At a recent trip to the dermatologist, I asked if there was any treatment that could lighten the freckles I have dotting my face. Many of my formerly cute, small freckles are quickly becoming larger, unattractive splotches (a.k.a. "age spots") so I thought it would be better to nip them in the bud. (Of course, I could just buy a bejeweled elephant brooch to distract from them.) The experience jarred my memory of Lancôme releasing a "freckle pencil" many years ago that would allow one to paint one's face with as many specks as they wished. With that, I thought I'd look into the history of freckles from a beauty standpoint, starting in the 20th century, with an emphasis on the rise of creating faux freckles with makeup. I found that, much like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, they've been going in and out of style (but they're guaranteed to raise a smile).
From the late 19th through the early 20th century, freckles were seen as unsightly blemishes that needed to be banished from the complexion, as demonstrated by this Pond's Vanishing Cream ad from1910.
Stillman's continued selling their freckle cream throughout the 20th century and, oddly enough, the company exists today (although they mostly sell an alternative lightening cream to the Middle Eastern market). Here's an ad from 1956 and a picture of their contemporary freckle cream.
I can't explain exactly how or why a shift occurred in the perception of freckles, but somewhere in the mid to late 20th century they became acceptable and even desirable (see this article for possible reasons). Perhaps the rise of the tan's popularity was a factor – as early as the 1950s, tans correlated to health and a life of leisure, and a byproduct of spending quality time in the sun is the production of freckles. By the '90s, freckles were also linked to a more youthful appearance, an association that continues over 20 years later.
It seems that Chanel was the first company to market a product designed to create faux freckles. Released in 1995, Le Crayon Rousseur was "part of Chanel's effort to gain a high-fashion profile," according to Chanel's then market development manager Timothy Walcot, who added that "the `little girl' look is quite in. This is intended as a bit of fun." The instructions that came with the pencil recommended that it be used to "emphasize a light tan" as well.
Indeed, freckles quickly became a symbol of a carefree summer spent lounging under the sun's rays, as this Lancôme ad from 1995 can attest.
Lancôme followed in Chanel's footsteps 8 years later by releasing a Freckle Crayon as part of their summer 2003 collection. The mind behind the pencil, then artistic director Ross Burton, declared that "freckles are a symbol of freedom". Instead of trying to hide their spots with several inches of caked-on foundation, women were encouraged to "free" themselves from makeup and embrace their natural skin. And, of course, they were again associated with a summer vacation: "The natural, sun-kissed look is set to be big for spring/summer,'' stated a Lancome beauty counter rep. The company wasn't necessarily trailblazing – freckles had been "in" at least since 2001, when celebrities like Lucy Liu and top models Maggie Rizer and Devon Aoki proudly displayed their spots.
The trend grew by 2012, where faux freckles dotted the faces of models at the spring shows for Jeremy Scott, Dsquared, Emmanuel Ungaro, D&G, and Donna Karan.
By 2013, freckles had firmly established their role as an anti-aging strategy. "According to makeup pro Ruth Crilly, the easiest way to keep your youthful visage is to fake a few freckles," states an article at Refinery29. Adds Pixiwoo.com makeup artist Sam Chapman, "There’s something youthful and fresh about freckles." The spring 2013 shows further cemented the trend, with freckles proving especially popular at London Fashion Week (where, notably, Tilbury referred to the MAC pencil she uses to create the freckles as a "youth stick".)
Antonio Berardi (the makeup was done by Gucci Westman, who also allegedly painted on fake freckles for both Rag & Bone's spring 2012 and 2013 shows – however, the models' complexions looked totally clear in the pictures I found.)
However, the addition of faux freckles isn't solely to give a youthful touch. At many shows, fake spots served an additional purpose: giving the overall look a retro twist. Tilbury cited the styles of Anita Pallenberg and Charlotte Rampling for the slightly '70s look she created at Chloe's fall 2011 show. For the 2012 D&G show, Pat McGrath said her inspiration came from a '60s style icon: "The look is all about the girls looking beautiful. We were looking at photos of Talitha Getty…the way she looks with the beautiful eyebrows and the freckles and fabulous eyes and we've done a very modern, fresh version of that." And MAC makeup artist Andrew Gallimore created a “cool California L.A. 50’s girl with a toasted tan, summer freckles, and a sunblock-neon lip” for Holly Fulton's spring 2013 show.
Meanwhile, Westman referred to several '90s types for her work at various spring 2013 shows. For Antonio Berardi, she says, "The Antonio Berardi girl is sporty, very clean and fresh…a girl reminiscent of a 90s Helmut Lang girl…we used Brown ColorStay Eyeliner to add freckles which gave the girls a youthful look." For Rag and Bone, she was inspired by "the iconic supermodels of the 90’s and the great structure of their brows." She adds, "I kept the makeup very pure, adding just a touch of natural flush to the lips by mixing two lip products together, and I used a brow pencil to create subtle freckles and a dramatic brow to top the whole look off.” Finally, for Lisa Perry, Westman went further back in time to the '60s: – "I focused on the eyes and went for something retro…I kept the skin simple and natural and created subtle freckles on the nose with a nude pencil."
Despite the popularity of freckles on the runway, there has been some ambivalence in the beauty community as to whether it translates to the real world. While in May 2013 Refinery29 was touting freckles' seemingly miraculous anti-aging properties, just a year and a half prior they were asking their readers whether they'd embrace the trend. The Gloss asked whether it was even appropriate to try to poach something that occurs naturally in many peoples' skin. Says the author, "This trend reminds me of my redheaded high school friend who despised bottle redheads, or my glasses-wearing friend’s rancor towards people who wore prescription-less glasses." As of spring 2013, The Gloss is definitively in the no-fake-freckle camp.
Additionally, the fact that makeup companies have not recently seized the opportunity to cash in and re-introduce freckle pencils might point to a dislike of, or perhaps disinterest in, the fake freckle trend. The lack of freckle pencils on the market could also be in part the result of Tilbury's and Westman's divulgence of the exact products they use to create a speckled effect, which already exist – it would be difficult to convince people to buy a new, specialized product when they can already buy something that would give the same look. Similarly, there's a wealth of tutorials on how to draw fake freckles using a variety of products, from eyebrow pencils to self-tanner painted on with a tiny brush.
My final thoughts: Personally, I'm indifferent to natural freckles. Some people have them, some don't, and I don't think people are more or less attractive because of them. I never really noticed mine, even, until Lancôme came out with that pencil! Now that they're getting bigger and starting to take over my face due to ever-advancing age, I'm more aware of them, but overall they're just another part of one's face. My indifference to real freckles means that I do find it strange that people would want to fake them, as I don't see them as a beauty trend one way or the other. They just…exist. Still, the makeup junkie in me can understand fake freckles – theoretically, it's not really much different than partaking in other makeup application. Why does anyone wear blue eyeshadow or paint their nails?
What do you think of both naturally-occuring freckles and the drawn-on ones seen on the runways? And what do you think caused the shift in the past 100 years from their perception as ugly blemishes to indicators of youth? Have you ever or would you paint on some fake specks?
Ah, The Balm. I've posted about this line and their unique brand of fun retro packaging a few timesbefore. While some other brands (Benefit, Too-Faced) have created and continue to come up with designs reminiscent of decades past, The Balm is the most consistent. Their latest offering is Instain, six long-wearing powder blushes packaged in cases illustrated with a very posh, sophisticated woman clad in vintage-style clothing and accessories. The overall look suggests a magazine cover. And while I'm no fashion historian, to my eye the clothes/hats look like they span anywhere from the 1920s through the 60s.
I was really impressed with the design since it seemed to be well thought-out. Not only does a different woman appear on each, but there is a different clothing pattern (lace, toile, pinstripe, etc.). I'm not really sure I get the fall/spring designations, since houndstooth and argyle scream fall to me while Swiss dots seem rather springy, but I appreciate that they're all exclusive patterns. The text changes ever so slightly as well – "Keep your color around the clock", "Color that won't quit," etc. While each one is a little different, at the individual level the palettes still have a cohesive look due to the blush color matching the band at the top of the case.
As I looked at these I was reminded of Stila's Front Cover Lookbooks from way back in 2007. I don't think I ever posted about these (gasp!) so here's a quick peek. (Click to enlarge. These did come with tubes of lip glosses but I have no idea what happened to them! Curating FAIL.)
Like The Balm palettes, these resemble magazine covers (albeit contemporary ones) and each one has different text as well. In Stila's case the text highlights the name of a color contained within the palette. For example, Front Cover Lookbook No. 1 says "Feel confident & grace-ful" and includes one of Stila's best-selling eye shadows named Grace.
So while the same basic design idea has been done before, The Balm, somewhat ironically I'd say, manages to update it by using their signature retro twist.
Are you digging the Instain blushes? And what do you think of Stila's previous iteration of the magazine cover idea?
How cool is this? A man in Torrance, California was helping a friend go through some old boxes in her garage, when he came across a virtual treasure trove of Max Factor memorabilia, including photos, corporate documents and even some makeup! The friend's father was a facilities manager at Max Factor Studios and
when these items were abandoned in company storage, he decided to store
them himself rather than throwing them out. Good for him.
One of the men in the videos, Stephen Woo, was the one who brought this to my attention. He also asked if I'd be interested in buying any of the items! Naturally I said yes, but I have not heard back. :(
See anything in the vid you'd like to get your hands on? I know I did – face powder and lipsticks!
I'm celebrating spring today with an explosion of vintage florals. Truth be told, I'm pretty tired and can't think of anything coherent to say about these ads…I picked out my favorites from the hundreds I came across, and I'm hoping you'll just scroll through and enjoy. 🙂
We'll start with bouquets of multiple types of flowers.
Which ones do you like? And did your favorite flower make an appearance in any of these? Sadly sunflowers were nowhere to be found, but I got a kick out of these anyway.
Compacts and Cosmetics: Beauty from Victorian Times to the Present Day by Madeleine Marsh provides a brief history of both the U.K. and U.S. beauty industries from the 19th century through today. Sorted roughly by decade, the book features an abundance of photos depicting items from each period. It's an accessible, easy read that both beauty culture newbies and long-time fans alike would enjoy.
While I enjoyed the first chapter on beauty rituals in ancient Egypt and Greece, I thought the immense chronological jump from this period to Chapter Two (covering Victorian times) was a bit awkward. From there, however, the narrative flows nicely. Marsh sprinkles the text with choice anecdotes, noting the beginnings
of such familiar beauty brands such as Pond's, Maybelline and
U.K.-based Boots. She also includes some very helpful guidelines to
buying vintage makeup items in the appendix.
Where the author really shines, however, is in explaining how makeup went from being firmly in the realm of prostitutes/actresses in the 1880s to the huge business we know today. She does this by weaving in the broad cultural and political influences that affected how women used cosmetics as well as the type and packaging of the products themselves. For example, she traces how the rise of the film industry, which made actresses "more socially acceptable", flapper culture, and World War I all contributed to beauty's breakthrough as a regular part of most women's daily routines. By the 1930s, "the question was no longer whether to wear make-up at all, but what to choose from an ever-expanding range of products….women's magazines [started] featuring dedicated beauty columns providing tips and advice, whilst salons were offering an endless variety of services." (p. 88). And with the flurry of products introduced during these decades, packaging came to the fore. The rest of the chapters, each covering a decade from the 1940s through the aughts, similarly place beauty trends and products within a general cultural context, with plenty of pictures along the way. Most of these photos show items from Marsh's personal collection. Here are some of my favorites.
Art Deco compacts:
An Art Deco palette – what struck me about this is the fact that it includes products for lips, cheeks and eyes. I usually associate any vintage cosmetics with powder compacts, but this has a variety of products, similar to today's palettes.
Boots Christmas ad:
Compacts from the '40s and '50s – love the rotary telephone.
Getting psychedelic with Avon lipsticks and Mary Quant crayons from the late '60s. Groovy, man.
Bottom line: this is one of the most satisfying tomes on beauty history available, on par with Kathy Peiss's Hope in a Jar. Definitely one to buy!
The collection consists of a lipstick in Pinkadelic, nail polish in Pink Paisley, and blush in Light Show, which comes in an enameled compact that is a "replica of actual designs from Estee Lauder's '60s era collections."
I think the pattern evokes late '60s psychedelia and I love the retro shape of the nail polish bottle. However, it's maddening (haha) that nowhere in the advertising campaign does Estée Lauder show the original design. I can't be the only person who would like to see it, and I'm sure Estée has it in their archives somewhere if this really is a replica. Since they're not revealing it, I question their claim that the pattern is an authentic vintage Estée print. Seeing the original would definitely make me want to purchase the compact. Without it though, this seems to be a weak attempt to make what's possibly a brand new design appear to have a connection to the company's history – it's just smoke and mirrors.
As I said last year, the company could have done more with the Mad Men tie-in. It's a shame Estée squandered the opportunity.
What do you think?
I must say that the title of this blog entry is misleading. There isn't really much content to review in this book, but there sure are some wonderful vintage compacts to drool over! I guess it will be an overview of an overview.
Mueller provides a very brief (a mere 3-page) summary of American compact companies at the start of the book, and explains that it's not a pricing guide. While I am curious to know what these pieces might go for if they were for sale, I was not disappointed that the book doesn't contain pricing information. From there on it's all pictures of glorious compacts and even some ads for them. Each one includes the sizes of each piece and the manufacturer.
I thought I'd give you a little taste of what you'll find in the book if you decide to purchase it. And you really should if you like admiring pretty makeup* – because compacts are relatively small objects, there were usually 4-5 pictures of different ones per page. So. Much. Eye candy! You can buy it here.
Here are some of the compacts that jumped out to me immediately.
These iris and poppy compacts are from the early 1940s and according to the book, are very rare.
I love the little legs on this Volupté "Petit Boudoir" compact from 1950:
These four are by Rex Fifth Avenue. The two on the right bear the signature of cartoonist Hilda Terry, whose designs of "bobby soxers" somehow made their way onto these compacts.
In addition to illustrated compacts, there were some fantastic blingy pieces, like these from Volupté and Evans.
I thought I'd save my favorite for last: a zippered compact bearing a mermaid (!!!) and seahorse:
There are so many more pieces to ooh and aah over, including one with a map of New York designed especially for the 1939 World's Fair, the famous Dali compact, and even an enameled compact with a picture of fruit. Mueller notes that depictions of fruit were very rare in compacts – how unlike the abundance I found in vintage ads!
I know I'll enjoy re-perusing all the compacts in this book, and I do find it helped me get a sense of what to look for in terms of vintage compacts. As you know, the Makeup Museum is mostly focused on contemporary cosmetics, but I really want to add vintage pieces to the collection. This was a great primer.
*I am not affiliated with the author in any way and received no compensation for writing about this book.
While I was researching ads for a special exhibition (coming in February!) I noticed a theme common in vintage beauty ads – fruit. Fruit is an obvious and appealing choice for makeup shade names, and fruit-flavored or scented items aren't new, as these ads from 1964 and 1971 demonstrate:
And they're still popular today (see Stila's lip glazes and Lancome's Juicy Tubes, for starters). However, vintage ads featuring "nature's candy" are fairly different than contemporary ones in that they actually depict the fruit itself, making the connection between fruit and makeup much more literal.
Let's take a fruit-filled trip back in time! (You can click to enlarge most of these images, and you really should – the copy is priceless.)
I like the graphics in this 1964 ad for Estée Lauder's Swiss Strawberry lipstick.
But my favorite strawberry beauty ads appeared earlier, in 1958. I don't know why, but the phrase "Hot Strawberry" cracks me up. Cutex designed two versions of the ad for their matching lipstick and nail polish.
As we'll see, Revlon led the way in naming products after fruit, and launched extensive campaigns to coincide with them. Here are two ads for Cherries in the Snow, a color introduced in 1952 and that is still around today, and one for Cherries a la Mode (1955).
Sometimes fruit made it into an ad even though the product advertised was not at all related to fruit, as in these examples from Cover Girl (1976) and Max Factor (1962):
Now let's take a peek at the comparatively tiny amount of fruit-based contemporary ads. Here's a Japanese one for Stila lip glazes, circa 2009 (from the Museum's collection).
As for Lancome's fruit-scented and named Juicy Tube lip glosses, I believe this is the only ad for them that depicts fruit itself, for their limited edition "Juicy Mood" line.
Lastly, there was MAC's 2008 Cult of Cherry collection.
The underlying message in these contemporary ads is also pretty different than that of their predecessors. With the exception of MAC's Cult of Cherry, all of them convey a sense of freshness and light, whereas most of the vintage ads have a decidedly darker, more provocative bend. "Who knows about the black-lace thoughts you think while shopping in a gingham frock?" Revlon's Cherries in the Snow ad asks, while others describe their colors as "luscious," "tempting," "madly voluptuous." Also, compare the close-ups of the women's mouths used in the 1976 Cover Girl ad to those used in the Lancome ads. Both reduce the model to just a pair of lips, but the Cover Girl one seems much more sexualized. Even the names – "Hot Strawberry", "Wild Peach", Forbidden Fruit" and "Fatal Apple" – have a fairly risqué tone, while most of today's are simply named after fruit (the raciest name in the Lancome Juicy Tube lineup is "Suggestive Strawberry". Oooh.) I'm guessing the difference stems from the idea that back then, women were supposed to use makeup with the primary purpose of landing a man. "He'll love it" claims both the Cutex Hot Strawbery and Revlon Cherries in the Snow ads. Yardly encourages the consumer to "kiss him in his favorite flavor". Cutex's Cute Tomata is described as a "stop, look and whistle" red. Today, companies are smart enough to leave the man out of the advertising equation – trying to sell the idea that women should enjoy wearing makeup only for themselves. Fruity makeup is nothing more than a yummy way to put on your face, and can even have health benefits (in the case of Clinique).
I hope you've enjoyed this thorough round-up of fruit in beauty advertising. Something I always wonder about in looking at vintage ads is whether today's ads will seem as amusing to future generations as the ones from the 20th century are to us now. Which one is your favorite? I'm going with Hot Strawberry – I'm still giggling as I type it!
Part two of this year's Ghosts of Christmas Makeup Past is devoted to this gorgeous highlighter by Clé de Peau, released for the 2010 holiday season.
With flash:
The golden raised stripes look like rays of sunlight streaming down from the sky, and to my eye, have a very Art Deco feel to them. For example, compare them to the ones on this mirror:
A detailed description of the characteristics of Art Deco period would take way too long, but here's a good little overview on the jewelry of the time (this would be the most relevant, as the Clé de Peau holiday vintage palettes are modeled after antique jewelry).
Take a peek at 2009's palette and let me know whether you prefer that one to 2010's. Personally, while I think they're both gorgeous, I love the 2010 one more.
Here's another museum to which I must make make a pilgrimage! In lieu of actually visiting, I've selected a few highlights from their collections. (Sorry the pictures are so small – not sure why they have such teeny pics).
Here is one of the original bottles of their best-selling skin treatment Euderline from 1897, along with a bottle of their camellia perfume from 1917. "The name Euderline was also novel for the time, taken from Greek words meaning 'good' (eu) and 'skin' (derma). The 'red wine' appearance of the lotion earned it the nickname 'Shiseido red water' among users."
Rainbow Face Color Powders (1917) were cutting-edge for their time, while the design on the box of the Modern Face Color Powders (1932) is a good representation of both fashionable young city ladies and the company's pre-war aesthetic. The Rainbow powders were among the first face powders to come in colors other than white, including yellow, rose, green and purple, to allow women to match their powder to their clothing. The Modern Face Color Powder box was designed by Yamana Ayao, and shows "a beautiful harmony of Art Nouveau and Art Deco elements."
The one on the left was desgined by Yabe Sue in 1925 and perfectly represents the Art Nouveau style, and the one on the right is from 1930 and depicts two women, one clad in an elaborate 18th-century French-looking frock and the other in a traditional Japanese kimono. The meaning is unclear – is there a rivalry going on between East and West or is Shiseido showing their attempt to bridge the gap between their customers living in those two spheres?
These next two are from 1938 and 1961. The earlier one, designed by Yamamoto Takeo, looks vaguely surreal to me with the woman's profile seemingly floating amongst Magritte-esque clouds. But according to the website, "the poster is from the period around the 1930s when Shiseido's chain stores began using display windows. The Shiseido designers from this period were successful in creating images of feminine beauty that anticipated the changing times, and contributed greatly to bolstering the Shiseido image. The later one was designed by Mizuno Takashi and is from the company's first "campaign-style promotion" for a new line called Candy Tone.
Some other highlights of the permanent collection include an entire wall showing the evolution of the brand's packaging:
And a display showing how the typeface and camellia logos also changed over time:
Something else that I love about this museum (and something that I try to do with the Makeup Museum) is the launching of special exhibitions. In 2009 the museum showed "The Pleasures of Colors: Shiseido Paint Sets" which looked at the crayons, paints and other art implements the company produced for a brief period in the late 1950s. But these weren't makeup items aimed at women – these were art sets intended for children in order to introduce them to drawing and painting. "These included a string of ground-breaking new products that helped to guide Japan's new art education, and many featured charming packaging that encouraged children to try their hands at pictorial art. This exhibition highlights how well these colors have retained their bright appeal over time, and explores how they contributed to a next generation of education in Japan."
The current special exhibition is devoted to lipstick called "The Excitement of Lipstick: Color, Form, Spirit." Here's the description from the website: "Lipstick can be considered the most striking and important element of women's makeup. Even just a little bit of lip coloring can lend an “adult” sophistication to the face of a child, bring an air of specialness to an otherwise ordinary day, give rise to numerous and various female expressions, and even embolden the spirit. This exhibition, with its display spaces reminiscent of show windows, presents these appealing aspects of lipstick in various visual and entertaining ways.
The exhibition is organized around three themes—Lipstick Colors, Lipstick Shapes, and Lipstick & Spirit—and will focus on the beauty of lipstick itself while exploring some of the unseen relationships women have with this essential of the makeup kit. It will also include some hands-on displays where visitors can explore the enjoyment of lipstick experientially, including a corner for trying on various lipstick shades and computerized tablet stations where visitors can simulate applying their own makeup." (Note to self: steal this idea.)
