Retro Makeup: Book Review and Giveaway!

Oh happy day! I have a copy of the book Retro Makeup: Techniques for Applying the Vintage Look by Lauren Rennells to give away. You may know Lauren's name from the book Vintage Hairstyling, which I wrote about here.

I was sent a review copy of the book and spent two happy bubble baths reading it from cover to cover. It's a very comprehensive look at makeup styles from the 20s to the 60s, with lots of practical info on how to achieve the looks. The photography and step-by-steps are very user-friendly.

Of course, my favorite chapters are on the 40s and 50s. I especially enjoyed the WWII history from a cosmetics point of view. Did you know that companies marketed lipsticks and cosmetics kits for service women? There was actually a rule that one's lipstick had to match the uniform, so colors like Auxiliary Red and Montezuma Red were developed to match the red accents on military uniforms.

I've been trying out the tips this past week: shaping my eyebrows into a "winged" shape, darkening my beauty marks with eye pencil, and applying eyeliner. (My favorite tip: when doing winged eyeliner, make a tiny dot to the side of each eye where you want the wing to end. Check that your dots are even and level. Then apply the eyeliner, ending your line exactly at your dots. Works every time!)

Here's some of my handiwork:

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post. Make sure that there's a way for me to get in touch with you, whether you leave your email or your username links to your website/blog. Open to all countries. I'll draw a winner at the end of the day Monday, March 17th.

Good luck! And thanks to HRST for providing a review copy and a giveaway copy.

Going Rogue

Gwen Stefani, late 90s

In my last post, I wrote about the maintenance and care of pink hair, but I realized I really want to talk more about the cultural implications of "alternative" beauty. (Another week, another crackpot feminist theory!)

I've been thinking lately about all the upkeep that is sold to us to be considered conventionally beautiful as a woman. Bikini waxes, gloss treatments, manicures, anti-aging treatments, etc. It's kind of exhausting just thinking about it, right? It's gotten me thinking that maybe the appeal of having an "unnatural" hair color is that you mentally put yourself outside of the rules of regular beauty. Maybe the message pink hair (or tattoos or piercings) sends is that you're not playing by the rules--so you can take your laser hair removal and shove it, okay? It's a liberating mindset.

You know those women's magazine articles that tell you the "top beauty don'ts" and stuff like that? As a younger woman, I remember reading on several occasions that it's an absolute crime to have a chipped manicure. I took it as gospel for a while, I suppose. But the day I realized that chipped nails aren't the end of the world, and can even look kind of cool (if you're into the whole grunge thing), it was kind of like a weight had been lifted.

The problem with this whole theory is that it's prone to backfire really, really quickly. Once you're considered an "alternative girl," you're sexualized in a whole new way. If you've ever had a dude on the street ask if you're a Suicide Girl, you know what I'm talking about. So while going rogue, beauty-wise, can be freeing--it definitely comes with its own set of issues. And it certainly doesn't make you oblivious or immune to regular beauty standards.

And even if you don't have pink hair or piercings, I think anyone reading this can relate in a way. Sewing your own clothes is the ultimate form of going rogue on the fashion and diet industries, I think. Making clothes to fit yourself (rather than making yourself fit clothes), is another way of going rogue. We can also stop being slaves to the trend-driven retail market and wear what we love--there are really no limits when you make it yourself.

Do you agree with all this? Do you see your sewing (or hair or whatever) as a form of rebellion against the status quo? Or is it naive to think that's even possible?