look below.. would you consider going as a flapper girl for Halloween? Have you ever attended a Great Gatsby themed party? I'd absolutely love to - it's my favourite book! Chat with me over on Twitter (@GraceyOConnell) and see my looks on Instagram (@LongHairAndLashes) before they make it to my blog. Don't forget to tell me what ye are all going as for Halloween.. I'm still deciding.. I'm thinking of an alien/mermaid mix? Who knowsssss x
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