![]() Elizabeth Taylor was known for shaving her face. The reason?It was thought that the smoother surface gave a more youthful appearance on camera. ![]() Face Shavingīoth men and women were advised to shave their faces. And, Marilyn Monroe used white powder to make her forehead seem bigger and more open. Likewise, Grace Kelly used two colors of rouge to contour her cheeks in a natural-looking way. To smooth over an unwanted curve in her nose, Carole Lombard used white powder to contour her nose into the shape she wanted. We tend to think of contouring as a modern trend, but starlets have long relied on colored powders magically erase their flaws, at least in front of the cameras at least. Via/ Wiki Commons Contouring Via/ Wiki Commons This “radiating from within” look was difficult to achieve before the advent of shimmer dust and illuminating powders, but they did manage with some creative problem solving and plenty of petroleum jelly. Marilyn Monroe famously used a combination of creams such as Nivea, Vaseline, and pHelityl layered with powder to give her skin a particular glow under the lights while filming or being photographed. The word shine implies a gloss finish, but when used in conjunction with powder, petroleum jelly and other balms it can give a new quality to the skin. Men sometimes used it as a pomade as well! Via/ Wiki Commons This simple trick was used by many an actor to add shine to any part of the body. Not only was vaseline famously used by Greta Garbo to achieve that perfect eyeshadow look and to add depth, but she mixed it with charcoal to create version of eyeliner. After that any shapes or style of eyebrows could then be drawn on. This is then covered with some concealer or grease paint, becoming a blank canvas. This technique basically takes the place of a brow gel today, except that the hairs are completely flattened against the brow bone. A mixture of glycerine soap and a tiny amount of water is applied with a brush to the eyebrows. While many starlets had their eyebrows shaved off entirely during the 1920s and 30s, some used the soaping method. Marilyn Monroe’s signature red lips were created using several shades of red that was built up in layers, with the lightest colors towards the middle of the lips to create a plump look. It wasn’t only the outer line that got a bit of help. Via/ Wiki Commonsīy over drawing whichever parts of the lip needed to be fuller, actors achieved their ideal looks and sometime created their signature styles (think Joan Crawford and Vivien Leigh). Different eras also each had different “ideal” lip shapes which could be mimicked through overdrawing the lips. Before lip-plumping kits and advanced cosmetic surgery, starletts had to cheat their lip lines the old-fashioned way. Lip shape has long been a hot topic in Hollywood. It wasn’t until panchromatic film came on the market in the 1920s that more realistic makeup could be displayed on screen correctly. This led to pale foundation color and bleached hair in order to make the actors appears closer to their real life appearances. Another flaw of early film was that it caused some colors to appear darker than they were. You can see from this chart that colors were changed dramatically by the film. Example of how colors actually appear when filmed on orthochromatic film, 1919. But, the makeup used could help to tell that story only if it read properly on camera. ![]() Of course, the viewer needed to imagine all kinds of things while watching an early silent film. That meant that reds appeared nearly black while purples read as something faded, like something the viewer could imagine as a pink. This was because the orthochromatic film used in the early days of the movie industry was sensitive to blue. Early black and white film caused colors to show up wildly different than they did in real life. But, what you may not have known is the type of film dramatically changes how one must apply their makeup. It’s one of the reasons that film makeup is so heavy handed. ![]() It’s no secret that film depictions will appear washed out in the final product. This explains why so many makeup artists closely guarded their beauty tricks and went on to produce their own product lines! Off Colors Via/ Wiki Commons ![]() Add to that imperfect and changing film colors, and you end up with a particular set of tricks to tackle the beauty problems most vexing to stars and starlets of the era. In the days before makeup products catered to every possible situation and taste, actors and makeup artists had to be extremely creative with the products and knowledge they did have. But, they had a few tricks up their sleeves in order to get the look. What would the 1950s have been without Marilyn Monroe? What would the 1920s have been without Gloria Swanson? They visually defined the times with their unique looks. The film stars are so glamorous and their look really sums up each era. ![]()
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