Yesterday was my second Historical Sauces event experience, Held at Olive's Bar on Elm Hill.
The event was a retro beauty masterclass, entitled the 'Vintage Beauty School'. The idea was to create a generic 'vintage' look, after first taking us through the traditional method of cleansing and preparing the skin, using cold cream!
This is the stuff we used, folks! My skin tends to be rather oversensitive (by which I mean breaks out/flakes off/turns neon red) to pretty much everything except
The Body Shop Vitamin E range so I was slightly nervous when we applied such a thick, rich product all over our faces and rubbed in with our fingertips to cleanse the skin. In preparation for making-up my face I had not applied any make up prior to the class, which was a shame as it meant I didn't get to evaluate how efficient the cold cream was as a cleanser. However, there were many foundation-coloured Kleenex (developed, explained the lovely Lucy, as a product for removing cold cream, until marketers realised that people were also using the tissues as disposable handkerchiefs) piling up around our table when it came to cold-cream-removal, so I am assured that the cream is effective!
Also, my skin is break-out free today, and any product-related catastrophes tend to occur soon after using said products. The cream, despite being rich, does not appear to have clogged my pores. This may be due, in part, to the second element of the cleansing process: that of sweeping the skin with Witch Hazel using cotton wool pads. Witch Hazel is an astringent with which I have a certain level of experience during my breakout-filled teen years. But then I did also used to cover my skin in surgical spirit (not recommended- ow!) to dry up my spots. That was a bad time...
I am one of those people who does not quite feel clean without soap and water, so I get through bottles of toner much more quickly than cleanser purely because I tend to douse my face in it to feel non-greasy. I thought that after using such a thick product on my skin I wouldn;t feel quite clean afterwards (i can almost feel my pores becoming overloaded. Is there something wrong with me...?!) After a quick sweep of witch hazel, though, my skin certainly felt non-greasy. Also the richness of the cold cream which had been left on my face for a while counteracted the drying tendency of the Witch Hazel. And I felt like I had really pampered myself through the process of massaging and wiping clean the skin!
Here I am, cleansed and ready to go!
We began with the base, after a quick application of moisturiser. Lucy recommended
Simple, which has been going since the 70s, apparently. I used my Body Shop
Vitamin C skin reviver, because I find it acts as a great make-up primer.
The make up base consisted of a layer of Pan-stik (which you can pick up in Boots for £6.99), which I had never used before- I tend to only use a BB cream on my skin unless it's a special occasion. A vintage look requires a flawless, 'porcelain' complexion, so thick coverage is needed. Next, a layer of powder: Lucy recommended Maxfactor loose powder, I used my own Maxfactor Creme Puff, which gives even thicker coverage. I would normally just use in on my T-zone to prevent shine, but I used it all over my face.
We then groomed and coloured in our eyebrows. Lucy suggested that we merely follow our natural shape rather than to to recreate an era-specific shape. My brows are quite dark and the general shape is quite good and is very natural, but they are patchy due to over-plucking during younger years, so I use quite a dark pencil to fill them in.
Finally came the winged eyeliner.
Now, I have never successfully achieved this look before. I had believed, until yesterday, that this look should be possible in one clean stroke of liner. This, apparently, is not so.
The key is firstly to use a good brush, and I shall certainly be investing in one. Lucy used a thin brush almost like a paintbrush to paint on her liner. The brush is dipped into the liquid liner bottle and excess product is removed to avoid a 'blobby' look. Lucy told us to place a tiny dot in the outer corner of each eyelid as a quide to show where the line should stop. Next, she told us to begin to draw along the lash line from the centre of the eyelid (in line with the pupil) out towards the dot. The centre of the lid should be where the line is thickest, thus if any 'blobbing' occurs with the first touch of product, it isn't devastating.
When my line was drawn the beginning in the centre of the eye was very obvious. Lucy told us that if this was the case we should work from the inner corner in small strokes from the point at which the line looked more natural.
Finally: the flicks! Lucy showed us how to measure a line from the corner of our nose to the corner of the eye, and that this line should continue to create the flick, which can be as long or short as desired/as suits the eye. Depending on the flick, some filling in may need to be done to create a triangle between the corner of the eye, the end of the flick, and the lash line.
These are my final eye flicks! I am very excited because I have never managed to create this look on myself before, and I love it!
Finally, we applied lipstick and blusher. Again, rather than try and create an era-specific lip shape, we followed our natural lip shape, but took the line in at the corner of the mouth to avoid looking 'clowny'. I am wearing a Besame Lipstick in Marilyn Red. We first lined our lips in pencil, and then filled in the lip with pencil to create staying power for the lipstick, then filled in the colour with lipstick using a lipbrush. With the blusher, Lucy encouraged us to stick to the apples of our cheeks and use a pinky colour. She also explained that we could even use lipstick to create rosy cheeks.
This is the finished look! What do we think? I can't wait to try it again!
The evening would not be complete without a picture with all of the Sauces! Left to right we have the petite and gorgeous Kerry, Aka
Missy Vintage complete with very adorable cheesy grin; me, adopting the famous pose; the beautiful Lucy, aka
The Glamourologist, who, incidentally, has basically perfect skin without make-up and the loveliest voice- it was a pleasure listening to her instructions; and the fabulous Gemma, aka the famous
Retro Chick.
I also purchased a very gorgeous new Besame lipstick in Cherry Red, on which I received an exclusive Historical Sauces discount!
I can't wait to try out a 1920s look with it! Watch this space!
Hope you enjoy reading! Much love, Kate Xx
