Day 4: 1930’s Skin Care and Makeup

I know you’re used to hearing this from me by this point, but I’m sorry again. I realized too late that in order to give you all the entertainment of seeing me try to perform these exercises Sylvia has in her book, I would have to have someone take the pictures for me. I didn’t have anyone available to do that yesterday, so that will unfortunately have to wait!

I also maybe forgot to take pics of my groceries. But to be fair, it wasn’t all that exciting. Potatoes, fruit, orange juice, avocados, lemons, tomatoes, tomato juice, jello (hooray!), broth, broccoli, cotton pads (for my face), and toilet paper. What an exciting haul! I did get multiple flavors of Jello, which is very exciting for me. Lime, cherry, berry blue, and orange I think.

Some of you may be wondering how well I’m actually sticking to the eating plan since I’m not showing photos of my meals, but never fear! Aside from an extra serving of jello here and there (I’m only human! Please don’t haunt me, Sylvia!) I’ve been sticking to it like glue. I just figured you all would get pretty bored with seeing the same meals day in and day out. Yesterday I livened up my meal by slicing my steak and putting it IN my salad. Dinner still feels like entirely too much food, but I’m getting used to it better than I was. I think my portions might still be a little off – my salads might be a little bigger than she intends? I make a whole bowl of salad, and she might mean for all the food to fit on one plate, which it definitely doesn’t currently. I mean, I’m losing weight anyhow so I think it’s probably fine.  

For a change of pace, I thought I’d talk a little bit about beauty routines in the 1930’s today, and then cover one of Sylvia’s shorter chapters. 

While following Sylvia’s eating plan, I’ve also been trying to follow the a skin care regimen that was common in the 1930’s. (With some tweaks based on what I have in my medicine cabinet). (I also have this really fantastic video of actress Constance Bennet completing her morning routine. It doesn’t feel at all staged or fake at all. I also wake up with a full face of makeup on and my hair perfectly in place. Don’t you?)

1. Cleansing cream – This is your good old cold cream. Pond’s still makes it, recipe virtually unchanged since they originally developed it in the early 1900’s. I bought a pot of it for this purpose. You apply, rub into freshly washed skin (you can use cold cream to remove makeup, but it can cause clogged pores, so I used micellar water to take that off before beginning), and then remove the cream with a soft towel, cloth, or cotton pads.
2. Stimulant Cream – They did have creams that fit this purpose back in the day, but typically what it being referred to is an astringent, like a toner. I used a rose water toner from Thayers. It smells divine, and I even put it in a pretty vintage glass perfume bottle my mom gave me. Just dab all over your face with a cotton pad and allow to dry.
3. Complexion Mask – Sylvia mentions this part of the routine in her book, though she calls this step “feeding cream”. I have a lovely rose face cream I bought at the farmers market (Birchwood Botanicals, check them out, they make really great products!) and so I apply that next. This is your moisturizing step. I also added on to this a black-tea eye cream that I dabbed under my eyes. (Don’t worry I didn’t actually spend $70 on it…I have a sample I got with a previous Sephora order.) 

Constance continues her routine (as she’s doing it in the morning rather than at night like I am):

1. Glow Base – I believe this is foundation (though some sources say its primer, but as she doesn’t put foundation on after it, I’m hesitant to agree with that). Traditionally foundation would have been preceded by “vanishing cream” which was a precursor to modern day primer (another reason why the term “Glow Base” for primer seems suspicious to me, but perhaps I’ll never know for sure. Either way, foundation in the 30’s wasn’t like the creams you find today. It was matte, heavy, and very thick. For a truly vintage look, you’ll want a full-coverage, matte foundation – I rarely wear foundations, but some sources say that the theatre-makeup brand Ben Nye makes the most period accurate foundation. 
2. Cream Rouge – Besame Cosmetics offers 2 cream rouge’s that suit the time period. An apricot color for daywear, and a crimson for evening. I’m ordering one for my play next week – my makeup station at the theatre is going to be EXTRA AF. (Not kidding – I’m going to get myself a silky dressing gown too, so I can get there early and do my makeup and hair in a leisurely way). 
3. Powder – For the first application of the day this would usually be loose, not pressed. For a real vintage touch (and economy), the company Coty Airspun still sells the powder they’ve been making since 1935. 
4. Lipstick – it was common to overdraw the top lips slightly in the 1930’s, a change from the rosebud mouth of the 1920’s. Common colors were pinks and reds (pinks especially were popular in the early half of the decade). 

Not mentioned in Constance’s routine is eye makeup, though it was worn at the time. Cake mascara (like this one available through Besame Cosmetics) was in use, and also could be used as eyeliner. Eyes were lined with brown grease pencil, and mascara was applied to both sets of lashes (lightly on the bottom). Vaseline was often used on the eyelid instead of eyeshadow, though some light colors, like blue, green, and purple were used in the evenings. Eyebrows were still very thin, as in the 20’s, but arched higher, and drawn farther down the temple. 

There you have it! You now know practically everything you need to to recreate a lovely 1930’s face! Have fun!