Forties look (hair and make up for darker skins...

I did a brief piece on the amazing Queens of Vintage about getting the 40s look on darker skins, but wanted to do a more in-depth tutorial on what I do. I like my make up to really show up, so it’s a long, detailed post, you have been cordially warned mon petit poisons.




Base:
1-Wash your face and exfoliate for a smooth base. Apply moisturiser and/or primer sparingly if you need to and wait for it to absorb for a few minutes (pop your heated rollers in perhaps!) (Bobbi Brown Extra Rinse Balm, £38, used with muslin cloth to exfoliate; Jo Malone Ginseng Day Moisturising Cream, £38, or for oily skin, Dermalogica Pure Light SPF30, £38(ish); Daniel Sandler Retexturizing Face Primer SPF20, £20).
2- Using a small brush, apply your concealer where it’s needed and lightly pat with fingers to make sure it blends seamlessly. (Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage, £25 _ wonder product alert!)
3-Follow by applying matte foundation: I use a foundation brush, which I clean regularly. (Bobbi Brown Foundation brush, £30; MAC Studio Fix Foundation, £20 – this has a really wide shade range.)
4-Pat gently and make sure it is perfectly blended in to the neckline and hairline – especially if your face is a different colour to your neck/chest. Really blend or, as I learnt the hard way, you look like you’re wearing a freaky doll death mask.
5-Finish with a matte setting powder, (if you use the puff, wash it regularly as oil builds up!) I actually use a powder foundation, as I like it very matte. (Illamasqua Powder Foundation, £20)


Eyes:
1-Eyelids have sebaceous glands, too, so if you’re prone to oily eyelids here’s a good tip: Dust your eyelids with pressed powder, THEN apply your base. Use a cream eye shadow in a neutral matte colour a shade lighter than your eyelid skin tone, as this can differ from the rest of your face colour. (MAC Paint Sublime Nature, £13)
2- Use a taupe brown shadow, one shade lighter than your natural skin tone across the whole eye area with a large eye shadow brush. (Bobbi Brown Toast, £14)
3-Take a light gold shadow and sweep across again, highlighting the arch and inner corners. (Bobbi Brown Champagne, £14)
4-Use a creamy pale gold eyeliner to highlight the inner eye and below the waterline on the inner corner of the eye (alternatively, a cotton bud in eye shadow works well) (NARS Soft Touch Shadow Pencil Goddess, £15)
5-Do your eyeliner before curling lashes – especially if they’re long or it all ends up on your eyelid. Steady your hand on a work surface and draw your line in with black liquid liner, the thinner the brush the better. When you line your eyes, try this technique: look in the mirror, place your fingers on your temple, pull your eyelid in the direction you want to go in and look down to make sure you get a steady line. Wait until dry, then go in with a sharp, jet black pencil liner to build intensity. Make sure it’s really worked into the upper lashes, or take a small angled brush to blend the black right into the eyelashes. You can line the waterline and tightline (under upper eyelashes) like I have. Guerlain Divinora Liquid Eyeliner, £20; Chanel Kohl Eyeliner, £13; MAC Brush 208, £14.
6- Curl lashes by squeezing them gently three times – not too hard or they'll kink. (Shu Uemera Eyelash Curler £20)
7-Take your mascara and define the bottom lashes first, so you don’t get mascara transfer on the eyelid later. Go lightly for the first coat, making sure you cover all the small lashes. I use Givenchy's mascara with the tiny brush to get the smallest ones in the corners. (Givenchy Phenomen Eyes Mascara, £18)
8-Wait until dry, repeat and comb with metal eyelash comb. Then do the same with the upper lashes. You can leave the whole of the bottom of the eye sans liner and mascara, but personally it doesn’t suit me as I like the definition. (Tweezerman Folding Lash Comb, £7)
9-Add lashes, a little glitter eyeliner, or a little bright gold pigment to the inner corners of eyes for real drama. (Illamasqua Solstice, Molten Gold, £16)



Brows:
I’m a brow fascist, so love them big, dark and defined. However, a few weeks ago, I did take it too far and they looked like comedy stick-on brows, so go carefully! I also wore very heavy Rocky Horror Show eye make up and pale lips complete with a high-neck, Victorian ruffle blouse. You know when you don’t look in the mirror until after you leave the house? Well, I looked like a creepy Victorian pallbearer. Pure comedy value…when will I learn?
1-For well defined (but not freaky) brows, use an off-black eye shadow with a small angle brush and go in the direction on the hairs when applying. (MAC 208 Brush; Bobbi Brown Eye Shadow £14, Smoke)
2-Seal with a gentle application of clear mascara – too much looks bizarre and goes all stringy. (Collection 2000 Clear Mascara, £2)


Cheeks:
1- There’s something very 40s chic about matching lips and cheeks (and nails). Apply a dot of your chosen red lippie to the apple of each cheek (that’s the fleshy round part) and blend gently. Dust a little blusher on top if you want to keep it in place all night. My cheeks are pretty full, so I actually tend to put the blusher a bit higher up, towards my cheekbones, rather than the apples. (MAC Ruby Woo, £13; Illamasqua Powder Blusher Tweak, £16)
2-For a real glow, use a highlighter in a warm tone on the cheekbones and blend up into eyebrow arch, so it’s flawless and gleams when the light hits it. Add a tiny bit to the cupids bow. (Rouge Bunny Rouge, Highlighting Liquid, Sea of Showers, £45, or Givenchy Mister Bright Pen, £19)
3-Make yourself a little beauty spot below the eye using a fine eyeliner if you wish.



Lips:
1-Get them totally flake-free first, then, using a matching red lip liner, line the lips. When doing the top lip, line from the corners of the mouth upwards (toward the cupids bow) rounding the shape as you go, rather than rather dragging downwards – the 40s mouth shape was full and round. Then apply liner all over the lip. (Estee Lauder Doublewear Red, £15)
2- Apply lipstick, using a brush (if you use Ruby Woo, it actually goes on better from the tube). Blot. Repeat. Et voila, you’re done! (MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick £13)

NB. The product prices look horrendous all written down like that. I buy a lot in the US and in the sales. You can almost always get cheaper, good-quality versions of eye shadows, mascaras and eyeliners. Personally I find that lipsticks, foundations and those really special products are worth the cash.