Beauty magazines love to talk about beauty trends for the season. It’s been the same for many decades. Just look at this 1940s Modern Beauty Shop. Today I am sharing this post WWII beauty magazine with the article titled Jewels of the Orient laying out the makeup color trends for the Fall and Winter of 1946…
These special beauty sections from 1940s Modern Beauty Shop Magazine, were small, but significant. Unfortunately, because they were so small, many haven’t survived, so I felt so privileged to get this one in such great shape.
- A 1940s makeup case
- Jewels of the Orient makeup colors
- Makeup color chart
- Vintage Bow Updo for the holidays
1940s Makeup Case
If you took a peek into an everyday woman’s makeup case in the 1940s, you would see more non-color cosmetics products like face creams, nail care tools and rarely a makeup brush. Everyday women often used puffs and their fingers to apply cosmetics.
The color makeup you’d find in her case would have been a face powder (loose at home and a compact for her purse), 2 or 3 eyeshadow colors, 2 blushes, maybe a pencil for your eyebrows, and 2-4 lipstick colors (if not rationed for WWII materials).
Jewels of the Orient Makeup Colors
The magazine reads, “Radiant jewel tones sparkle among the leading costume colors for Fall and Winter, reflecting the growing trend toward elegance in the new clothes for the coming weather season.
These rich, glowing gem colors in your dresses, hats and accessories will require special shades of harmonizing makeup.”
You might also like: Your Vintage Fall Hair and Make-up Guide
Makeup Chart
The 1940s makeup chart below describes the jewel tone your outfit might be that season and what color your makeup should be to go with that outfit depending on your hair, eye, and skin color.
This is how beauty experts generally told women how to do makeup in the early and mid-20th Century. Do you have blue eyes? This is the eyeshadow you should wear. Are you wearing a ruby colored outfit? This is the blush color you should wear. Right click the image for a closer look!
Their hairstyles may have been more high-maintenance, but their makeup was child’s play compared to what women put themselves through today. It is interesting how that has flipped between the women of the 1940s and the women of today. A woman today will spend hundreds of dollars on expensive makeup, sit for hours for lash extensions, and 45 minutes contouring, but will just run a straightener through her hair for 10 minutes and call it good.
You might also like: Moisturize your suffering dry hands the old-fashioned way
Vintage Bow Updo for the Holidays
Here are some more pages from this beautiful vintage hair magazine featuring an updo perfect for the holidays. The article describes that this cute hairstyle with a bow shape was inspired to be a new version of a vintage hairstyle from Gody’s Lady’s Book of 1868.
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1 Comment
Ingrid
I love this! A vintage magazine from the 1940s referencing a then-vintage style manual from the 1860s! Double-down vintage! Thanks for finding this and sharing with us 🙂
Anyone know when eye shadow recommendations started to suggest contrasting, rather than matching, eye color? In my lifetime, at least, blue shadow on blue eyes has been about the biggest faux pas in the book! (And I love blue, so sad). My go-tos are a bronze-gold by Urban Decay or a sort of purple-puce from Smashbox, which always get compliments!