Glamming it up 1940's style...

Now for something slightly different!

I recently revisited the past for my husband's milestone birthday party. My man is a big fan of the classic 1940's movie "Casablanca", the one that spawned a thousand take-offs of the line, "Here's looking at you kid..." so it was no surprise that he wanted a Casablanca/1940's themed party. Confession time:  I'd never been to a costume party before - let alone hosted one - so I had to do my research.  I created a 40's fashion and beauty board in Pinterest, bought reference books, and watched movies (we all watched "Casablanca" of course!) all for the sake of authenticity - and because it's pretty exciting to glam up like a 1940's femme fatale too! Those movie heroines from that bygone era had glamour in spades so I had a lot to live up to...


Hair

My hairdresser originally had visions of doing those gravity defying 1940's victory rolls on my hair until I showed him photos of something a little softer and more in keeping with the evening look I was after. The result was an equally authentic, but more me, '40's pin curl style which I loved and made me feel very feminine and glamorous.  Pin curls are a first for me too and my hairdresser used a curling iron, then pinning the curls to cool and set before fixing in place with some strategically placed hair pins and lots of hairspray. Somehow it still looked quite touchable and soft and now I wish I was able to replicate it myself.  At least I have some photos from him as a memento.

Makeup

The makeup look was all about a matte face, defined brow and matte red lip to keep it reasonably accurate for the era.  Sounds simple although it still took 10 products to make it happen - I'm pretty sure that women back in that time got by with a lot less products than me!

My base was pretty simple as I wanted something to last through the evening and look matte so I used Revlon Colorstay Makeup (Natural Beige) set with a good dusting of Revlon Photoready Powder (020 Light/Medium) and this got me through the night with no touch ups.  1940's cheeks were simply rouged to add some life to them so I used the brightest shade from my Visee (RD-2) powder blush quad for that pop of colour - no contouring or highlighting necessary in those days.

 I kept my eye shadow pretty simple too so after an application of Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (which I wear every single day to lock my eye shadow in place) I turned to Urban Decay's Naked Basics palette for some subtle matte light and shade:  W.O.S on the lids, Naked 2 in the crease and Foxy on the brow bone. I lined my upper lashes only with a pencil because I still suck at liquid liner (ugh!), and used Estee Lauder Pure Color Intense Kajal Eye Liner (01 Blackened Black) and coated my lashes with several coats of my favourite drugstore mascara Max Factor Masterpiece Glamour Extensions 3-in-1 Volumising Mascara (Black).  I filled in my brows with Ardell Mechanical Brow Pencil (Blonde) - love it because it's so easy to use! - and went over them with a quick brush of ModelCo More Brows (Light/Medium) to keep them in place.

Lastly the matte red lips:  I chose Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick (Beso) and didn't need to reapply all night.


Other bits and pieces...

A final touch of understated glamour was added with some rhinestone stud earrings and a bejewelled hair slide.  A spritz of Chanel's Coco Noir EDP and a final spritz of L'Oreal Elnett Satin hairspray (just to be sure) and I was ready to party!


And the happy couple at the end of the night...

It was so enjoyable getting dressed up - I must think of how I want to celebrate my 50th birthday next year! Yes...it's true...

Until next time!