Bobby Pin Blog

Some lovely wings

2012-01-28T09:02:00.000-08:00

More items to enhance your beauty...

2012-01-23T20:57:00.000-08:00

I find many things appropriate to share on this blog that you may not consider part of your beauty repertoire. Other than just your basic hair and makeup products, there are many other things to consider in your never ending quest to be a vintage beauty.

Case in point...the vintage advertising fan. A hand fan is perfect at keeping your glow and makeup run to a minimum. With to much kleenex blotting, you run the risk of blotting the makeup off. A fan makes it so you don't have to keep wiping.

Advertising fans started their popularity in the very early 20th century when mass printing and cheap production made them a great way for businesses to advertise. These fan companies had the artwork and production process set and would just need to offer typesetting and printing to the businesses. It is very common to see religious imagery or advertisements for funeral homes on them since they were often handed out at churches with no air-conditioning.

I picked this little beauty up at my favorite Denver antique mall and I am making it my personal quest to make this the must have accessory at the Viva car show in April. The beautiful artwork on these old fans is amazing.

I found some great fans on Ebay that I thought you all might like. Click the image to go.

French Liqueur fan. Click the image to go.

And for all my Latinas out there, how about this fan with an image of Mexican film star, Luis Aldas. Click the image to go.

This patriotic fan is actually from Etsy. There weren't as many options on Etsy, but there were some cute ones. Click the image to go.

And if you really like the fan I bought, there were a couple online. This one has a different backing, but the same beautiful artwork. Click the image to go.

Goodbye beautiful Etta James

2012-01-20T17:28:00.000-08:00

And the winner is!

2011-12-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

Jael Hicks is the lucky winner of the Shabby Apple contest! Send me an email to lauren@hrstbooks.com with your measurements, bust, waist, hip, and your address, so I can forward it onto them and they can send you your new dress!

Gift Idea - Philosophy at Sephora

2011-12-16T12:14:00.000-08:00

There'll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago

It's the most wonderful time of the year
There'll be much mistletoeing
And hearts will be glowing
When loved ones are near
It's the most wonderful time

If you are running out of time and need something quick or you have family members asking you for last minute ideas on what you want, hopefully you live in a town with a Sephora. Every girl loves things that smell pretty and Philosophy is a champion at making things smell scrumptious. They have these exclusive scented bodywash/bubble bath sets at Sephora right now that are named for It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, my favorite Christmas song of all time. (White Christmas comes in a very close 2nd.) The packaging is also very retro festive. If you have enough time, you may be able still get it shipped expedited if you don't have a Sephora close to you.

Gift Idea for the Powder Room

2011-12-07T15:52:00.000-08:00

The powder room is our little haven. It is the one place that women kind of have free reign over decorating. We have to share the decorating duties for the living room, bed room, even the kitchen, but most men don't care what we do to the powder room since they spend so little time in it. It is our own little female cave. So here is an idea for a gift for a friend or a hint for guys looking to do something nice for their lady.

Old magazine advertisements for beauty and bathroom products are easy to find in magazines at antique stores and online. One of our local antique malls, The Brass Armadillo, has a booth devoted to old advertisements. The great thing about advertisements for beauty products from the '40s, '50s, and '60s is they are often heavily geared toward one color scheme. Color was so important to decorating during the time period.

A great gift would be an advertisement or series of advertisements that match a lady's powder room or beauty area color scheme. Then paint some raw wood frames to match and put them together ready to hang. Places like Michael's and Hobby Lobby have sales on frames all during the holidays and also sell pre-cut mattes to add a little extra fancy to the project.

It adds a little extra personalization when you have something so beautiful and unique on your wall.

Shabby Apple Dress Contest

2011-12-02T21:13:00.000-08:00

I am really excited to bring this to you. I have had companies in the past offer to do a giveaway on my blog, but often they aren't offering things that I think pertain to the blog well enough or it is a bit of a stretch on how interested I think you guys, as vintage lovers, would be in the items being offered. Sometimes their products just don't fit right.

But this time, I think I have one that couldn't be better. Shabby Apple, an online dress company, has some very beautiful vintage inspired dresses. I haven't seen an eclectic selection like this, I think...ever. The dresses are inspired by the entire mid-century from the 20s through the early 60s. The designers have taken all the great details of the past and put them in a great collection.

They have offered to allow me to give one lucky reader a dress of my choice! (Read on to see how to enter.) Choosing the dress was hard too. I narrowed it down to a few of my favorites and then based my decision on the dress I thought would get the most wears. I think this one is good for work or play or day or evening. It also works for so many different decades. The details and shape could go with the 30s, 40s, or 50s depending on what is your favorite decade. It is named the Professorial and is part of Shabby Apple's Academia collection.

I love this dress so much, I may buy one for myself. But there were so many other dresses that I loved. Here are just a few of the other dresses I would like in my wardrobe.

Now for the contest part. There are 2 ways to enter. The first, go to www.shabbyapple.com and look through the dresses. Pick your favorite one and then comment here on which one you like best. The other way is to go to the website and follow their blog. Come back here and comment that you signed up to follow it. The blog is really good and offers so much more than just sales pitches about their clothes.

The contest will last for a week. A week from Monday I will announce the winner. When I do, I will need an email from the winner so I can find out your measurements so I can pass them onto the company and they can send you your own Professorial dress!

Handkerchief History

2011-12-01T15:47:00.000-08:00

I was inspired to write this post by a scan of an article I saw on the website Inherited Values, a great website for reading random articles about antiques and the history of stuff. The scan came from a 1940 Modern Woman magazine and it read...

"Historians credit Marie Antoinette with the invention of the pocket handkerchief. She was so broken up at leaving her home in Austria that she cried all the way to France and wiped her eyes with bits of lace torn from her dress and lingerie. Anticipating future tears, she made it a point always to have a piece of lace tucked in a pocket of her dress. This, say the historians, was how handkerchiefs were born."

That is such a cute and beautiful story. I would not expect anything less from a 1940s women's magazine. The romance that surrounded writing for women of the time is priceless, but it is of course a load of you-know-what.

Image courtesy of wpclipart.com

According to margaretroedesigns.com, "The earliest written evidence of the handkerchief comes from the Roman poet Catullus in the first century A.D. Most often called a sudarium, from sudor, to sweat, it was used to shield or veil the face and mouth and to wipe off sweat. In the first century B.C., it remained a luxury for the rich, due to the expensive nature of linen, which was then a prized import. By the first century A.D., when linen was more easily and cheaply imported, the middle and lower classes gained access to the handkerchief."

That is not to say that Marie Antoinette did not have her little say about handkerchiefs. Lena Weber writing for mienmagazine.com tells us, "Up until the 18th century, the handkerchief came in many shapes from square to round or triangular. It is said that one day at Versailles, the French queen Marie-Antoinette made the observation that the squared form would be more aesthetically pleasing and convenient, prompting Louis XVI to publish a decree ordering that the length of handkerchiefs produced in France would have to be equal to their width."

Handkerchiefs during their existence have been used for many things like greeting someone, cleaning your hands, face, or teeth, wiping your tears and nose, applying perfume, and have even been used to signal to a gentleman that you would like to meet him or given to him as a token of your affection.

Of course now we have kleenex and napkins and hand towels and so rarely use the handkerchief for the many useful things it can do, but there are still so many beautiful vintage handkerchiefs out there. Every time I see them in an antique store, I want to buy them. Then I think, "What will I do with it other then drape it on something purely for show?" I can only stand so many hankies draped around my house. I am not really a shabby chic gal and there are only a couple places I can think of that would be appropriate in my house for these vintage beauty tools.

Then I found this very cute website with all kinds of ideas of things to do with these girlie strips of history. Nanalulu's Linen Closet has a bunch of ideas on what to do with them. I am going to try the Rosette pin made from a hankie. Now I don't have to pass them by anymore!

Gift Idea - Print is still alive and well!

2011-11-28T08:26:00.000-08:00

I love reading books and magazines. I can get lost in it, getting away from all of the electric humming of the t.v. and computers and just be quiet and zen. Reading things on my computer, I get impatient. I skip over things. I zoom through pages missing half of what is there. I get distracted by things flashing for me to click. With print I am focused and relaxed. Even now writing this I want to click on my email account or one of my favorites in the toolbar menu.

But when I get my hands on paper, I enjoy my reading time so much more.

Anthem Publishing based out of the UK has recently created some one off magazines that are really beautiful and available for sale at www.burlesquebiblemag.com. The magazine Burlesque Bible has 2 issues now and they are great. I am just so glad that people are starting to create vintage subject magazines for women. When I first got into this lifestyle, the magazines were all car culture and music. Not that I don't enjoy that, but I am still a girl and I want something that talks about clothes and makeup and inspiring women.

Unfortunately, the issue with Dita on the cover has sold out in print form, but you can still buy an electronic version on iTunes.

Contest Winners

2011-11-25T14:24:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Dana W., Kristyl M., and Jo W. on winning the Hyadria Perfume contest! I sent you emails to let you know so you can give me your addresses to send out the bottles. But Jo W., I received a bounce back email, so hopefully you see this post and write me at lauren@hrstbooks.com.

The contest question was in 1954's White Christmas starring Bing Crosby, which character wore the dress and which one stayed home?

This question had a couple right answers and either would have entered you into the contest.

Answer #1

Judy Haynes (played by Vera Ellen) wore the dress and

Betty Haynes (played by Rosemary Clooney) stayed home.

Answer #2

Phil Davis (played by Danny Kaye) wore the dress and

Bob Wallace (played by Bing Crosby) stayed home.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to enter. Stay tuned also...I am in contact with another company who has offered me possible items for a giveaway and I am really excited about this one!

Disclaimer...I do not receive any money or compensation for these types of posts from any of these companies. I just love being able to give stuff to you guys!

Harmonizing Color

2011-11-23T16:25:00.000-08:00

Every season, makeup companies, and their creators, seemed to change their tune on how you should choose your correct face powder color, especially in the early years of makeup. From the 1920s into the 1940s the color choice could be determined by the clothes you wore, the color of your hair, the season outside, what your favorite movie star wore, or just what was in fashion at that moment.

Revlon based their campaigns entirely on color harmony. We all know the Fire and Ice campaign best, but that was one of hundreds of campaigns over decades of advertising that Revlon produced.

Going through a 1943 beauty shop magazine, I came across this announcement to beauticians who read the magazine. It suggests that face powder should match your lipstick/nail enamel.

"Windmilled Face Powder is the newest product presented by Revlon Products Corp., New York City. Designed to harmonize with Revlon lipstick and nail enamel colors, the new powder is available in a variety of shades-Snow Pink, Vanilla Frost, Misty Coral, Peach Icing, Country Cream, Mrs. Miniver Rose, Rosy Future, Sun Mocha. It is sold in two-ounce and three-and-a-half-ounce sizes.

Another introduction by Revlon is a new lipstick and nail enamel shade-Bright Forecast. An attractive feature offered in connection with the new shade is the Couturiere Box, resembling a fashionable dress shop box and containing nail enamel and lipstick in the new shade."

Gift Idea - Bare Minerals Perfect Pinup Makeup Kit

2011-11-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

This is such a cute, complete kit for a nice pinup makeup. The Drop Red Gorgeous collection from Bare Minerals has all the essentials.

Virtue Eyecolor in seashell shimmer
Strength Eyecolor in toasted taupe
Mini Big & Bright Eyeliner in Charcoal
Flawless Definition Volumizing Mascara in Black
Pretty Amazing Lipcolor in Strength red
Contour Shadow Brush

It is available all over including from Bare Minerals, Ulta, and Macy's.

Creative Gift Idea - Milk Glass Bathroom/Vanity Accessories

2011-11-14T09:40:00.000-08:00

I got this idea from a girl on Ebay who was selling a set of milk glass that she used as vanity containers. I thought it would make a very creative gift for the retro girl and is easy to accomplish. Imagine a cute basket full of little milk glass containers and pretty stuff to put in them.

Milk glass is really easy to find. I have a bunch in my kitchen that I collected from Goodwill. Or look at your local antique store. I would suggest purchasing it locally. You will want to make sure when you buy it that it is going to be the right size for what you are doing. The dishes can get very large and awkward for a bathroom or vanity. All of these I spotted on Ebay, but I was very careful to read the dimensions to get an idea if they would work for the project.

And there is no limit to how creative you can get with it. Just purchase milk glass containers and fill them with whatever lovely bath item or vanity necessity you can think of.

Pretty soap dresses up any bathroom. The pink soap is a handmade soap from Etsy made by The Charming Frog. Or you can splurge on a high end soap. Chanel and many other companies offer their perfume in soap form. Just check with your local department store.

I use a cup on my vanity for cotton balls and q-tips, but this would be much prettier.

This fluted milk glass dish is such a beautiful piece and perfect for holding makeup brushes, hair pins, accessories...

Gift Idea - Pan Am Bags

2011-11-07T10:18:00.000-08:00

Ok...the show is cute, but no Madmen. But the music is great, I love the French girl and the show is really well styled. If you haven't seen Pan Am yet, it is worth a look. You will feel it is time well spent.

I still have the idea for the custom Trophy Queen bag using an amazing vintage fabric I have, but until I custom order it, these Pan Am bags may be my next wish list travel item. I am doing a bunch of traveling this month and I really, really want this for it! :)

Go to the official Pan Am website to find all their cool bags. They aren't cheap, but a must have.

Happy Holidays if you Win This!!!

2011-11-01T04:45:00.000-07:00

Sung to the tune of Happy Holidays
"It's the holiday season, the holiday season
And Santa Claus has got a toy
For every good girl and good little boy...

I am kinda like the department stores this year. I am singing about Christmas well before we even hit Thanksgiving. But I am starting my annual gift suggestion list and thought a song would be appropriate.

My first gift suggestion is actually a contest also. You may remember a post I did a couple years ago about Haydria Perfumery. The retro pinup perfumer hand blends her fragrances inspired by perfume of the past. She has new packaging now with fabulous vintage girl imagery and a roll on applicator perfect for applying to the neck and wrists and whatever other body part you like.

She use to do a $15 sampler that had tiny containers of perfume to try out the different fragrances, but now she has a better solution. You can order her entire series of perfume samples on little pads for just $1! You can apply it and try it out a couple times and then you can very strategically place your favorite one on your beau's pomade container so that he can get the hint that that is the one he should buy you for Christmas. :)

Check out her etsy shop with this link, Haydria Perfumery.

And now for the contest! There will be 3 lucky winners that I will announce on Black Friday. Hadria, the creator and small business owner of Haydria Perfumery, has sent me perfume to give away to you lucky readers. One will receive a 15ml bottle of Bernie! One will receive a 15ml bottle of Tainted Love. And a third will win 3 5ml bottles of Harem Girl, L'Eau Exotique, and Gypsy Queen.

To enter the contest, just answer this question. Send your answer to me, lauren@hrstbooks.com. The winners will be picked randomly from the correct answers.

The question is, in 1954's White Christmas starring Bing Crosby, which character wore the dress and which one stayed home?

Comment posting winner

2011-10-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

I asked you ladies to comment on what you are or were wearing for Halloween to enter a contest to win a copy of Retro Makeup: Techniques for Applying the Vintage Look.

And the winner chosen by the random number generator is........Shelly! Even though you don't celebrate Halloween in Australia, you were the 12th person to post, so you win! Send me an email at info@vintagehairstyling.com so I can get the book out to you.

The Vintage Queen of Halloween

2011-10-31T11:45:00.000-07:00

I'd like to dedicate this day and post to the vintage queen of Halloween, Yvonne De Carlo. Born Margaret Yvonne Middleton in Canada, De Carlo assumed her estranged father's last name when she started her showgirl career to create a more sophisticated image.

Her career started on the stage in the late 1930s. Her mother was a ballerina and raised her to be a dancer, but she was most interested in being a singer. She even released an album in the '50s called Yvonne De Carlo Sings.

She was a Paramount starlet early on, hired for her resemblance to Dorothy Lamour. Studios often hired look-alike actresses to keep their bigger stars in check by reminding them how replaceable they were. She also appeared as a B-movie version of Maria Montez for Universal.

She had a career that spanned 7 decades which included both movie and television. She appeared in numerous western and adventure films, including The Ten Commandments.

But it seems she may have been destined for the role that our generation most knows her for, Lily Munster. Her son Bruce recalls that, years before her role on The Munsters, her rehearsal space in the basement at home had stacks of books about horror and gothic fantasy like novels about vampires. Destiny? I think so.

She appeared in and made cameos in many B-horror movies toward the end of her career, appearing in films into the '90s. She had a small part in Mirror, Mirror, which I both loved and was terrified by when I was in junior high.

I am not really sure when this will happen, but apparently, her son, who runs her official website, is putting together a book that will include her handwritten recipes for stews and cocktail appetizers. If it is ever released, I will be sure to tell you ladies about it. That would be the best cookbook ever!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

So I am having a party at my house Saturday night and for the party, my beau and I are going to do Psycho. And the whole house is in on the costume.

I will be Janet Leigh, which makes me wish I still had my blonde hair, but oh well. A blonde wig will have to do. I picked up one of these short marilyn wigs and will get the hair wet and gelled so it looks wet all night.

I ordered a unitard in nude and will put slash marks on it. And am adding a white towel for modesty with BM embroidered on it for Bates Motel. And then beau will be wearing a granny wig and dress and carry a plastic knife. I haven't actually talked to him about that yet. It better be plastic. There will be kids at this party.

Now for the props! The bathroom that everyone uses will have this shower curtain in the tub, probably only half hanging, since Janet Leigh pulls it off the rod as she dies her untimely death. And beau, who has mad technical skills, is going to create a sound machine that makes the screeching murder scene noise every time someone passes through the bathroom door.

And to top it off, Baby, my '56 Buick Special, gets to get in on the action. She is a very similar body style to the Ford Janet Leigh drives in the movie, so we are going to park her out front with the trunk popped. In the trunk I am going to put my vintage suitcase and a rolled up newspaper hanging out a little. Maybe I will even try to get some fake money to have laying out like the money she stole and hid in the newspaper.

I always like to know what interesting ideas people get for Halloween costumes. Leave me a post with your costume ideas and I'll put you in a drawing for a copy of Retro Makeup!

Resource Yearbooks at Your Local Antique Store

2011-10-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

I miss things a lot because I have a tendency to look at pictures without reading all the words. Just in case some of you are also like this, I am sharing something you may have missed in Vintage Hairstyling. In the introduction I write a little about resources to find great pictures for inspiration for hairstyles.

One of my favorite, inexpensive places to find a plethora of images is old yearbooks. I picked these 2 up a little while ago at a local antique mall for about $30 for the pair. They are from 1929 and 1938. They are the same school, in 1929 known as Colorado Agricultural College, in 1938 known as Colorado State College, and now known as Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

Yearbooks are about the most useful thing there is for dating hairstyles. If you are working on a theatrical production, they can't be beat for giving you a host of options for hairstyles.

And the women always look amazing, straight from the beauty parlor. I assume straight from the salon, since that is what I would do if I only got my hair done once a week. That must have been a busy time for the salons in Fort Collins. I would schedule my appointment the day before and sleep in a chair that night.

I really like the comparison of these 2 yearbooks to each other. You can see a great contrast between the hairstyles popular between the 2 different decades, the flapper deco bobs and the pre-war hairstyles.

You can also breakdown the styles to their parts. I wish I had had this book back when I did my posting on two-toned hair through the 20th century.

Perfect for Halloween, but not for long

2011-10-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

I read about this special release from tarte™ cosmetics a few weeks ago in one of my makeup magazines and called up my friend Lorena right away to see if I could get my hands on some. She works as a makeup artist and consultant for tarte™ and she was more than happy to lend me her set to play with. You would all know Lorena as the wing eyeliner in Retro Makeup.

This line is so appropriate considering Halloween is around the corner, but it is my understanding that they will not be selling this set much longer. It will probably be pulled from the shelves in mid-October around the time right before True Blood's season ends. It has actually been out since the end of June, but I didn't know about it then and wanted to make sure I told you all about it before it was gone.

There are so many reasons to want this palette. I have a packaging weakness and the packaging of this is beautiful. Designed to look like a laced corset, the eyeshadow palette is amazing.

This palette also comes with eye primer, black eyeliner, and a small mascara. My only small gripe is that the eye primer, which is a great primer with beautiful consistency, is in this packaging that makes it hard to maximize using it. The package is like a lip gloss tube and in that type of packaging there is always leftover in the bottle that you can't get to with the sponge wand.

But you can still get everything out using a tip like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zen9pM8Sxpc

And the sheer volume of eyeshadow colors you get for the $52 price is great. If you have ever tried to buy eyeshadow of a high end line, you know how expensive they can be. This thing is a major bang for your buck.

The color names are great like:
Nocturnal
Charmer
Bayou
Dawn
Stake
Immortal
Dusk
Werewolf
The Light
And as you can see, the colors are very diverse too.

I did my eyes 2 different ways with different colors. On the left I used The Light, "V", and Fairy and applied it more in the crease. On the right I used the black eyeliner in the set and the eyeshadows Moss and Dawn to smoke it up. (I don't have the young eyes that are great for the smokey look these days. Eyelids a little droopy. :)

There are a couple other products from the line, not included with the palette. The cheek stain in Glamour Me is very red. In a light touch it goes on quite nicely and matches the lip tint well. The stain has a glitter in it that ads golden sparkle for a fun night out or extra umph to your costume.

The lip tint is red and not opaque like a lipstick. It is between the consistency of a lipstick and a gloss. I would describe the color as a pink red. It isn't deep blue, but a lighter version, partly because it picks up the undertone of pink in a natural lip instead of covering it. The makeup book has info on helping you choose the right red for your skin tone.

A quick note on the cosmetic line, tarte™ offers a wide selection of healthy cosmetics full of skinvigorating™ ingredients like fruit and plant extracts, vitamins, minerals, essential oils and other naturally-derived ingredients. The cruelty free cosmetics line is also formulated without parabens, mineral oil, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate and synthetic fragrances. As a socially responsible company, tarte supports cooperatives in the Amazon region. With more than 200 products in the line available in the US and Canada, tarte is also helping to reduce environmental waste with eco-friendly and sustainable packaging, reusable components and unique customer recycling initiatives.

The tarte™ for True Blood line is available through their website and at Ulta3 and Sephora. Brigette Myre-Ellis, head of makeup for True Blood and Anna Paquin's personal makeup artist, teamed up with tarte™ to help create a series of vampy, character-evoking looks like this. The palette comes with more looks and you can see them also on the tarte™ website.

Take it from Meyer Jacoby and Son, Inc. Blue hair is awesome.

2011-09-19T22:49:00.000-07:00

A New Summer Hair Fashion Profit for YOU!

Meyer Jacoby "Glamour-Eux" Wigs, 1959

Paris decreed it! Life, Vogue, Redbook, Ladies' Home Journal, NY Times, Glamour and even the Wall Street Journal reported it enthusiastically. Great American department stores - Bonwit Teller, Carson, Pirie and Scott, The Whitehouse, Titche-Goettinger and many others, through their beauty salons, promoted it heavily.

You can restyle your patron's "Glamour-Eux" wig while she is at the beach, at home, away or shopping.

Our comprehensive color range make it easy to satisfy discriminating clients.

Platinum - Light Blonde - Regular Blonde - Honey - Tosca - Auburn - Light Brown - Dark Brown - Black - Orchid - Aqua - Blue - Maize - Green - Pink - Silver Blue - Silver Blonde - Ash Blonde - Champagne - Light Red - Brown - Frosted Tips - Multi-Color - and Special Colors at no extra cost!

Redheads, Check with your local Sally's!!!

2011-09-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

So some of you readers know that I have been working on growing my hair long since summer 2010 from the super, boy short length it was at that time. It is so strange. I don't know where my obsession with having long hair came from. In college, at the age of 18, I cut my hair above my shoulders and it has remained above shoulder length for the last 16 years! Maybe I went too long with short hair or maybe this is one of those "grass is always greener" moments. Since I have been growing impatient with the growing of my hair out, I have started turning to extensions on days when I want to feel that girly, long hair feeling.

Extensions are not easy with vibrant red hair. Fake red fades. It fades quickly. It fades unevenly. And if you have hair extensions in one color, chances are there will be a time frame where they don't match the hair on your head. So I have colored extensions with the same color I use on my natural hair, but, as you can guess, they are a monochromatic color. When the red in my hair starts to fade, the extensions don't match anymore.

So I thought I would take it like a wo-man and go buy another set of extensions to color as my faded-red extensions. I didn't really want to. Human hair extensions are frickin' expensive, and not where I want my money to go, but I am impatient, so I went to Sally's to see what I could do about my little predicament.

All I know is that I was super excited when I went to Sally's and saw this!

This set of 14" extensions from Euronext were on clearance, marked down to $39.99 from $89.99. They are a beautiful combination of reds so they will hopefully get me through most of my red dying cycle. There are darker and lighter forms of red. The color code on the package was 130/33ER.

Then I about burst when they totaled me up at the register. They were 20 bucks!!! For human hair extensions!!! There must have been an extra 50% off clearance that weekend. So all you redheads out there, call your local Sally's and see if they have any of these in their store still. If you're in Colorado, call the Sally's on Belleview in Littleton. They still had one or 2 sets when I was in there.

You can see the top layer of my hair length right now. They are going to need a little cutting to blend them, but there is very little chance that I will be ever wearing them straight down like a pop star, so they don't need to be perfect. I really just need them for times when I want a hairstyle that requires long hair to accomplish.

I used some different ones here a couple months ago when we went to the WWII Ball in Boulder. I used my shorter hair on top to get the curl and used extensions to fill in the snood.

But today I am just going to do hair and makeup for a public speaker's headshot, so I am going with simple ponytail with my new extensions.

These things are so much fun. I feel like Cher!

Retro Hairstylists needed at the Goodwood Revival in the UK

2011-09-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

Someone posted this on my Facebook and I thought I would pass it on since I know some of my readers are in the UK.

Hairstylists NEEDED

Revival at Goodwood is Friday 16th - Sunday 18th in September, based at the glorious Goodwood.

Based around the 50's, classic cars, racing, fashion, music, drink, and of course style.

People come from all over the world to attend Revival.

Take a look at the link - to get an idea.

http://www.goodwood.co.uk/revival/welcome.aspx

Hours

Friday 8am - 10/11am

Saturday 8am - 10/11am

Sunday 8am - 10/11am

Pay

£50.00 per day

Email Lisa George at glamoursquadhq@hotmail.co.uk

Show Off Your Necklace Hairstyle

2011-09-09T06:50:00.000-07:00

Today's hairstyle draws its inspiration from Jill Vincent in Black Angel from 1946. I came up with the title because you still get the feeling of long hair, but it is kept back away from the neckline. So if you are wearing a dress with fabulous beading around the top or you have a beautiful necklace you want to show off, this looks great. It is such an elegant hairstyle, perfect for evening. It accomplishes what a snood does without the snood. I really like snoods, but sometimes they are just too much and detract from the hairstyle and the outfit. This dress and jewelry with a heavy snood would be a disaster.

The hardest part of this style would be the wave at the front, but I have tried to come up with an easier alternative than pin curling to get the effect. This is similar in effect to the Bang Wave in the book, but less refined and controlled since we aren't using pin curls here.

Start by parting out a small section above the forehead in a triangle shape.

Part the triangle down the middle so you have equal size triangles on either side. I used my soft rollers on this. Sponge or rag rollers would also work well. You could try hot rollers, but they would need to be the super small ones and if your hair is thick or has length, I am afraid there would not be enough heat to get all the way to the scalp. That is the key here to using the a wet set with soft rollers. We want the curl to start from the scalp.

The hair should be damp from root to end. When you are wrapping the hair, the curl should be half on-base. So pull the hair to a 45 degree angel ( I mean angle). Roll the curl under tightly. You will either need to let this dry overnight or get under a hood dryer. If the end does not dry completely, it is not the end of the world, since the end of the hair will actually be inside the hair net.

After the hair is dry, pull out the curl. In the bottom right of the next picture you can see what the curl should look like. The curl should go root to end. Take one side curl and brush it back. Then do a little back brushing to put some stamina in the wave. This will help the hair stay in its wave shape.

Then with a comb, lightly comb over the visible part of the curl to smooth out the hair on top after back brushing. Use a light hairspray to help control the hair. You can also use the duckbill clip technique from the hair book to help form the wave.

Now you can see the wave take shape after you release the tension on it. Lay it against the head and pin it in place. You will have a little mound on top that I would prefer isn't there, so just tuck it behind to soften the top wave.

With the section of hair that is still hanging over the ear, create a sort of upward twisting french twist and connect it with the wave above to make it look like it is all the same part of the style. Pin in place with the hair pins going under the hair style to lock it. I try really hard to hide pins as much as possible.

I love it that hairnet companies still use the same artwork on their packaging from years ago. I hope they never change it.

I have done nothing to the back of this mannequin's hair for this. I just brushed it out very smooth. She still has a little bend in her hair from the last time I used her for something and that is all I need. There is no specific curl needed for the hair going in the hairnet. Just gather the remaining hair and tuck it into the hairnet. Bring the net all the way up to the crown and use a couple hairpins to pin it place.

I am using a black hairnet, since I am going to finish the style with a black headband. In keeping with lovely June above, I want the hairnet to be part of the accessory and see it without it screaming at me like a snood.

Once you get it in place, spread the hair with your fingers to get some fullness.

Finish it with a headband of choice to cover the end seam of the hairnet and fancy it up a bit. Enjoy!

Ebay Sightings...

2011-09-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

I don't get on Ebay enough. There are so many fun things people are selling.

Let me rephrase that. I probably should avoid Ebay. There are so many fun things people are selling that I want in my collection. A friend of mine suggested I should start a little museum of my vintage beauty tools. I don't know if I quite have a museum's worth yet, but with a little help from Ebay I could certainly make it happen. Here are just some of the lovely items online right now.

This one is great, but it ends quickly! It is a vintage pink shampoo cape with poodles on it! It ends in just 5 hours from my writing this. I am sure most of you ladies will be reading this after the fact, but I still wanted to share it with you for the sake of a smile. Click the image to go...

Following in line with things that would be great in a beauty salon...this Boraxo soap dispenser would be so cute in the bathroom of a vintage decor beauty salon bathroom. Technically this thing would have had that gritty sand-like soap in it. You guys remember that lovely stuff!? But I think liquid could also work in it. Click the image to go...

For those of you ladies who like to collect those vintage food tins to display in your kitchen, here is something for the bathroom. It is a Cotton Picker Cotton dispenser tin in beautiful pink. Click the image to go...

Living in Colorado, you have to have hand lotion in your purse at all times. It is so dry here. I actually just use a very simple, fragrance free lotion and add a relaxation scented oil from a local apothecary to it. It smells like a mini vacation every time I use it. I just got a not-very-interesting empty bottle from Sally's to carry it in my purse, but it would be so nice to have this little vintage Max Factor purse sized lotion dispenser to carry it around in. Click the image to go...

I know we have all seen a million vanity sets and the truth is that this one is not totally complete. It is missing a comb and maybe a couple other things, BUT...it has these beautiful little matching picture frames to go along with it, which you do not see everyday. If you have a vanity or dresser you want to spruce up, this set is great because you can add your family photos and everything will still go together beautifully.

I really don't know what year these are from. The plastic container says '70s to me, but the picture of the lady says '40s, but it wasn't uncommon for companies to use the same illustration for a beauty product for years, like hair net companies. I am not actually suggesting this specific product either. The description mentions rust, which I wouldn't suggest putting in your hair. There is a reason for me pointing these out though. You can get hair bling like this at stores like Claire's and online that twist into your hair and hold into place. I just think it would be a very elegant addition to a fancy dress if you and your beau are going out for a nice dinner.

There are a couple different reasons to love this Scolding Locks Bob Pin box other than it's $1.99 starting bid. It is a sturdy box you could actually use. It is pink...and I love pink for beauty items. I also love how beautifully the cover girl is accessorized. She has a beautiful bow and the string of pearls with the unfastened ends is so '30s. Click the image to go...

Here is something that will knock your baby's socks off. A vintage Sanitoy baby nursery dresser set. This thing is already going up in price on Ebay, but for the vintage mom or soon to be mom, I can not think of a better present. As a parent, you rarely spend this much money on an item for your baby, but for the office pool trying to figure out what to get her since she already got the stroller and car seat, this is perfect!

And the Miss Modernism winner is...

2011-08-29T00:52:00.000-07:00

It took a little while...and there was a break down in communication between the judges and the host, Charles Phoenix... but they finally announced the winner of the 2011 Denver Miss Modernism pageant at the Denver Modernism show this last Friday... and I was so excited to see Gracie Stein win (and totally agreed with the judges).

You may or may not recognize her from both the first and second edition of the hair book. In the first she was the Homemaker and in the second she is the Bouffant Bun (and on the title page). For her stage hairstyle, she wore the Golightly.

The ladies all looked lovely and I wish Gracie the best of luck in her strenuous duties as Miss Modernism 2011...and I am very jealous of her all expense paid trip to the Palm Springs Modernism Show.

I would also like to add a quick small shameless plug for my friends who just started their own line of mid-century inspired furniture. Jesse and Lisa have been working 24/7 and unveiled some of their beautiful furniture at the show. It really was the most amazing furniture at the show and everyone was going gaga over it. I am very excited that they will be designing a bar for me. It is about time I devote an entire piece of furniture to my liquor. You can see more about their Atomic Living Design furniture on facebook and on their website. Click here.

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

2011-07-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

Pardon my dust...

2011-06-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

I am doing some updating on the blog's appearance. I am trying to make it more user friendly and add some functionality...but while you are here, check out the new widget I added in the right margin. The title is, "Want to get Bobby Pin Blog in your inbox?" You can enter your email address and get my latest blog entries sent to you. If you are anything like me, you have a lot of trouble keeping up on your blog reading and this way, the only thing you have to do is check your email.

And it does not give me your email address. It is all done thru Blogger.

Keeping vintage hair simple with a beret

2011-06-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

Berets are a perfect simple accessory to go vintage. The hat style has been around for ages and so can fit with most decades and because it covers most of your head when you put it on, you can fudge your vintage hairstyle without feeling like you need to be an expert. You can put it with the right outfit from your favorite decade and it instantly fits the time period.

Marlene Dietrich wore it great with her men's suits. Think about putting your hair in a low bun with this look.

I really like this sort of frizzy bob on Greta Garbo. A sign of this time period was hair that didn't look perfectly pomaded and curled. Because their perming processes and hair products could be very hard on their hair, hair didn't always look perfectly healthy.

Lana Turner's hair was pretty short here in The Postman Always Rings Twice, but if you have longer hair, you could pin some of it up inside the beret to shorten how it looks.

Nina Foch's hairstyle could easily be achieved with a good thermal styler and medium hot rollers.

Britt Ekland wears her simple bangs with curled ends.

Brigitte Bardot's sauerkraut hairstyle was often too big for a beret, but this 60s bob is great with it.

She deserves a "thank you"

2011-05-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

If you read this blog, you undoubtedly watch Ashley on the Lisa Freemont Street channel on YouTube. Her extremely helpful hairstyles and tips start with specific looks from the past and she recreates hairstyles inspired by images, art and movies from the 1920s all the way up into the 1960s. She also has the Lisa Freemont Pages, a blog that is always helpful and interesting. There are many bloggers and video creators online right now offering up very helpful information, but Ashley's dedication to providing continuous, detailed info over the last few years is pretty unparalleled online (only taking a small break to have a baby a few months ago!).

She makes NO money on her projects and next to no money on her sponsor links on her blog. She does everything out of the goodness of her very sweet heart and for the love and passion of this lifestyle we all find so fascinating and beautiful.

I bring this up because down the right margin of her blog is a donation button. I know times are tough and we don't all have a lot of extra money right now, but if you do have $5 or $10 or $20 and you watch her videos, think about going to her blog and offering her a "thank you" for being so diligent and committed to teaching us how to be more retro beautiful.

I think Elizabeth would agree it is the right thing to do and I am going to start by heading over to the Lisa Freemont Pages and offering my thanks to Ashley.

Something to make me (and you) happy

2011-05-24T19:09:00.000-07:00

I just spent a very long day serving jury duty, which culminated in the non-conviction of an obvious domestic abuser because we couldn't agree. But I won't bore you with the details. I already did that to my beau for an hour.

But I needed a little pick-me-up and this always picks me up. If you haven't seen this before, I apologize. I couldn't find a high quality version anywhere online. It is a montage of movies called "100 Years at the Movies," put together by TCM and they use it in between movies on the tv channel when they need to fill some airtime. It makes my heart sing every time I watch it and so I wanted to share it with all of you, since we are all lovers of earlier movies.

The reason I thought of it is because I just got my "Moguls and Movie Stars" dvds from Turner Classic Movies a day ago and have been enthralled. It is such a wonderful series of documentaries on the beginnings of the movie industry starting in the late 1800's and goes on through the 1960s. It is amazing. The series came out last year and TCM finally put it on dvd.

But, for now, sit back and enjoy this quick 10 minutes of movies we love. Be sure to push the pause button at the bottom of the blog on the radio player so you can clearly hear the video. The sound is the best part.

What a great revival!

2011-05-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

My grandma's jewelry box on her vanity, full of clip-on earrings and heavy, metal necklaces was one of my favorite dress-up spots when I was little. A massive dark-wood four-post bed with a white, crocheted bedspread dominated the room and the bedroom floor was covered in red shag carpet. The bed was so tall that until I was 7, I couldn't get in it without the help of a stool to boost me. The room opened into the backyard of their early 1960s ranch in a suburb of St. Louis through a huge arcadia door that let in so much light. In the middle of the day I would sit at the vanity, my ears throbbing from the clip-ons and my neck freezing from the cold metal of those necklaces. I was enthralled with all the colors and how bright and shiny everything seemed.

My St. Louis grandparents are no longer around. Grandma passed 10 years ago and grandpa just this last August, but I still have the fondest memories of sitting at that vanity in their bedroom.

When I was back in my home state Arizona visiting last week, I took a little trip to see the latest in vintage stores, since I have been gone for 7 or 8 years now. I picked up a flyer for one of the local swing dancing groups and saw a tiny little ad on the back that caught my interest. The little 1" x 1" advert read, "One of kind inspiration pieces from vintage jewels that began life as brooches, bracelets and other adornments."

I went to check it out and it exceeded my expectations. TrueBlindFaith.com has some of the most adorable revival pieces of classic vintage costume jewelry, now in the form of hair jewelry like combs and tiaras for weddings. It looks like they mainly create for weddings, but what a beautiful way to bring along something special from a loved one down the aisle when they can't be there in person. I am no jewelry maker, but it would be fun to take one of my grandmother's jewelry pieces and have it reworked to go on a comb to wear in my hair.

Not just a Maybelline Ad

2011-05-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

The first thing that caught my eye in this vintage Maybelline ad circa 1960 was the array of makeup products. What a great example of the products you might find in a woman's makeup bag around 1960. But don't let the 6 fool you. This is a common makeup look for the mid and late 1950s.

And then after you are intrigued by the array of products, take a look at the eye in the ad. It is wearing the products being advertised. The eyebrow pencil is shown in black at the bottom and the eyebrow is drawn at the top in an interesting point with at small dip on the outer brow. You see at the bottom a blue eyeshadow and it is shown applied at the lower portion of the upper eyelid of the eye drawing. This could also be the eyeliner applied and blended to be eye shadow, a very common practice during the early part of the century. Also at the bottom is an evergreen eyeliner, shown above on the eye in a wing eyeliner style.

This makeup would look great...I think on anyone, pale with black hair, redhead for even more color, or a blond for a softer move away from black eyeliner.

What a great idea

2011-05-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

How perfect is this for touch-ups on the go? I absolutely need this for my evening bag. It is a nail polish and clear coat combo set from Sula, a Canadian company. The Sula Paint and Peel Duos come in the colors shown below and are available at sulabeauty.com. The Tango looks like a really nice red!

Wedding (out)fit for a princess

2011-04-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I may be grabbing at straws here, but Princess Kate did go with a vintage look, even if she did not anticipate it. Of course there are classic styles that will always be associated with a time period, but, unlike Diana, Kate chose a dress that was not modern, at least not based on what I see as the contemporary looks in wedding magazines today. In fact, Diana's dress is credited with developing the trend in the 80s of poofy.

Kate's choice in dress was conservative, of course. It was a conservative affair. But she had a special elegance in that dress that makes the world sure that William made the right choice for a princess. She was very reminiscent of past princesses in her Alexander McQueen gown. I read somewhere a commentator refer to the fashion house as being forward thinking, but they were most certainly thinking back when they designed this dress for Kate. The lace shoulders and sleeves and sweetheart bodice were a very popular style during the mid 50s thru early 60s. She even had a little hair bump in the back! Very Madmen.

Keeping My Fingers Crossed

2011-04-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

I am drinking wine and watching the "pre-show" shenanigans on TLC leading up to the wedding...and yes...I have every intention of sticking it out until 3am for the wedding broadcast here in Denver.

I am also fantasizing about what the beautiful Kate Middleton will be wearing for the ceremony. Of course, they are keeping everything very hush hush about her dress and how she will look, but I heard a couple "insiders" say that she got hair extensions for the day and that she is planning to wear her hair down.

It would probably be too out-of-the-box for her to go vintage, but I just wanted to offer my little 2 cents (or pence as it were) on what I think she could pull off so well. I am sure that the royal family expects her to be proper and traditional and I know during a wedding as important as this, the traditions of the family take precedence sometimes. But I think, because she is a modern bride, she could get away with something a little more creative. I really can't wait to see!

It is official! If you want it, get it while it's hot!

2011-04-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

My web designer has installed the button and Retro Makeup can now be purchased at www.retromakeup.net. I get the books from my printer by the end of business Friday and I will be shipping books out on Monday. Some of you have already ordered books through other means, but do not fret. I will also be shipping books to all of the vendors who have been offering the book as a pre-order item so they can fill their orders too.

Thank you so much for being patient with me through this process and standing by while I have been absent. I have been working to add some exciting changes to the site and grow this resource to a point where I can offer even more information. The website is being updated to include more information, and hopefully, soon a calendar of classes and events I have planned for the future.

And as I mentioned before, My Baby Jo, Boss, and V-Male will have the book in Vegas next weekend!

Her beauty will live forever

2011-03-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

Rest in peace Elizabeth Taylor. You were always my favorite shrew.

Cool Hair at the Grammys

2011-02-13T19:12:00.000-08:00

I have just been hanging out at home watching the Grammys, taking a break from the makeup book which keeps getting longer and longer...too much info to include. I was reminded tonight of Janelle Monae that I love!!! Her pompadour is rockin' and a great example of what you can do with very curly hair creatively. Not to mention she dances like James Brown with wonderful grace.

I also found this pic online of the lovely lady with a different version of her forward moving hairstyle. I bet I could do a pretty fun look for Viva with a finger wave look if I can just get my hair long enough. Or maybe extensions...

I was also reminded of the hairstyle from the Paramore video "You Are the Only Exception" that got me wanting to grow my hair out again. Very few layers, beautifully blunt...

Indelible - making marks that cannot be removed

2011-02-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

L'Oreal's Infallible lipstick

I tried the reds out and for a long wear lipstick, they are pretty nice. If you are not familiar with long wear lipsticks, their basic concept is that they start wet, dry after application, and you use a lip gloss over them to keep your lips feeling moist and you need to use the gloss that comes with. Regular lipgloss has some sort of weird reaction with the lipstick and starts to feel like sandpaper on your lips.

I am really bad about keeping up with my lips when I go out. I have fun, talk to people...and then I go to the lady's and catch a glimpse in the mirror! Ugh! Where'd my lips go? Also when my beau sees my glossy, gooey red lips coming toward his mouth...he gets this look of fear in his eyes, like he is going to look like Heath Ledger as The Joker when it's done.

So, for me, long wears are great for reds especially. The 3 colors pictured here from left to right are Cerise 300, a cranberry, but the color is deep and would be really nice on a pale blue girl, Crimson 310, a warm red that I love on my yellow skin and goes well with my red hair, and Beyonce's Red 399, a vibrant red that darker skinned girls look great in.

I apply in 2 layers. The crimson looks good as one application, but you can still see a little lip through it, which is fine if you want to have a tamer red, but I want RED. So I apply once, leave your lips open and let dry completely, then apply again, leave mouth open and let dry completely. Don't put on the gloss until all the tackiness is gone from the color coats.

But then there is the after. You are home and you now have this coating of epoxy-like lipstick on your lips that won't come off. Don't scrub your lips raw trying to get it off. The concept to these lipsticks is similar to alcohol based makeup that many theater makeup artists use as a waterproof makeup. The color will only dissolve with oil or alcohol.

Baby oil works really well. Soak a Q-tip in it and rub your lips, but not too hard. It will take a second for the color to start to dissolve.

The fastest way to dissolve the color and most effective is 99% Alcohol if you can get your hands on some. Just be sure to apply a nice coat of vaseline after because it will dry your lips out, and it doesn't taste great, but very effective.

This is me...

2011-02-08T22:44:00.000-08:00

in about 35 years. I'm not joking. I am quite looking forward to it. With Chanda and my sister by my side at the retirement home pool somewhere in Florida, I think it will be quite the happy little life.

This image is courtesy of The Hair Hall of Fame blog. If you haven't seen it, you must see it soon. It is a major source of inspiration for me. Hair Hall of Fame

I wonder if Midnight will go for the leash?

60s References for Hair

2011-02-07T09:45:00.000-08:00

Love Luna over at the Child of the Moon blog has posted a lovely entry on hair of the 60s. Go check it out to see a huge array of images of hair and makeup of the decade.
iamthechildofthemoon.blogspot.com

This is out. Stop asking for it.

2011-01-24T21:45:00.000-08:00

I love my job. I really do. I get to play dress up on a daily basis with different faces that have different personalities, but I'm getting tired of this.

Brides...stop asking me for this.. this is out.

The heavy eye with pale lip went out a while ago. Lips are in. Love your lips. Wear lipstick that shows them off. I understand if you are self-conscious wearing super bright red, but even still, find something that you are comfortable wearing that you can actually see!!!

See. Even Kim knows it's out.

Yes it is acceptable...

2011-01-17T18:08:00.000-08:00

...to wear your hair setting in public while you are running errands, but make sure everything else about you looks fabulous while you do it. Here are some tips:

Shiny turban says, "I won't let my still wet fingerwaves keep me from picking up diapers."

Silky pajama top and pretty bow says, "I just hopped out of my oil tycoon husband's bed to grab my morning latte. I will be returning to those silky sheets promptly."

Christina gets a lot of heckling from the press for walking around in public in her pin curls, but we understand don't we girls? Sometimes you've got S*%& to do and you can't take your hair out too early or it will be a flat mess.

Thoughts on Hair Setting

2011-01-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

Sorry to geek out on you, but I believe it is important to understand the science of things in order to create proper art. Painters need to fully understand the color wheel, Photographers need to understand optics and the properties of light, and hairstylists need to know the physics and chemistry of hair.

I know a lot of you could care less about the physics and chemistry of hair since you are not, in fact, trying to make a living styling hair. But I would argue that a basic understanding of it will make you better at retro styling your own hair, mainly on creating curls.

I get a lot of emails from girls wanting to know how to better make the curl work in their own hair. It is a tough thing. Some girls, particularly girls who bleach, can get a curl with little to no effort. I know, I was a bleacher for a while and I could get the best, longest lasting curls out of it. And then some girls fight to keep a curl for a day because they either live in humidity, have thick, heavy hair that pulls curl down, or their hair is so fine it just lays limp. So I'd like to shed some light on how a curl happens and why it is what it is in hopes that it sheds some light on why your hair may not be doing what you want it to do.

Let's start with a setting. We see and hear it all the time in hairstyling. I use it all over the place in the book, particularly when I refer to a wet set. Some definitions of set according the Webster's New World Dictionary are:

1. to put in proper condition; fit, adjust, arrange, fix in a desired style
2. to make settled, rigid, or fixed
3. to become firm, hard, or fixed

That basically sums up exactly how set relates to vintage hairstyling and the curl. 1. It begins with the action of forming the hair into the desired shape. 2. When you do this with the proper ingredients of heat, water, or chemical, you are making that curl fixed. 3. Once the action has taken place with the proper ingredients, the hair becomes the fixed shape.

AM I BORING YOU YET? :)

Next we come to how chemistry plays a part in the curl of your hair. The girls who have already passed their cosmetology exams and are very happy they are over may skip all this mumbo jumbo if they like. Otherwise, read on. I am a geek, because I find this kind of stuff totally interesting.

There are four kinds of bonds that hold hair together. The first and most important are peptide bonds. Without getting too long winded, they are the kinds of bonds that you don't want to break. They hold the hair together, keep it healthy, and prevent breakage. When you damage your hair enough, those bonds are broken and so is your hair. It is "fried, dyed, and laid to the side," as my beauty school teacher Miss. Lill put it. Lill claims the origin of this saying is the perming machines from the early part of the century. When a hairstylist was taking the rollers off the client and found hair that was damaged to the point of the breakage, they would put the broken strands in their smock pocket "to the side" to keep the client from seeing. It is pretty hard to damage your hair that much, but too much bleach or the wrong perm can cause this.

The other three kinds of bonds are the ones that we are concerned with in curl creation. These side bonds are Hydrogen bonds, Salt bonds, and Disulfide bonds. Each can be broken and reformed by easy means. They connect the polypeptide chains that make up the cortex of the hair shaft like rungs of a ladder.

Hydrogen Bonds- a physical side bond that is easily broken by water or heat. The hydrogen bonds reform after the hair has dried or cooled. This is why it is helpful to allow hair to cool pinned in the curl and why your hair won't hold the curl until it is fully dry. That is also why humidity levels in your area or sweating have a direct effect on how long certain curls last. Hydrogen bonds are the weakest kind, but because there are so many, 1/3 of hair's strength comes from these bonds.

Salt Bonds- also a physical bond, they are broken by changes in pH levels. The natural pH level of hair is 5. Neutral is 7. Salt bonds are broken by alkaline and acidic solutions. 1/3 of hair's strength comes from these bonds. Water is generally neutral which can break the salt bonds until the hair dries. The pH level of water at 7 on your pH level 5 hair breaks some of those bonds, making the set longer lasting. This is where hair product can help also. Thermal stylers and setting lotion adds a small pH shift to the hair to add hold. I honestly don't have conclusive proof of the effect of water and stylers on salt bonds, so I wouldn't include this info in any term papers, but based on what I know about chemistry, it is the conclusion that I come to, my hypothesis. Wow. I haven't used that word since college biology.

Disulfide Bonds- These are chemical side bonds and the way they are broken is through the chemicals of perms and relaxers. The bonds are only reformed with chemical neutralizers. And these reformed bonds can not be broken again until another perm is given. That is why a perm holds up to shampooing, heat, and all. You can use heat and wet sets to direct the hair and make the curl a little different, a little bigger, a little wavy, but after shampooing, the perm comes back for a clean slate to style on. That is why women did perms back in the day. You got the perm to create a longer lasting curl, so when you did your pin curl or fingerwave or roller, your curl would last until your next shampoo the following week, all because you had those disulfide bonds broken and reformed into a curl on a perm rod.

This is officially the worst drawing I have ever created for the website, but it gives you a basic idea of what I am trying to convey about side bonds. The left drawing is a straight hair strand and the connecting side bonds. The next is that same hair strand bent into a curl with out breaking any bonds. The third is what happens when a certain kind of bond is broken, the hair is curled and the bonds reform to different sections while hair is in the curl shape.

So keep in mind for the future when you are breaking your bonds and trying to reform them, what method you are using has a direct effect on what conditions it will last under and if the curl isn't lasting, you may need to try breaking a different bond.

I Knew,...But I Didn't Really Know.

2011-01-02T19:47:00.000-08:00

I've heard so many people say that New Orleans is an amazing city. But how many times have we all heard that about many places? There is no way to describe to a person how beautiful a mountain is, so that they can truly understand, without them actually seeing it. That is the best way I can describe my experience this weekend in New Orleans. There was no way to really get an idea of the magic of the city until I saw it first hand.

Now I will attempt to give you an idea of the magic as best I can, but since I have already established how difficult that is, I hope that everyone who has the opportunity to see this magnificent city takes it.

...and try to avoid most of Bourbon Street if you do.

We stayed at the lovely Magnolia Mansion in the Garden District, the same neighborhood that Trent Reznor and Anne Rice have called home. The room was called the Moulin Rouge room and boy was it! Red walls and oppulant decor all over. It was a lot more expensive than I am use to paying for a hotel room, but I worked hard this year and thought I would splurge on this trip. Probably a little too much, but I will be good until Viva and spend less.

I am very glad we stayed a little ways away from the French Quarter. It let us get away from the madness and we got to ride the oldest continuously operating street railway in the U.S. to get to and from the area, built in 1835.

We started our first night on Bourbon Street. He thought I should see it just to see it and we made our way quickly past the loud, obnoxious bars and strip clubs full of people drinking out of plastic Mardi Gras themed cups. We needed to go down it to reach a small beacon further into the French Quarter called Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar. Built in the early 1700s, it is suppose to be the bar housed in the oldest building open in the U.S. today. We then moved on to Pravda, a Soviet themed bar that had some of the best ambiance I have seen from a bar in a long time. Old lamps on the tables, pictures and murals all over, and a beautiful back courtyard where we enjoyed Absinthe done the right way and felt like we could actually be in a courtyard in Europe. A lovely first night indeed.

We also made our way to Frenchmen Street. I highly recommend getting to Frenchmen Street for amazing jazz and people. The Cottonmouth Kings are the resident band playing every Friday night at the Spotted Cat Music Club and every other night there are amazing musicians. On New Years, we saw the lovely Kristina Morales & The Bayou Shufflers who opened for Cottonmouth Kings. It was a wonderful show and just a hint of the old jazz music there is to see in New Orleans. This is also a great place to see the great swing dancers of the city. We also got the lowdown on a drink that one of the bartenders made for Kristina Morales one night that she named Cat Nip because it was so good, and it was. Mango vodka, pineapple juice, and a splash of cran.

There were wonderful restaurants like VooDoo Bar-B-Que. We also ate at Camellia Grill on Chartres Street. It is an old style diner with no tables, just a long winding marble counter and the waitors serve you direct from the open kitchen. Everyone is in it together.We had beingets for breakfast at a little restaurant courtyard and I bought the mix they sell everywhere to bring home with me. We'll see how mine turn out. I'm scared.

I could go on and on, but instead I will end with a quick fashion show of the wonderful things I bought at antique stores, second hand and at the lovely Trashy Diva trilogy of shops on Chartres. I found a nice sized vintage red handbag at a store on Magazine Street, a must street for antiquing, a couple antique Russian Christmas ornaments at a shop in the French Quarter, and vintage army pants dated 1951 on the tag at a second hand clothing store also in the French Quarter.

And then I splurged a little more. If you are not familiar with Trashy Diva clothing by Candice Gwinn, check them out. Beautiful clothing, retro inspired, but using only the best silhouettes of the past. They have three stores right next to each other on Chartres, a clothing shop, a lingerie shop, and a shoe store. I hit all three and only survived the shoe store with my credit card in tact because the shoe I wanted wasn't available in my size. My credit card was not so lucky at the clothing and lingerie stores where I picked up these little babies.

An amazing trip indeed and the city needs the tourism to come back. According to some people we spoke to though, we made a common choice as New Orleans was the number 1 city for New Years travelers and I can see why. It certainly isn't just a place for Mardi Gras.

I promise the next time I write a blog entry this long, it will be back to the beauty drawing board. Happy New Year!!!

Chugging Away

2010-12-31T00:18:00.000-08:00

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.
I feel like the little engine that could, chugging away in hopes of reaching the top someday. Everything is coming along well for the makeup book. I had to take a little break because of the holidays and I had family in town so the photostudio had to go back in the closet. I'll get it back out in a week when I get back from my vacation.

My man and I are off to New Orleans for New Year's and great jazz music. So I thought I would put up this pic of Patricia as Billie Holiday for the book.

Happy New Year to you and yours and may everyone have a year filled with joy and love!

Growing Pains

2010-12-27T20:13:00.001-08:00

I really need to reconsider the next time I get a wild hair up my whatever and decide to chop my hair off really short. It was fun for a little while, but now I am facing the pain of growing it out to a length where I have some variety. I'm taking vitamins and am just now getting it to a length that I can squeeze a pin curl out of it. It's been 5 months already!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

2010-12-25T20:58:00.000-08:00

I hope all your beautiful holiday dreams come true!

Please be patient with me...

2010-12-16T14:24:00.000-08:00

This makeup book is taking a lot of prepping and primping. I haven't been able to add much to the blog the last couple of weeks, but will be catching up soon!

I'm so sorry!!!

2010-12-11T07:43:00.001-08:00

I wrote that post about the train cases last month and the website was there then. I think they must have closed down or something. The funny thing is that when I was looking at them, they seemed a little hard to figure out how to order the case and I had a suspicion that something like this would happen.

Just goes to show that we should always trust our feminine little red flag feelings as I like to call them.

I scoured the internet trying to find someone else selling Two Five Inc cases and I can't find them anywhere. So I searched for something new!

At Pinup Girl Clothing.com they have these adorable cases listed in their BAG section...

Elvis barrettes gift idea

2010-11-29T11:02:00.000-08:00

It is that time of year again. Over the next few weeks I will be offering up some holiday gift ideas. Use them as a way to hint to your loved ones what might make a good gift for you or use them when you are stuck on a gift for someone else.

Let's start with these fun barrettes from shopelvis.com. What?! A whole website devoted to Elvis stuff?! Yes, that's right, all Elvis. It is the official online store of Elvis Presley and Graceland. These little beauties come as a set and I know you can't tell in this picture, but they say Elvis on them and the silver ones have hibiscus flowers on them. Click the image to go.

A quick fix when you have no time to pin curl?

2010-11-24T14:36:00.000-08:00

I don't know, but it certainly caught my eye. It is the Turbang Hair Bang by Jon Renau and it is described as a natural looking hair bang that has an adjustable strap to secure it to the top of your head. I picture this with the hair up or down, with a page boy or a ponytail, or as just an awesome addition to a photostudio or theater hair kit.

Piles of curl on the forehead were very popular in the 1940's like below on Betty Grable and I think this could be a brilliant fake with some brushing, teasing and hairspray. To see color options and find out more, follow this link to ultimatelooks.com.

Book Update #2

2010-11-22T08:09:00.000-08:00

I did my first photoshoot with a model yesterday for the book. I am getting REALLY excited about the book. And also REALLY overwhelmed. I have so much I want to do and I don't know how much I can fit into it and how much time I have to make everything happen. I seem to remember the hair book was the same way though. I'd like to put 20 more hairstyles into it, but I only had so much money for printing. That is a lot of the reason for this blog, another place to share info.

My first model was Erin, who you guys have not seen before. Her face is new to the vintage books, but she was lovely and did a fantastic job including this image of my take on the Revlon Fire and Ice campaign. I will have a small little piece about the beginnings of the Revlon empire and wanted some imagery to go with it. I love the way this turned out. Look out Jessica...Erin rocks this!

A side note on the rerelease of the Fire and Ice makeup colors. Erin is wearing the Revlon All Fired Up nailpolish in this shot, but not the Fire and Ice lipstick. It is much more bright and pink than I had anticipated.

I tried it out on my lovely assistant Yara here. We are still trying to figure out what coloring this would go best on. Here is what it looks like.

Hawaii mirror compact gift idea

2010-11-19T11:44:00.000-08:00

Aloha! How cute is this compact mirror to conveniently check your makeup on the go! I love tiki and Hawaii themes and this mirror from hawaiianjewelryand gift.com, although new, still fits the bill. What a great stocking stuffer! Click the image to go.

Home Skincare Masks

2010-11-14T11:57:00.000-08:00

I was working on a woman's makeup a few weeks ago and she raved about her mom's skin and when I saw her mom I understood why. The lovely lady was about 75 years old and looked like she was about 60. I was trying so hard to be polite and asked her what she does for skincare like microdermabrasian or skin peels. I really wanted to asked her what sort of plastic surgery she's had because her skin was phenomenal! There were so few wrinkles and it glowed with health.

Her response was nothing. Nothing!? How is that possible?

She attributed her skin to a long life of home facial masks of which she did everyday starting in her 20's. A friend who worked for a skincare company in the 1950's told her that, especially in this dry Colorado weather, she should be doing masks to replenish the moisture in her skin for a long, wrinkle free life. At the time she was as single mom and couldn't afford fancy creams, so she used stuff from her refrigerator.

I thought this would be a very appropriate entry now that it is getting chilly outside and the heaters are drying out our skin. I found some interesting info online about skincare from your kitchen.

Egg and Yogurt Facial Mask for Dry Skin
-2 egg whites, separated from the yolk
-2 tablespoons of Greek yogurt
-Separate the egg whites and place them in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of Greek yogurt (do not use flavored yogurt). Mix them up and apply to face. Leave on face for 15-20 minutes then rinse face in warm water, followed by a warm washcloth.

Yogurt and Honey Face Mask for All Skin Types
-1 tbsp natural yogurt, room temperature (preferably whole milk, not non-fat or low-fat)
-1 tsp runny honey (microwave for a few seconds to soften hardened honey)

-Combine mixture, then apply to face. Let sit for 15 minutes. Wash face with steaming washcloth or in shower as honey is sticky. For dry skin, use an extra tsp of honey as honey is very nourishing for the skin. If oily skin, add a few drops of fresh lime juice, but be careful and test first if you have any open acne sores. It could sting.

Tomato and Potato Flour Mask for Oily Skin
-1 tomato
-2 tablespoons of potato flour
-Peel the flesh of one tomato away from the skin and seeds. Mix with two tablespoons of potato flour to form a paste. Add more if runny. Apply to your face and leave on for 10 minutes. Wash off with warm water and pat dry.

Apple Zinger Facial Mask for Oily/Acne Skin
-1 medium size apple, grated fine
-5 tbs. honey, warmed to runny consistency
-Mix the grated apple and honey well. Smooth over skin and let sit for 10 minutes. Wash face with steaming washcloth or in shower as honey is sticky. Follow with cool water to close the pores.

Sugar and Water Exfoliating Mask
Exfoliating is very important. When dead skin collects on the surface of skin, it's important to slough it away. This helps clear up clogged pores. When skin isn't exfoliated, it can appear dull and lifeless.
-2 tbsp sugar
-3 tbsp warm water

Stir sugar into warm water so that it melts. Make sure granules are dissolved, otherwise they could tear your skin. Apply to the face. Gently massage around the skin. Rinse with warm water OR take a warm washcloth that's steamed in the microwave. Make sure the washcloth is not too hot.

And it begins

2010-11-11T21:19:00.001-08:00

I realize that my posts lately have been rather impersonal. I know most of you read to learn about hair and makeup and beauty, but a lot of my friends also read this, both old and new, both personal and online friends. So I am trying to get back into the grove of making this blog not only about retro hair and makeup, but how it pertains to life.

And in this entry it is about how it pertains to my current life. A lot of people have been asking that I write another book as a follow up to Vintage Hairstyling...and so I am. I mentioned in a few earlier posts that I am working towards a makeup book and I've decided instead of quietly working away at it in private and keeping it on the down low so to speak, that I am going to share with everyone the progress as I go, posts of shoots and progress and...problems. Invariably I am sure I will run into problems as I have every time I take on a project like this. But bring it on! I'm ready for it.

Here is the binder of notes. Holy crap! What am I getting myself into? All my photo go-by's, note cards of facts, inspirations, and ideas. It took me since August to put this together. The stacks of books, magazines, Google searches...all neatly organized...sort of.

It will start with a brief history prior to 1920 just to give some insight.

Then into the 1920s and following through to the mid-60s. I'm stopping at the mid-60s because after that I just don't find the makeup very interesting. Try not to get too excited about the images you see here. I don't have the rights to reproduce any of this stuff in a book. And to buy the rights to reproduce images can cost at a minimum $300 a pop, for one image! I don't have that kinda dough. So it will be like the hair book with interpretations of the looks.

Vintage Life Magazine Gift Idea

2010-11-09T15:20:00.000-08:00

This is a great idea for a gift that gives all year long. Get someone a subscription to Vintage Life Magazine. I bring this up now because it can take a little time sometimes for a magazine subscription to process and your first issue to be sent.

If you haven't heard of this magazine yet, it is adorable. It is a UK based women's magazine with information on clothes, hair, makeup, lifestyle, and more!

Deputy editor Lisa Evans says, "Vintage Life Magazine is a magazine aimed at revisiting and rekindling the wonderful years gone by - bringing those memories alive again! From style and fashion, hair and make-up to house and home, toys and collectibles to music and film, everything great about the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s through to the 70s - all in one great magazine!”

See more at vintagelifemagazine.com

It isn't ruined. It can be saved.

2010-11-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

Red lipstick is RED. And nothing sucks more than getting that lovely red color on your favorite vintage dress with no hope of removing it unless you want to pay the dry cleaner 20 or 30 bucks. Well howstuffworks.com has your answer. Follow this link to detailed directions on removing red lipstick from all kinds of materials.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2010-10-31T17:02:00.000-07:00

From Vera Ellen

Halloween Costume Part 3

2010-10-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

If you have a little bit of drawing capability you can pull this off. Just buy a big piece of matte board from your local art supply or a big cardboard box and turn yourself into a paper doll! Put on your favorite vintage underwear. You can wear a nude leotard and pantyhose underneath to keep warm. Then use some white strapping material to attach the cardboard outfit to your body. I may think about doing this one for any party I may go to with a costume prize.

Beauty tricks from your medicine cabinet

2010-10-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few ideas I've heard for some at home quick fix beauty techniques. I haven't tried these, but I would love to hear from you ladies if it does or does not work for you.

1. Erase Nail Stains- If your nails are stained from all that red polish you just took off, soak your fingers in denture cleaner for a few minutes. The oxidizing agent is suppose to help remove stains.

2. Renew Your Broken Powder- If you favorite blush or eyeshadow breaks from its pot, mash it up with a spoon and then blend it with a colorless lip balm to make a cream blush or eyeshadow.

3. Create Liquid Eyeliner- Out of eyeliner? Can't find your pencil sharpener? Liquid liner dry out? Put a drop or two of eye drops in your favorite shade of eyeshadow and use a very thin brush to apply this "liquid liner" in a pinch.

4. Add Volume to Your Lashes- Before you apply your mascara, dust your lashes with a little translucent powder to add instant volume.

No talent required costume

2010-10-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

Running out of time? Need something fast? Can't sew or paint or anything else that requires creativity? Try this costume for your and your beau. Or it would be really cute for a couple kids. It is from a retro tacky site called retrojunction.com and it is a pink car photo prop. Click this link to go find it and order and stop worrying about your Halloween costume.

They have a gangster car version too. Click here.

Halloween Costumes Part 1

2010-10-13T15:38:00.000-07:00

This has been one of my past Halloween costumes, based on Hitchcock's The Birds. It is very simple. And you don't have to wear a green suit like Tippi Hedren for people to get it. I wore a black skirt suit and people still got it. I also used a q-tip and fake blood to make little peck marks on my face. Put your hair in a French twist.

These birds are from a company called Superior Studio Specialties and they sell all kinds of weird props and the other day I was at a Dollartree where they were also selling black birds. I kinda think they're also at craft stores. I got 5 or 6 birds for $30 from Superior Studio and I like these birds because they have wire attached to their feet so you can attach them to things like bracelets and pins to help attach them to your body. I attached one to a headband to get one to look like it was attacking my head. www.superiorstudio.com

And for a little added entertainment, this video cracks me up.

Makeup Chart circa 1939

2010-10-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a 1939 makeup chart for reference. Of course it is impossible to categorize the proper makeup for women so narrowly, but it is an interesting insight into how acceptable blue eyeshadow was! I am currently working on a makeup book that will offer more insight into application and colors. This chart offers different color opinions than other research I've done on the time period, but everything is an opinion isn't it.

Click on the image to see a larger view.

Makeup Tips from Milady Circa 1939

2010-10-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

Makeup

47. For what purposes is makeup applied?
The purpose of applying makeup to the face, neck, arms and hands is to improve the personal appearance, by emphasizing the good points of these body structures.

48. What is of prime importance in giving a makeup?
The first thing a cosmetician must consider is the purity of the product she is to use. Pure cosmetics are beneficial to the skin. They give it the necessary protection from the elements on the weather.

49. Explain in detail the application of rouge to the face.
Rouge is applied with small absorbent cotton pledgets which are discarded after a single using. The most popular forms of rouge are liquid and paste. The placing of the rouge as well as the amount used is controlled largely by the contour of the face. The rouge is applied to the center of the cheek and spread over the area which gives the most becoming appearance to the face.
By the clever use of high lights and shadows, the nose can be made to appear longer or shorter, the face broadened or narrowed, the eyes enlarged, and so on. A round or flat cheek, or a high or less prominent cheek bone, should each have its separate treatment.
The ideally proportioned face is equally divided lengthwise into three units, measured by the length of the nose from its beginning between the eyebrows to the lowest point at the end of the nose. The space between the inner corners of the eyes should be the width of an eye.
To achieve an illusion of this perfection, rouge and powder are skillfully blended.
If the face is broad, it can be narrowed by spreading the rouge toward the nose, and shading it back so that only the faintest flush covers the cheek bones. If the face is long and narrow, the rule is reversed, and the heaviest coloring kept well back on the cheek.
Powder is chosen to blend harmoniously with the shade of the skin. Complexions are classed as fair or olive, with due regard for sallow skins which are indicative of systematic disorders. Powder is applied with cotton, and blended carefully, not forgetting the throat and neck. Here, too, the illusion of decreased size can be given to a prominent nose by using very little powder.

50. Give several suggestions in applying lip rouge.
While lip rouge comes in both stick and paste form, for sanitary reasons the stick is not used in beauty shops. A very small quantity of the paste is taken with the blunt end of an orangewood stick, and applied to the center of the lips. There is no agent for the blending of lip rouge so effective as the cushion of the little finger. For this reason, it is usually applied by the patron herself. As with the other cosmetics mentioned, lip rouge lends itself admirably to the creation of pleasing illusions of perfection in features. To decrease the apparent size of the mouth, the rouge is used principally in the center of the lips. Excessive thickness or thinness of the lips can be corrected by rouging a narrow or deeper line.

Insights into early face powder

2010-09-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

From the Manual on Theory and Practice of Beauty Culture 1939:

Powders

11. For what purposes are face powders used?
Face powders are used to improve the appearance of the skin; they are also beneficial in soothing an irritated surface and in affording protection against the drying and roughening effects of the weather.

12. How do powders produce a cooling effect on the skin?
A layer of powder dusted lightly over the skin aids evaporation by increasing the area over which the perspiration is spread and thus produces a cooling feeling.

13. Name some ingredients used in making face powders.
Face powders are usually composed of some of the following harmless ingredients: talcum, starches (corn, rice and potato), orris root powder, bismuth salts, magnesium silicate or carbonate, French chalk, perfumes. Stearates, kaolin, etc., are used for their adhesive properties; zinc oxide is used to give weight and body.

14. How is the fine texture of face powder accomplished?
By sifting it through a bolting cloth, usually of silk, after it has been ground.

15. How are face powders made heavy and adhesive?
So called "cold cream" powders are mixed with oil to make them heavy and adhesive; a type of powder that should not be used on an oily skin.

16. What is the best weight of powder for a normal skin?
A medium weight powder made of the proper ingredients is the best for a normal skin. In the cheaper grades of powders, the starches used are likely to form a paste on the skin, and the cheap perfumes used for scent may irritate it.

17. For what purposes are toilet powders used?
Toilet powders are used after the bath and after shaving, and to relieve irritated surfaces.

18. What substances are commonly used for toilet powder bade, and which is best?
Toilet powders usually have a corn starch, talcum or rice powder base. Talcum is the most satisfactory base for a toilet powder as it is not absorbent and is not affected by moisture. The vegetable powders, such as rice and corn starch, are likely to decompose when applied to the skin after the bath.

19. How are liquid powders made?
They are made by combining a whitening substance with a liquid, which then applied to the skin, leaves a deposit resembling a white wash. All traces should be wiped away before retiring for the night.

20. How are compact powders made?
Mucilage or some similar substance is used to bind the ingredients together. the paste is dried in molds to fit the various compacts for which it is made.

Last Bride of the Season

2010-09-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

Wedding season is starting to wind down and the rest of the weddings I am working on for the next month or so are for other stylist friends in which I am not working on the bride, just the wedding party. So this is my last bride of the season and I am so glad to finish on that note because she chose one of my favorite type of styles, the long wavy curls like Rita Hayworth.

She didn't specifically ask to look like Hayworth. She just wanted her hair down with big curls around her face and her makeup heavier on the upper lid with only a little definition on the lower lid. She tried red lips and decided she felt too self-conscious since she never wears red normally. Pink has been a color for lips for many years, so it isn't incorrect historically.

Alissa's hair is just past her shoulders in length with not many layers and she has long bangs down to her nose. I rolled her hair in medium hot rollers with the top rollers on-base going forward at a 45 degree angle. The side rollers were actually turned on their side and rolled forward. The back is rolled to have a straight crown with the rollers low on the head like most of the flat crown hairstyles in the book.

After the rollers cooled, I just fingered through with some pomade to control fly-aways, form the top to go back and over. It took a few minutes to get the curls in the places I wanted. I wish you could just brush through and go on these styles, but it does take some finessing to get everything to lay where you want it. I sprayed with hairspray and put in a few bobby pins to hold the shape in a few spots.

Are you people mad?!

2010-09-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

We are wusses compared to women back in the day. We worry that ratting our hair too much with damage it, when these ladies were burning it to make it healthier! Looking through my old beauty school book I came across this treatment for the condition of trichoptilosis (split ends) with illustrations and all.

There are a lot of old techniques I highly recommend for getting a retro look, but please don't do this one. This has bad accident written all over it.

Clipping and Singeing

24. How is the condition of trichoptilosis or split ends treated?
Trichoptilosis or split ends is treated either by clipping or singeing, which removes the unsightly appearance of the split ends, and prevents further splitting.

28. When and why is hair singed?
The hair is singed preferably before a shampoo, because shampooing will remove the unpleasant odor of singed hair, and also the unsightly burned hair ends.

29. Briefly describe the method of singeing a hair bob.
Run the flame of the wax taper over the ends of the hair, held straight through the teeth of the comb.

30. Briefly describe the method of singeing long hair.
The hair is divided into sections about one inch square, each section is twisted tightly and ruffled, and held near the ends. The flame of the wax taper is then moved rapidly all along the hair strands, thereby singeing all protruding ends.

31. How often should the hair be clipped or singed?
The hair should be clipped or singed as often as there are split ends present.

I hope they didn't treat the condition of trichoptilosis after working with this shampoo. This description is given after the info about egg shampoo, but before the method for dissolving soap curds.

Gasoline Shampoo (Liquid Dry)

1. When is a gasoline shampoo recommended, and how is it given?
This is another shampoo which may be given to a patron whose health will not permit her to have a wet shampoo. Prepare the patron as for a plain shampoo. Gasoline, benzine, carbona, or some like agent, is usually used for the purpose. Slowly pour about a cupful over the patron's hair, being sure not to rub, brush, or give manipulations of any kind. Lift the hair carefully in sections, as you pour, so that the liquid will cover all parts of the head. Squeeze the excess moisture gently from the hair, then pat gently with a towel. Fanning will assist in drying. Do not use an electric or gas dryer. (Duh!) After the hair is dry, an oil or ointment may be rubbed into the hair to finish the shampoo.

Waving and Curling Theory Part 3

2010-09-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

Paper Curling

1. How is a paper curl given?
The hair is divided into small strands which are formed into flat ringlets held in place by means of a folded piece of paper. The curls are heated between the prongs of a pressing iron and when they are cool are then combed and brushed out and placed into wave resembling a soft marcel. The curls may also be set into hanging curls.

2. What factors are to be considered in giving a paper curl?
The texture of the hair, skill in winding the strands, care in slipping the hair from the curling stick, temperature of the pressing iron, and setting of the wave.

Round Curling

1. What is a round curl?
A round curl is a wave produced by twisting the hair tightly and evenly around a heated curling iron.

2. What kind of hairdress does round curling produce?
A round curl produces a fluffy hairdress and is flattering to women with thin faces and fine features. Round curling is also desirable for very fine hair as it tends to bring out the missing fullness.

Brush Curling

1. For what kind of hair is brush curling used?
Brush curling the permanent wave is often more satisfactory for very fine and thin hair than finger waving. This kind of wave will give a soft, fluffy effect and help cover partially bald spots on the head.

2. Briefly describe the brush curling process.
A brush curl may be briefly described as a curl made by tightly winding a wet strand of hair around the index finger in an overlapping curl, smoothly brushing with a stiff brush, securely pinning to the scalp with wire pins, and carefully drying with artificial heat. After the drying, the pins are removed, and the curls combed out and formed with the fingers and comb into waves. (This basically sounds like a wave created by a pin curl, but here they call it a brush curl.)

Kevin Murphy Goes Retro on Australian Runways

2010-09-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

From one of my favorite hair magazines, culture magazine, are some videos from backstage at the Melbourne Spring Fashion Week. The brand of hair care and its designers were the official hairstylists for the week in Australia and culture Mag TV online has brought us some great behind the scenes info into their creative process and techniques.

Yes, they are more modern takes on retro styles, but I highly suggest watching all of the videos completely through. Just when you think it isn't going to offer you anything you really need, a snip of video appears with great help or insight into getting a look.

Click here to go to the Culture Magazine Fashion Culture video page. Look for videos Day 1 MSFW, Day 2 MSFW, Day 3 MSFW, Day 4 MSFW, and MSFW culture Report. They appear in order of upload, so they should be up high on the list.

More theory and practice of beauty culture Part 2

2010-09-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

And now class, let's move on to the next installment of the Manual on Theory and Practice of Beauty Culture. My copy apparently belonged to a Doris Haworth who went to the E. Burnham School of Beauty Culture in Chicago. According to the writing inside the cover, Miss Haworth attended Dermatology on Monday, Trichology on Tuesday, and Cosmetic Electrotherapy on Wednesday. After that she must have gotten a composition notebook because there are no more hand written notes in the book.

Croquignole Marcel Waving

1. Is croquignole marcel waving a new process of waving?
Croquignole marcel waving is an old method now being revived, which is proving very advantageous for the beauty operator, as it can be done quite satisfactorily with very little practice.

2. Why is croquignole marcel waving so called?
Because the principle of winding the hair is somewhat like croquignole winding in permanent waving.

3. What temperature iron is used?
A medium warm iron.

4. What type of iron is preferred?
While it is possible to use an ordinary marcel iron, the new type iron, with a spring handle in the joint, produces much better results. A slight pressure relaxes the tension, thus permitting the hair to slide through the iron with ease.

5. In what way does the croquignole marcel differ from other marcel waves?
It is more soft and natural in appearance, since the hair falls just as it does when there is a natural wave.

6. Briefly give the directions in giving a croquignole marcel.
Starting at the part, take a square inch of the hair in the left hand and insert the iron in a slanting position, from 2 to 2 1/2 inches from the scalp. With the shell on top and the rod underneath, and always keeping the iron the same distance from the scalp, start to roll the iron toward you until the rod is on top and the shell is underneath. The left hand controls the hair, while the right one constantly flexes the iron, opening and closing it to allow the hair to slide around the iron. After the iron has made one complete turn, the left hand takes the strand of hair and turns it OVER the iron, holding the end of the strand toward you as in the first position. Then roll the iron toward the scalp, where it is held for a few seconds to allow the heat to penetrate. Continue over the entire head, and when completed, comb the hair and place the wave in the desired coiffure.

7. Can the croquignole marcel wave be given to long hair?
Yes, but the ends should not be wound.

1939 Manual on Theory and Practice of Beauty Culture Part 1

2010-08-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

Obviously, I enjoy collecting old beauty books and magazines. By reading different descriptions of techniques explained in different ways you can really start to get a feel for how techniques were done. Old beauty school books are especially great for this because the books assume the reader is learning from scratch and doesn't know anything going into it. They do lack images sometimes because of the high cost of printing images and the books assume that the instructors will show the students how to do everything, but at least the descriptions are clear.

I picked this little beauty from 1939 up last year and thought I would share some beauty school theory and practice. It is a Milady book which is still the largest publisher of beauty school text books in the country. This comes from the chapter on waving and curling.

Marcel Waving

1. What is a marcel wave?
A wave resembling a perfect natural wave, produced by means of a heated iron.

2. Who originated the marcel wave?
Francois Marcel, the French Hairdresser

3. What test is made before the iron is applied to the hair?
The iron may be tested for heat on a piece of white paper, although the experienced marcel waver can tell if the iron is of the right temperature by holding it close to her face.

4. Can the same temperature be used on all colors and all textures of hair? Explain.
No. Very fine hair can stand more heat than coarse hair. Blonde and white hair should be waved with a slightly warm iron so it will not be discolored by the heat.

5. What is meant by dropping a wave?
Dropping a wave means to discontinue it, instead of carrying the wave around the entire head. This is done when the hair is parted on the side and there are more waves on one side of the head than the other.

6. What type of comb should always be used when a hot iron or ray from a lamp comes in contact with the comb?
A comb made of hard rubber or some other non-inflammable substance should always be used.

7. Should dyed or bleached hair be marcel waved with a warm or hot iron?
Dyed or bleached hair is usually somewhat dry, and should be marcel waved with a warm iron only.

8. What causes “fish hook” on the end of the hair?
When the ends of the hair are being curled, if the extreme ends of the hair are not caught in the iron, they will be turned sharply backward when the hair is rolled up on the iron, thus giving a “hooked” effect.

9. Should hair be thoroughly combed when the marcel wave is complete?
The hair should be allowed to cool before it is combed.

10. How is a steam marcel given?
Shampoo the hair and rinse well, the dry. Marcel the entire head of hair in the usual manner, steam the head with with hot Turkish towels about ten minutes, then go over the impressions very carefully with a hot marcel iron. Spray the hair with brilliantine, and dress in the style desired.

Beauty school drop out...missed your midterms and flunked shampoo!

2010-08-23T17:52:00.000-07:00

I was visiting my sister a couple weeks ago in Austin (such a fun town) and one night we ended up in a little pop culture shop on 6th. They had t-shirts, stickers, patches, and such all over the walls and in cases, but what caught my eye were the Barbies. Yes Barbies! The company does a lot of limited edition dolls and they had ones just right for me in this little store.

They also weren't cheap. So I settled on one, the Debbie Harrie Ladies of the 80's doll, and thought I would just get the others later. And boy was I glad I did! When I went online later to see if I could find the other doll I liked, I found her and on clearance for $10. Jackpot!

There are 2 different dolls. Each are on the Barbie website right now for $10. What a steal for the retro hairdresser or the Grease fan. There are other Grease characters, including Rizzo and Sandy and Cha Cha, but they are not all available on the webiste right now. Some sold out, but are still available through a google search. Click the images to go.

Grease Frenchy Barbie Doll

Grease Frenchy Barbie Doll (Dance off)

And if you are looking for something else after you have collected all the Grease dolls, Hard Rock has it's own limited edition Rockabilly Barbie Doll with sleeve and all! I think they could have done a little better job on her hairstyle, but hey. They didn't ask me. Click the image to go to Hard Rock's website.

The (beautiful) Women

2010-08-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

I never saw the 2008 version...probably won't ever, but I ADORE the 1939 original version of The Women. There is not one man in the movie. Go Girls!

I also love the hair of the movie and am going to do one of my favorite easy styles from the movie for all of you lovely ladies (and lovely gentlemen if you are reading). This hairstyle is worn by Paulette Goddard for the character of Miriam Aarons. I give her credit for being one of the strongest, most balanced women in the movie and she had great hair.

This also makes a fabulous hat hairstyle. There is so much flat crown area that you can wear many different hats with it.

After taking a closer look, I think there was more of a rectangle shaping up top than a triangle, but this works too. Wet the hair and prep with your favorite stylers. Section out the top of the hair.

I pin curled using forward clockwise pin curls. The back curls are pulled more forward and pinned slightly off base since we want he top of the hair to be smooth.

You can use pin curls here also, but I opted to save some time with magnetic rollers. No these rollers do not have magnets in them, but if you are using a set lotion or gel, the hair end should "stick" well to the roller for a clean end with no fishhooks.

After the hair is dry, remove the rollers and brush the hair directly down. And keep brushing. We are trying to control it and smooth it, not make fluff. Use pomade to help control.

TIP: Your hair may have a little trouble relaxing sometimes when you are trying to brush out a dried wet set. While I was brushing the lower part of this style out using pomade on my hands to smooth and control, it was a little too buoyant and wasn't relaxing enough on the ends. So the doll head went under the hooded hair dryer for 5 minutes. This warms the pomade and relaxes the curl just a little. When I brushed the curls downward after they fell into place beautifully.

Next, remove the clips and brush out the pin curls forward toward the face.

We are trying to get all these curls into one big curl. Roll the ends under tightly toward the scalp and pin the faux bang in place throug the hole in the side.

I pulled the curl end out just a little to get the look of the roll in the image up top. Think Greek pillar. Art Deco architecture was influenced some by ancient Greece and some styles of the time were reminiscent of that type of architecture.

Another note about Goddard's hair. She had shorter bangs than this mannequin. Judging by this variation in her hair later in the movie, her bangs were about down to her eyebrows. So this is a great style if you are in the middle of growing out your bangs. Or you could try this waved variation if you have this length to work with.

Where do you get your digs? Comments please!

2010-08-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

(Image- storefront of B-Squad vintage in Minneapolis, MN)

Here in Denver, our shopping is starting to dwindle. My friend Chanda, who sees shopping for vintage as her personal crusade, just informed me that Buffalo Exchange is suppose to be fazing out vintage clothing on their racks. That will take our Denver vintage shopping down even more after the closing of American Vogue and a couple other shops in town.

After a conversation with the dear former owner of AV who still bartends at our local spot Skylark, I am starting to understand more why this is happening. The internet has opened up the vintage possibilities so much, that, as shoppers, our eyes are starting to wander away from home. I think the internet is great and it has helped me find special items that I never would have locally, but it also saddened me a little that our small local shops are suffering this fate. I know plenty of vintage clothing dealers that are embracing selling both in their brick and morter and online and are quite successful at it.

But I am also very into encouraging people to shop at their local stores. Shopping in your home area from your local owned business keeps the money in the community, puts your sales tax back into local programs, and you may make some friends with the same love for vintage fashion! I have a few friends that I met by shopping and participating in local store events.

So I'm asking everyone to comment here about where you shop locally. If it's a favorite store or a booth at the local antique mall selling vintage, tell everyone about it! Please include the city/state/country.

I'll start it off. Here in Denver I like to shop at Boss Unlimited on Broadway, 3 or 4 booths at The Brass Armadillo antiques off I-70, the Rockmount Ranch Wear corporate store on Blake for the BEST in Western shirts, the local DAVs (Disable American Veterans) thrift stores, sometimes fruitlessly, and for repop I love PJs Boutique on south Pearl for a lovely assortment of Stop Staring dresses.

Now you go!

I am being dragged...

2010-08-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

into the new millenium more so than I am entering it. I will slowly learn about all these fancy new gadgets that are suppose to be making my online life so easy. Thanks to a reader named Susan, who wanted to link to certain blog postings through other networking sites, I have now added something new. You will now all see at the bottom of each blog entry a button that gives you many options of sharing the info with others through facebook, twitter, and even a print command if you want to take a step-by-step hairstyle entry to the vanity.

Ding Dong Avon Calling

2010-08-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

Avon is an American classic. When I came home from work one day, I was happy to see things haven't changed in 60 years. An Avon catalogue in a little transparent bag was hanging on the door. It was hand delivered from my neighborhood Avon lady. No mail, no email sales pitch, just a neighborhood lady making her Avon house call.

It was perfect timing actually. I was just having a conversation with my mom who wanted some advice on eyeliner. Her eyes water a little, she has a tendency to rub her eyes, and by the end of the day her eyeliner is gone. Not just a day or so later, the catalogue showed up at the door.

I am the kind of girl that has to look at every catalogue I get. Even when it is addressed to someone else, selling something I never use, I HAVE to look through the whole thing. It wasn't such a stretch to look through the Avon catalogue for me, but being burned enough times buying makeup before I have actually had a tactile experience with it, I am hesitant. Avon's prices though are so reasonable I thought it would be small wash if it didn't work out.

I decided to go ahead and order their Glimmersticks waterproof eyeliner. A waterproof eyeliner might just be what the makeup artist ordered for mom's eyeliner issue. I've given it a test drive on a few makeup jobs and it definitely has staying power.

Depending on what effect you are going for or what style of makeup you wear this can be great for a long wear liner. It is one of those twist liners that you do not put in a pencil sharpener. Just twist and it grows out of the case. So if you like that really sharp point in your eyeliner you need to alter your technique of applying a little.

It stays on. I mean really on. I put some on my eyes and rubbed them after a couple of minutes and it didn't budge. I've used it on a couple brides in combination with a regular eyeliner since I do so much smudging and blending and need a regular eyeliner that moves a little for that.

If you are looking for a long wear liner, this one is a great buy at only a few dollars. Just ask around work or your neighborhood to find you local Avon lady and you will be helping a local small business woman too.

Rita Up-Do

2010-08-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have talked about Rita. We all know her best for her fabulous cascade of curls, but she has worn many fabulous hairstyles. Here is one of my favorites. It is a combination of a front roll fake bang and a pile of curls on top of the head.

Ebay Sightings

2010-08-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

Ebay has changed so much. Remember the good ol' days when you typed in an ebay search and you got a list of things that you could bid against other interested bidders on? Well, now you get a long list of items to bid on AND buy it now items that have been available for months.

I didn't take the energy to go through and weed out ending soon vs. buy it now vs. available until April items, so it is up to you lovely ladies to make sure you get it while it's hot. Good Luck!!!

Click the images to go.

Mod Lighted Makeup Case

Vintage 50's/60's Halliburton Aluminum Cosmetic Case - It's like an Airstream in makeup case form

Mother of Pearl Pygmalian grand Piano England compact

Pink Poodle Glamour Lift hair pick

Silver Plated "Hair Tidy" Jar - Technically a hair receiver, but thought it would make a fabulous hair pin holder.

I'm Scared - 1928 Vintage Frederics Hair/Scalp Treatment Vaporizer

Bakelite Penguin Comb

Milk Glass Vanity Set - This is the perfect set for anyone with a French style bedroom or vanity. Containers for your powder, q-tips, cotton balls, and even a hair receiver. You may be bidding against me on this one.

Pin Curler - I have another brand version of this and it is a great way to make some fast pin curls.

Scoldy Lox Vintage Hairpins Set

Vintage Birmingham Silver Guilloche Enamel Brush Set - This is a stunning high end set. It would look beautiful on any vanity.

Vogue Hair Roller - Image this upside down used to roll your lower hair over. Cover the elastic band with some top curls. Voila!

Vintage Cutex Nail White Pencil - Notice that this thing doesn't use a pencil sharpener like we are use to. The cap has a shaver on the end for cutting into to sharpen the pencil.

Latest Retro Bride

2010-08-01T12:27:00.000-07:00

I wanted to show everyone how the curl from my previous post can work in a retro hairstyle. This is a combination of a pin curl set and the twirly curling iron curl that I used on the lovely Joleen last weekend for her wedding in Breckenridge.

This first image is of the pin curl set we did on the practice day. I am not showing the rest of the hair on that day because we went a different direction on the wedding day, but I'll get into that later. In the pin curl set for the top of the head to create a skip wave the set starts at the part with reverse counterclockwise pin curls. The next row is the exact opposite with forward clockwise pin curls.

(Shameless plug for book inserted here.) For more detailed information on setting pin curls and direction see Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques.

When this set was brushed out on the practice day, the hair starts by moving away from the forehead and then waves into the forehead on the side. The bride decided after seeing this on herself that she wanted the hair to swoop more down on her forehead above.

To make this change, I reversed the pin curl setting. The first row is switched on the wedding day to forward clockwise pin curls and the second row is switched to reverse counterclockwise pin curls. For the experts who are looking at this picture and can tell, this image is not of the set I just described. It is the original set from the practice day, but I did not get a picture on the wedding day and am making due by changing the arrow direction.

On the opposite side of the part I set one small row of forward counterclockwise pin curls.
The final effect is this beautiful 1930s wave of blond hair. The only part of the bride's hair that was pin curled was the top section. The rest was the twirl with the curling iron. All the waves you see in the back are from this curling iron technique. The longer sections on the side were also the curling iron. All the curls were made the same size, curled the same direction, exactly the same, carbon copies of themselves.

For your viewing pleasure :)

2010-07-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

Blog Awards

2010-07-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

We give each other kudos on our own blogs and send our readers around, but Cosmo UK has an opportunity for you to get some outside recognition for all of your hard work you do blogging about the things you love. I know it may be a little more difficult for our retro blogs to stand up against blogs following the latest Milan fashion, but we need to get some of our blogs mentioned in this.

Click the link if you would like to nominate Bobby Pin Blog or any other favorites. You will also find the html code there to include this link in your own blog and encourage others to nominate you.

Retro waves falling in your face

2010-07-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

In my post about a bride a couple weeks ago, I promised I would show you the technique I used on her hair. This is a really popular hair curling technique right now as you can see from the image above and all over the internet. Many hair stylists are using it for anything from beachy waves to a fingerwave feel. Most Youtube videos show this process starting at the root and working your way down. Here is my curl version for a retro sexy wave.

Here is my hair start. The great thing about this curl is that it can be used on many hair lengths with many curling iron sizes. On shorter hair it feels Carol Lombard 1930s and on longer hair it feels very Veronica Lake 1940s.

I separate out a one inch section up front because I am using a 1 inch curling iron. The base shape should equal the size of the barrel.

The first section is 1x1 inch square.

You have seen this curling iron curl before on YouTube probably, but I do it a little different than the videos I have seen. The main reason is that this way curls the ends instead of leaving the ends out of the curling iron leaving them straight and lifeless looking. I do not condone this process be used often. It is not good for the most fragile damaged part of your hair, the ends, to be left in the curling iron for so long compared to the shaft. And please, please use a thermal protect spray, especially on the ends.

Forgive the video a little. I was trying to hold the camera and do the curl at the same time. I couldn't find my tripod. Normally I would help guide the curl using 2 hands.

And please, please be careful!!!

Work your way up in sections.

Brush and voila!

You can use it with any size curling iron you like. The smaller it gets the more controled you have to be with your combing to get the waves to fall together nicely.

Hair Videos Galore

2010-07-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

Culture magazine, a high end hair magazine out of Australia, has a website with an education section crammed with hairstyle how-to's. Most of the videos involve cutting, but there are some great styling ones also. http://www.culturemag.com.au

I'd like to point you all to the one titled "Evo-Chicismo". It is created along with other bizarre videos of avant garde hairstyles that are more editorial than everyday hairstyles. This one though is a great illustration of what can be interpreted as a 1940s hairstyle. Imagine it not pulled quite as tight when the twisting is done. Another option to imagine is as the hair is worked around the back, direct the hair gradually down the back of the scalp so you get a roll that stays closer to the hairline like a halo. Either way, I think it looks great.

Click the image to go to their education section. And stick around to look at everything else they have to offer. I am personally waiting for the Sharon Blain DVD I ordered to arrive. She is a hair goddess in Australia and my personal hero. I learned about her on the Culture website. You can get her to travel to do classes in the US for a pretty penny, so I am starting a "Bring Blain to the US" campaign.

I had to show you this. I've always loved this ensemble.

2010-07-08T08:55:00.000-07:00

I am feeling a bit silly today and had an idea of a way to embarrass the heck out of my boyfriend's teen daughters at the public swimming pool.

I have a 1960s black swimsuit that I bought from Detroit's V-Male when I was at Viva Las Vegas and a black scarf I got from a thrift store years ago. I don't know how much cooperation I will get from Midnight, but it is worth a try.

Help Wanted - Denver Area Intern/Assistant

2010-07-06T09:29:00.001-07:00

I need help. The office work is piling up and I have so much more I want to do. So I am looking for someone in the Denver area for a part-time paid intern/assistant position.

One important qualification is computer literacy with programs like Word and Excel and surfing the net quickly and effectively. It is also important that this special someone be personable and can make cold calls and has a car for running errands of which I will reimburse mileage. You do not need to be a hair/makeup stylist, but there will be opportunities for learning that aspect if that is what you are looking for.

The position will involve-
General office work
Fulfilling book orders
Sales which will include commission
Assisting in the day-to-day organization of both the photo-styling business and book publishing
And other odd jobs

Pay is $10 per hour, plus incentives such as commission on sales and the opportunity to learn. I'm starting work on a new book of which you will get to be involved. If any readers in the Denver area are interested, please send me an email to info@vintagehairstyling.com with your resume.

Thanks!

Kitchen Beauty Advice

2010-06-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

I can't remember where I found this picture, but can't you just here the instrumental music and the guy with the perfect radio announcer voice saying, "Even when she's busy preparing fresh morning coffee for her husband, Marguerite Chapman makes sure her lipstick looks fresh too."

Cosmetic Ingredients

2010-06-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

Cybele Says must have been on the same wave length and so I thought I should pass on this website called Skin Deep: Cosmetics Safety Database. Find out information about the ingredients in your favorite beauty product and their safety level. Click to go her blog or to the database.

Some thoughts on mascara

2010-06-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

I switch the mascara in my kit pretty regularly. Mostly because I go through it more than any other product, so every month or 2 I need to get more and use it as opportunity to try new products. My last purchase was Revlon Fabulash Waterproof mascara and I am actually throwing it away.

Last week I was working with a crew that came into town from QVC and used this mascara on the host and her guest. I was not happy with it. It went on beautiful, but it flaked easily off the lashes falling down on the upper shelf of the cheek and over time it smudged under their eyes and I had to clean it up...not good staying power.

I am replacing it with the tried and true Maybelline Greatlash for the time being. I have a couple brides next month that I don't need to take any chances on. When I run out of that I will try another new product.

But something to think about. I use Greatlash as a one timer application on jobs. At home on myself on a daily basis, I actually use Aveda Mosscara. A makeup artist I studied under was very opinionated about mascara choice. It is, afterall, the one item we use on a daily basis, even more often than foundation. It is the one thing I don't leave the house without putting on.
So think about what is in your mascara that you are putting on your lashes. There isn't any scientific proof I can quote here, but many companies use some pretty scarey chemicals in them as preservatives to keep them from growing bacteria quickly and such. My earlier makeup teacher feels that those chemicals could easily be linked to the thinning of lashes women often experience over time and into old age.

I don't know if that's true, but it scared me enough into looking into more natural mascaras. I've tried Arbonne mascaras and like them a lot. I tried Physicians Formula Organic mascara and didn't love its performance, but it is a great natural version for the price point. And like I said, now I am using Aveda Mosscara and am happy with it.

Runway of 2010, or is it 1961, or is it 1946?

2010-06-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

Runway shows...if you have been backstage at one of these doing hair or makeup or dressing models or modeling, then you know that it isn't as glamorous as Sex and the City will have you think. It is chaotic and fast and when it is over you wonder what the heck just happened.

I especially give props to the hair and makeup artists who work back there. You are thrown in a closet sized space with bad lighting and a whole slew of people that all have an opinion on whether or not you are doing your job right.

To top it off, you are given a "look" you are to follow so that the models are cohesive and go with the theme the designer or director has envisioned, but you are suppose to be doing a Brigitte Bardot look and a model with punk rock asymmetric half shaved off jet black hair just sat in your chair. Uh-Oh

Yes, runways pose an interesting challenge.

That was just the opener for a little breakdown of some stuff I love from the runways for fashion of 2010. Of course the looks are right up the alley of this blog. One thing I really enjoy about retro looks in modern fashion is the way the stylists take a specific inspiration and put their own mark on it that makes it modern. After all, it is 2010 and making your outward expression of self unique to you is one of the greatest freedoms we have, like asymmetric half shaved jet black hair.

Prada's Fall 2010 collection was oozing with late 50s, early 60s lines and silhouettes and the hair was bouffant. I bet those hairstylists were happy backstage. Throw in some bumpits and call it a day. I just hope none of those outfits had to go over their heads.

Dior was the most inspired by the past for many of the clothing lines. Spring 2010 is very film noir with Lauren Bacall as the main muse for hairstylist Orlando Pita's vision for the show. I have had requests for info on this look before and wrote about it, link Lauren Bacall hair. This here is a great example of a modern version of Bacall's vintage locks.

I was really excited to see this picture online. This really is the reason I wrote the book. So rarely does anyone provide good detailed images of what stylists are doing. How many times have you seen an image in a magazine and a sad one paragraph description of how the stylist got the end result, but it is so vague that you have the worst luck trying to recreate it. Style.com has a great breakdown of what the hair and makeup people did for this show, click here to go.

Many of the rest of the models in the show had longer hair that made them reminiscent of Veronica Lake. Similar hairstyles can look very different on two different hair lengths/textures/colors. Notice that this models hair lays more on her forehead compared to the brunette above whose hair has been styled to flow away from her forehead before it waves down. Some good strong pomade can help get it away from the hairline like that.

Last, but not least by any means, is more Dior. The Resort 2011 collection looks like lovely Brigitte blew a bumble gum bubble that exploded all over the French Riviera. You would think that this is a modern take on her style, but it really isn't. She did not make her hair a silky smooth rolling of curly waves. She teased it. She ratted it. She inspired it.

I also had to include this one because I think this model looks amazing. She has the most real hips I have seen on a runway model in ages. Thank you Galliano!!!

1930s Wedding Hairstyle in Modern Times

2010-06-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

Practice, Practice, Practice...How many times have we heard that saying? It is so true though. It is unrealistic to expect that we can get everything right the first time we try it. I do a practice run with most brides that hire me for wedding hair and makeup and I always recommend it because of situations like this.

Jennifer is already married. She eloped last year and for their first anniversary they had a wedding reception for all their family and friends. They were having the party at the Curtis Hotel in downtown, which has been redone to be kitschy retro in a very 50s/60s, colorful, mid-mod way. The bridal suite where we did everything has Elvis, the Beatles, and other 50s/60s imagery on the walls. It is a fun hotel to check out.

The bride wanted her look to be more hollywood glamour. Her short red bob style hair leaves a little less in options. She wasn't sure what she wanted for a hair style. She had some inspiration images that included a woman from a 1950s vogue and an image of Fergie with a 1930s look.

So we played around on the first trial run. I tried this one with hot rollers, which gave it more volume and curly curl. After she lived with the hairstyle for the day, she decided, and I agreed, that it made her jawline look harsh. It also made her look too old-fashioned compared to what I think she wanted.

She came back for a second practice. We sort of half-a#%ed it because I just wanted to figure out the ground work of the look so we would be on the same page on the wedding day. I worked with the natural wave of her hair and a little touch up with a small curling iron for a more fingerwave hairstyle. She was happy with the silhouette and I liked it too. I did want to lighten it up a bit though. The perfect wave is really cute, but it is Spring and she was already going with a lot glamour with her dress and accessories.

This was the final wedding day and I love the look. I used a curling iron on her entire head using a twisting technique that is very popular right now. I roll it a little different than the videos on YouTube and will soon post the technique here so you can see out it looks. On YouTube, the demos show using your fingers to twist and wrap the hair section around the barrel. I don't use my fingers. Instead I clamp the curling iron on the ends of the hair and twist and roll the curling iron and hair together towards the scalp. Not the best things to do to your hair on a regular basis, but it looks great and shouldn't do too much damage if you only do it for special occasions.

That's Quite a Bumpit

2010-06-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

Jean Shrimpton
Hair by Alexandre

I don't think I did this quite right...

2010-06-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

...but it wasn't bad for a first attempt.

I was hired to do hair and makeup for a romance novel cover in a style like a Gibson Girl. I, of course, was very excited to help create an image of a swooning woman half dressed with a Fabio character holding her in his arms. I was only slightly disappointed to learn when I got there that it was a teen romance book and there would be no swooning and no Fabio. There would be nothing deemed inappropriate for a 12 year old girl.

Oh Well...

So I am happy with the results and the client loved it, so that is what matters most. I still look at it and think it isn't poofy enough on the sides to be a Gibson Girl. Keeping her from looking frumpy was on my list of priorities. That is one reason I kept fighting the side poofs.

The basic style was created by rolling her in hot rollers. I then parted off the front section of hair. The back was taken up and twisted into a messy, wavy bun. Then I teased the front for some height and brought the front pieces loosely back and attached them to the bun.

Product Review - Layrite Pomades and Grooming Spray

2010-05-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

Here is my next product review installment. These products come from Hawleywoods and the product line is called Layrite, one of the first new products formulated to get the old look. The Hawleywoods website does a great job in providing information and a map for the closest product carrier in your area or you can order online. Layrite's products are formulated to work together for the best results.

The first step is Layrite Grooming Spray. Buy your own bottle or steal it from your boyfriend because it is awesome. Their grooming spray is a wet styling spray, much the same way we use styling creme or setting lotion before we dry our hair. Spray a descent amount of it in towel dried hair and dry hair as you normally would.

I like it for men or women. The scent is clean and only slightly masculine, but once you apply your pomade or spray in your hairspray and put on your Haydria perfume, no one will be the wiser. Haydria has now moved to Etsy by the way. It gives a tremendous amount of volume and shine and after you are done spraying and rubbing it through your hair it miraculously leaves no sticky residue on your hands. I tried it on one of my mannequins for a blow-out and I don't think Miss Suzie-Kin has ever had such a voluminous hairstyle which is a great start for a full pompadour.

One more great use I found for us girls...heat styling. Just playing around to see what it could do, I found that it is great with hot rollers, hot sticks, and curling irons. With hot rollers it offered a tremendous amount of body and shine and hold to a hot roller set I did on one of my mannequin heads. To test it more, I did one of the hot rollers without any spray. That curl was lifeless and limp compared to the rollers I did with the spray. This is getting added to my permanent kit.

Getting on to their pomades, there are 2 strengths, their original pomade and super hold pomade. The original pomade is lighter in weight, but it still has a definite purpose. These pomade products are more for styling pompadours, D.A.'s, and greasing back men's styles. They are okay for a wet set or strong hold curl, but are a little heavy for a simple anti-frizz application because they are formulated to tame curls, not boost them. If you have a wet set that you just can't tame and it is way to big and curly, this is a really good one for bringing your hair back into reality. If you have a delicate curl from heat styling or your curl limps easily, this may be too much for your hair to handle.

You apply an ample amount for a men's style, which is determined by the hair you are working on and the texture and hold you need. It is best to start small, like a half a tablespoon and work your way up, rubbing it in your hands to get it more pliable, although it is already pretty pliable out of the jar.

The original is great for fine men's hair and shorter medium thickness men's hairstyles. It holds well.

Their super hold pomade isn't messing around. If your beau has thick hair or a very high style, this pomade will hold it.

You can see a slight difference in the color, but it doesn't do the difference justice. It is much stronger in hold than the original. If the hair is thick, it holds. If the hair is fine, it may be a little too much unless you are going for something psychobilly. It will do a good job if you want something really high.

What is amazing is how clear they both are and they both look like gel, but they don't leave that really sticky gel film that is down right painful to the person you are trying to apply it to. They don't dry, so you can just keep on combing until it reaches the form you want.

Event up-do

2010-05-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

I did hair for a girl last weekend for a fund raiser she was going to that had a 1940s theme. She wanted an up-do and she had a lot of hair that went down to the middle of her back and so there was a lot of styling to hide volume.

We did it starting with a curling iron because her hair was so thick and heavy, it did not take well to hot rollers.

I started with the back, trying various option for getting hair up without using something normal like a french twist. I wanted to do something ornate so she felt like she was getting what she was paying for. Although, the French twist would have been nice with this style. So the first step was a high ponytail of the hair on the back of her head, leaving the front section of her hair out for later. I split the ponytail into 4 sections and pulled the sections into these dry pin curls. They looked really good with her highlights.

The front section is 3 victory rolls. 2 equal sized rolls on either side to create balance and then in the center I created one more roll and a series of dry pin curls to mimic the curls on the back.

The silhouette of the style balances really nice with her jaw line and very cute, but small forehead.