An upward glance, a spirit of mischief, a 'come hither' look. This quote written in an ad for Winx mascara only starts to describe the makeup look of the 1920's. This era was marked by new waves of fashion and entertainment. The 1920s began a new style of women called flappers. They were often depicted by their partying behavior, short bobs, and dark sultry and glamorous makeup. Before the 20th century, "nice girls" did not wear makeup which was usually called paint. Improvement in the quality of makeup in the 1920s made it easier for women to try new looks. According to Emily Spivack in the Smithsomian Feb 2013, with the increasing popularity of movies, women could try to mimic the stars-like Joan Crawford, Mae Murray and Clara Bow, an American actress who epitomized the flapper's spitfire attitude and heavily made-up appearance.
Stevie McGlinchey from Glamourdaze.com states that In 1909 Gordon Selfridge opened the first cosmetics counter to let women to try before they buy. Women felt more comfortable trying the newest powders, vanishing creams, pan sticks, lipsticks and mascaras. Lisa Haynes stated in The Bristol Post--May 17, 2013 that pale skin was fashionable in that era and ivory-coloured powder was often applied to the face to create the desirable pale complexion. You would apply this powder on with a soft round puff. Before the 1920s Rouge was very messy to apply but with the introduction of the compact case for rouge became transportable and easy to apply. The Rouge that was available in those times were powder, paste or cream formulas. The tones that were popular during the 20s were in orange-red at first then a raspberry-red followed a rose-red by the late 20's. The trend for that era was to apply rouge in circles on the cheeks therefore giving you a rounded face.
Maurice Levy's 1915 invention of the metal lipstick container[was a welcome addition to a woman's beauty routine.
