The Roaring Twenties! A decade of Jazz, speak-easies, silent film stars, Coco Chanel, short skirts, and even shorter hair!
The style of makeup worn by women of the twenties is quick and simple to apply. All the necessities can be purchased at just about any convenience store without causing damage to one’s bank account.
Summary
Make-Up Kit for a Flapper Look
- Foundation: Pancake or liquid with a matte finish
- Concealer: If required
- Loose Powder: Lightly toned with a matte finish
- Blush Powder: Dark roses and purples
- Eyeshadow: Charcoals, coals, grays, off blacks, and creams
- Eyeliner Pencil: Find a kohl stick in black
- Liquid Eyeliner: Black, deep green, and navy blues were popular
- Mascara: Black! The blackest black that is available!
- Eyebrow Pencil: Find one that is one to two tones darker than the natural color
- Lip-liner: Dark tones. raisins, mauves, and coffees
- Lip-stick: Find deep reds, purples, and browns
- Makeup brushes, sponges, applicators, and smudge stick
Skincare, Foundation & Blush
- First, prepare the skin by washing with a gentle cleanser, then apply a mild moisturizer with SPF (recommended: L’Oréal Futur-e Spf 15).
- Apply a concealer if needed on trouble spots. Where acne is concerned, a green-toned concealer will help neutralize the redness. Neutrogena makes a fantastic concealer for this; however, be aware that it does contain a small percentage of salicylic acid.
- Weta makeup sponge and pat it down till damp (this will help lock in moisture). Apply pancake or liquid foundation, making sure to blend it well at hairline, jawline, and neck. In the twenties, the porcelain doll look was trendy; try to avoid shininess on the face; the makeup should have a matte, satin finish.
- Using a large applicator brush, apply the loose powder all over the face, blending well to seal the makeup in place. This will also help prevent shininess and create a very soft look. Also, remember, if complexion is very fair, do not bronze! Women of the twenties would play up their skin tones. So, if appropriate and pale, go paler! Be Vampire worthy! For all other skin tones, make sure to create a rich, creamy appearance.
- Please take a second applicator brush and dust the blush over the cheeks’ apple, starting by the side of the nose and sweeping back to the temples (Smile! It makes this application much more accessible and accurate!).
- Overexaggerated blush was trendy, don’t be afraid to use dark shades of pinks and purples.
- Also, dust a slight blush along the cheeks’ contours, suck them in, and make a fish-face; this will help identify the natural cheekbones.
Eyes
- Dark, heavy-lidded, smoky eyes were all the rage and are relatively easy to create! Stick with grey/charcoal based colors. Take an eye shadow brush and carefully dust the shadow of choice along the lower lash line, start at the eye’s inner corner, and work towards the outer corner.
- Then, dust the shadow over the eyelid and up into the crease; if eyes are deep-set, sweep just a little of the shadow above the eye’s crease towards the brow. Blend the shadow well.
- Take the black kohl pencil and run it along the lower lash line, smudge lightly with a smudge stick. Now, run the pencil along the upper lash line and paint as well.
- Take the liquid eyeliner and draw a fragile line along the upper lashes; if desired, create a tiny cat’s eye swoop at the outer corner. Black was the most common, but flapper girls also loved to use greens and blues.
- Now, apply the mascara on the lower lashes. To avoid severe clumping, take a tissue and lightly wipe the wand down. Apply using a combination of sliding and zigzagging down the lash. Then, similarly, apply to upper lashes. Using an eyelash curler or wearing fake eyelashes was also very popular. Go ahead and use them for a more dramatic night look.
Eyebrows
If eyebrows are thick, pluck them thin. Women of the twenties plucked their eyebrows into thin lines or shaved them completely off. Using the brow pencil, lightly draw in the eyebrows from inner corner to out. At the outer corner, remove the brow line into a slight downward slope; drooping eyebrows were considered beautiful (see Betty Boop). Take an eyebrow/mascara brush and lightly comb the brows to blend the pencil and create a more natural look.
Lips
Using a dark-colored lip liner, line the lips, emphasizing the upper indent and the lower one. This will give the lips a bow shape. Color the lips completely in, and then apply dark lipstick over it. If using a product such as Cover Girl Outlast lipstick, no liner is needed.
Voila! Silent-film star vixen achieved!
Bonus video:
Thank you for reading!