Paints, Powders and Patches

The 1950’s

Eye makeup in the 50’s was done to accentuate the natural beauty of the eyes. Eyeliner pencils in these days came in available colours making them incredibly popular. For makeup a thin line of liner was applied to the top of the eye and mascara on the lashes, usually with only one colour or shade of eye shadow on the lid, with shimmer shadows being introduced later on in the decade.

Eyebrows were as much as a fashion statement as the eyes, being made to have strong arches with the use of eyebrow pencils. Eyebrows were also drawn so they ended past the end of the natural eyebrow.

The go too lip shade in the 50’s was the classic red, with more then a few varying shades ranging from bright reds with orange tints and deep reds with blue tints.

Blusher in the 50’s wasn’t as much a staple piece as it would soon become in the 80’s, this being said there were still plenty of different shades of corals, pinks, reds and oranges. The main consistency of blusher that was used were creams and liquid that could blend into the foundation better, although powder blusher was still used after this as well. Blusher was only ever used lightly to give a soft look of colour.

Foundation was always matched to the skin tone of a person, it never was made to look too tan or too pale. Like with blusher there were a few options on consistency with foundation, liquid, cream or powder.

Ancient Rome

Pink cheeks were a staple of good health as of this many things were used to stain the cheeks. These being flower petals, fruit juices, lead and even minerals, many of these minerals being incredibly poisonous.

In order to stain lips crushed beetles were used as well as henna and beeswax.

More often then not soot and ash were used to fill in eyebrows and to darken them.

Most women in Rome had naturally tan skin, however this wasn’t the desired look. In order to get the lighter skin that was wanted women used chalk and lead as a foundation. Even though the women got their wanted look it was very damaging towards their physical health as the lead used was extremely poisonous and could kill the person continuously using it.

Much like how they darkened their eyebrows the Romans used burnt cork to darken their lashes. Like with their cheek stain plants were also used for their eye shadow, in order to actually apply the shadow women used the smoothed end of wood and bone.

The 1970’s

In the 1970’s mainly light pinks were used on the lips for more natural day looks, whilst the colourful lipsticks were worn in the evenings for a more party look.

For foundation women wore light coverage, this was ass it helped give them a more natural healthy look.

The eye shadow in this era was mainly light pastel colours, often with a sparkly shimmer to create an eye catching look. Eyeliner was creative too whilst they used the normal black liner an the top lash line, a white liner was used along the bottom lash line, this was to make the eyes look larger and brighter. Lashes were also being used with there being more natural cuts.

Natural looking makeup was a big thing, this meaning almost next to nothing was done to the brows except using a clear to hold the brows in place.

Instead of using blush many opted for the use of bronzer. This was lightly applied all over the face to achieve a warm, glowy, natural look. Also being used was highlighter which helped create a wet dewy look to the skin.

The Renaissance

Similar to many other eras, foundation in this era was specifically made to make women look as pale as possible. The reason women pale foundation in this era was because they thought it helped to hide any and all impurities and blemishes including scars and wrinkles. But the foundations were made with white lead which was very poisonous meaning many women get incredibly sick and even died from it’s usage.

For the staining off cheeks women used a mix of wine, honey and dill seed, with this concoction they also stained the lips making use of what they had.

Eyebrows were more often then not cut and plucked to make them barely visible.

Eye shadow was made from grinded flowers which was then mixed with wines to darken and colour the eye.