Historical Sauces Forces Vintage Hair and Makeup Masterclass

Last night I was lucky enough to attend an amazing afternoon of 1940s beauty! The wonderful Historical Sauces run their vintage masterclasses about once a month, but I think we should petition them to run more often! The obove pic is of my 'Green Tea Bubble Cocktail' which, aside from being magically delicious, was served in a vintage teacup! Look how pretty... (the floating things are blackberries, by the way)!
This masterclass was about recreating the typical 1940s forces sweetheart look, and we were shown in small groups step-by-step how to create a full face of 40s style make up, as well as techniques to create 1940s hair styles. Kerry, who worked with our group, was very patient with my lack of hair-expertise; I didn't even know what a foam roller was, nor had I ever backcombed!

This is me during the make-up process; my base and eyebrows are done, but my lips, cheeks and eyes aren't started yet. The 1940s look is, apparently, very polished with matte, perfect skin and not ostentatious eyes; it all hinges on the iconic red lip.

This is the finished product! The 1940s lip-shape is apparently a lot rounder than the 1950s. Kerry showed us how to 'overdraw' the shape of the lip; my natural lip shape is slightly flatter and wider than this. I actually really like this shape, I think I will recreate it on a day to day basis. I am also interested to experiment with 1950s style make up, which is where the iconic black 'flicky' eyeliner comes from. The 1940s eye that the Sauces showed us uses natural brown shades of eyeshadow, and the process is not very dissimilar to how I would usually apply eyeshadow. I was supposed to aim for an 'almond' shape when putting on my eyeshadow, and I'm not sure how well I achieved this. I really like that I now have another eye-make-up option for when I want to look classy rather than quirky when I sport a red lip.

You can see that I have three 'victory rolls' around the front of my head. The idea was that I would have one each side and leave my short fringe out, but Kerry showed me that my fringe was just long enough to roll! The style has completely altered the look and shape of my face.

This is me after taking my hair down but perhaps gives a better impression of the make-up, particularly the brows. We were shown how to shape our eyebrows in a round curve, rather than with a point, which is very 50s, apparently. I struggled with this aspect because my eyebrows do go into a bit of a point at the top of the arch, but I tried to create an overall curved shape. I love how drawing in the brow does give such a polished look. One of my new year's resolutions was to look more 'groomed', perhaps this is one way forward! I wonder how ladies did their nails in the 1940s...?

Because my hair is naturally poker straight and quite silky, I had to use a lot of products to make my hair stiff and pliable enough to create the victory rolls we were shown. After I took off my makeup and brushed my fringe out my hair was in perfect condition to play around and create styles, so I had a bit of a practice! This is my attempt at creating a line of rolls across the front of my head. (excuse the nakedness of my skin!)

The Sauces told us that women in the 40s would decorate their hair with ribbons or combs, so I played around with a flower clip at the front of my hair. I think this would be a nice way to dress my hair for an evening.

This is me being arty in my Johnny Walker whisky mirror, acquired from a charity shop in Sheffield about 5 years ago and has adorned my (various) walls ever since! It's only the (obviously) modern camera that ruins the retro vibe of this picture!

Thanks once again to the Historical Sauces, I would really recommend their events; I've learned loads that I will implement in my every day make-up routines. Plus any excuse to drink cocktails out of vintage teacups, well...

Much love, Kate Xx