Eye Make-up Trends From the 1910's On.

This year, the prom is going to be based on the 1920's.  I already know that few girls are aware of what make-up would have been worn at that time.  The "look" has changed over time from innocent, to knowledgable, to wild.

The "look" has developed based on the availability and development of makeup to the general population.

Let's start with the 1910's, an age filled with innocence seen in Mary Pickford and the Gibson Girl.  Women didn't wear much makeup at all because it wasn't really available.  Look at mascara!  It didn't hit the stores until 1915 and even then it came in a small cake which had to have water added to create the dark liquid to apply to eye lashes.  Most women who wore makeup, wore a little a bit of color on the cheeks and lips.  The women who wore a bit of eye color and mascara were women who acted in theater or movies or worked the streets.  It was hard to get the makeup for most women.

In the 1920's eyes became smokey and dark as seen in women like Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow, or the Flappers.  For many, this century was one of parties and freedom.  This is the century that gave women the right to vote and many women joined the Flapper movement.  Women who wore makeup were expected to wear dark rings of color around the eyes with heavy thick mascara on their lashes and bright red lips.  They finished the look with a properly done bob representing the new girl.

In the 1930's Jean Harlow, Greta Garbo and many other Hollywood stars carried on acting in movies to help people escape from a reality of over 25% unemployment and a dust bowl in the middle of the country.  These women wore pencil thin eye brows.  This look encouraged women to either pluck their eyebrows into thin lines or completely get rid of them to replace them with hand drawn lines taken all the way out to the corner of the eyes.  If a person had money, they might add in pastel colored eye shadow such as green, pink, blue, purple, or neutral tones and finished the lips with raspberry or maroon color and a bit of blush.

In the 1940's, fashion returned to the more natural look due to the war when makeup was not as available.  Furthermore, women were going into the workforce in numbers so men would be freed up to fight.  Thus the fashion for makeup allowed for a bit of brown or taupe eye shadow, mascara, a bit of jelly to keep the eye brows in place and a bit of bright red lipstick.  Women who served in the military were issued a specific shade of  red lipstick as part of the uniform.

Come the 1950's, the use of eye liner became extremely popular to create either a cat look or a winged look paired with a neutral eye shadow and a pink or reddish pink lipstick.  Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly sported the look well but Marylin Monroe is said to have started the winged eye liner look in the late 1940's and women loved the flirty look.

Then in the 1960's with Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy introduced the wide eyed and bright eyed look with lots of false lashes on both upper and lower eyes and tons of mascara.  The false eye lashes made the person's lashes extremely long, almost like spiders legs.  Girls topped the lashes off with a heavy line of black eyeliner and colored eye shadows including white for a more dramatic look.

By the 1970's, eye makeup returned to a more natural look as worn by Ali McGraw and Bianca Jagger.  With the advent of Earth Day, concern with the environment, eye shadow returned to the more neutral colors with just a touch of mascara to add color.  This didn't last long.

When the 1980's rolled around, excess was back in fashion with bolder more pigmented colors such as vibrant blues, purples, pinks, and glimmering gold which could be worn one color at a time or in a rainbow effect.  Diana Ross and Madonna wore the brilliant colors beautifully.

People got tired of the excesses so in the 1990's it makeup returned to the more neutral look with neutral eye shadow, a barely there brown or black mascara, manicured brows and a rosy brown lipstick that blended with the rest of the look.

In 2000, false eyelashes returned but this time they were feathery but thick and full.  Lash conditioners guaranteeing to make lashes long, full, and thick, hit the market while lash beauty parlors popped up to provide women with the ability to have the same lashes as they saw on their favorite star.

Then in the 2010's women switched from bold lashes to bold brows as the focal point of their makeup routine.  Women put growth serums on their brows, filled them in, used lash thickeners and whatever else they could find to do the job.

Where are we headed this decade?  Lots of bold and metallic eye shadows, formed eye brows and bright lipsticks.  You might see dark midnight eyes or smokey eyes depending on how adventuresome you are.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.