Hair and Makeup Monday: Vintage Hair and Makeup Questions Answered!

Vintage Hair and Makeup Questions Answered!

Thank you to everyone who sent in questions for our Hair and Makeup Q&A with the deadly beauty fairy godmother Lolita Noir. We have chosen 6 fabulous questions for Lolita to answer, if you have any other questions then please do send them to shop@deadlyisthefemale and we will be sure to pass them on to Lolita!

Lolita has given such amazingly detailed answers that we decided to split this blog into two parts so here is part 1 and be sure to check our next weeks blog for part 2!

I would love some tips on how to get my liquid eyeliner flick more precise, what products or techniques are best? – Rosie 

Hi Rosie, eyeliner is one of the things I get asked most about as it can be so tricky to get it perfect but hopefully these tips will help…

• First of all, I would recommend using a gel or cream liner as it dries quickly and doesn’t run or smudge like liquid liners do. I like to use MAC Chromaline eyeliner in black as I find the consistency easy to work with on all eyelids.  It is waterproof and longwearing with an intense colour which are all must haves. It also dries matte which I tend to think looks more vintage.  I only use pencil eyeliners on my lower waterline as I don’t find they are precise enough to give a crisp line on the top lid.

• Applying the gel or cream liner with a brush with synthetic bristles works best I find as they don’t tend to splay, drop hairs or lose their shape as much as natural bristle brushes do (also they’re safer if you are allergy prone). I’m a huge fan of the Real Techniques range and I love the Fine Liner Brush that comes in their ‘Eye Starter Set’ in fact I love all the brushes in that set so I would definitely recommend investing in one.

• Now for the perfect wing liner, I want to be able to tell you that with practice and persistence you will be able to do it free hand, perfectly every time and yes, that is possible, but it does take a lot of practice and in all honesty, even the best makeup artists have days where they just can’t get their eyeliner right! it’s just one of those things…. like a bad hair day!  And therefore, people have begun to bring ‘eyeliner templates’ out, some of which work and some of which really don’t! But I’ll let you in on a little secret, self-adhesive stickers for colour coding labeling! They are really good for eye shadow too and I do use them if I want to create a really crisp line rather than a blended Smokey look.  It is important to pop them on the back of your hand or arm and then pull off first, so you take some of the sticky off.  Then place it at the edge of your eye at the angle you want your liner to be and press in place, do this the other side and make sure they are the same level/angle.  We are not symmetrical beings so you will never get them exactly the same, but as long as they are the same angle and level then you should be fine.  There are 2 ways you can do this, you can apply your eye shadow and then take the label off and draw your flick along the line created on the edge of the eye shadow or you can keep the label on and draw along its edge, have a play about and see which way works best for you.  Once you have taken the label off you will need to connect the flick to the eyeliner on the top lid, but this really depends on the shape of your eye as to how it would suit you, so again, have a play and see what you feel comfortable with.

• If you are like me and of the older persuasion then you will probably have noticed that your eye lids have started to crease, so when you apply eyeliner to the lid use your fingers, place them at the outer edge of the eye and gently pull the skin to the side to straighten out your eye lid. This will give you a smoother surface to work with and make it so much easier to apply your liner.  If you do have this problem with your eyelids, then definitely don’t use liquid eyeliner as it will just smudge and look strange when you let your eye go after you have applied it.

How can I get my fine hair to maintain a curl all day? I have hot rollers, bendy rollers, straighteners and curling tongs and an assortment of Velcro rollers and still struggle! – Claire

Hi Claire, if your curl is dropping out every time then I would probably say you are using the wrong size curler/roller and tong. The main problem with curls dropping is that a big curl has been put in the hair to start with and then when it drops (which it will do naturally as it settles into the style) it ends up dropping out rather than just dropping to a loose curl. My recommendation is always to start off with a tighter curl, this way when the curl drops it will drop to the larger/softer curl that you actually want and remain for the rest of the day (unless it’s super windy as that can be a total nightmare for fine hair that has been curled!).

Products help a lot as well and with fine hair, heat is the only way you will create the curl (unless you pin curl but then you have to wait 3-4 days for it to dry fully!) here is a step by step guide to help you prep your hair properly and how to get a good curl:

• If your hair tends to get greasy then wash your hair, using a light conditioner (you don’t want anything heavy) before you start.
• Towel dry your hair and then use a good setting spray and spray it in short bursts over the ends. I love using the Suavecita Grooming Spray as it really holds your hair without becoming overly stiff or crispy like some setting lotions do.  Comb through your hair and put it in your desired parting and then blow-dry your hair till it’s bone dry, using only your fingers (you don’t want to use a brush otherwise you might inadvertently dry your hair in a straight style)
• Once your hair is dry, section about an inch width slice at the nape of your neck and then clip the rest up.
• Take small sections and curl with a 16mm or 19mm barrel tong and then wind each curled section up to the root and pin in place. This is ideally done when it is still hot so that your hair can cool in the curled position, thus setting the curl in for longer.
• Do this all over your head and then give the whole head a light spritz of Suavecita Grooming Spray and leave to cool (I tend to do my makeup while my hair is cooling)
• Once the hair has cooled take out the clips and release the curls (it’s best to start at the bottom where you began), they will probably look quite bouncy and short but don’t panic as they won’t look like that once you have dressed them out.
• When it comes to dressing the hair out, if you have fine hair I would either use your fingers to comb through the curls or a wide tooth comb to separate them. You don’t want to use a brush and you will just end up brushing the curls out and ending up with a frizz.  Then style the hair how you like and spray in place with a good hairspray, the Suavecita Hair Spray is amazing! If you find your hair is a little fluffy on the ends then use a light serum like the Suavecita Argan Silkening Serum and softly stroke it through your ends, don’t use too much, to smooth the fluffiness.
• Try not to play with the curls too much as they will drop quicker and looser if you do. Just style how you want your hair and then leave it, you will find your curls will have dropped to the required size in around an hour.

What vintage styles would suit a fringe? Most of the vintage styles I see don’t have fringes but I don’t look right without one. Help! – Gayle

 Hi Gayle, there are many vintage styles that suit fringes, Betty Page is a huge influence in Pinup Hairstyling and a fringe like hers can suit anything from Victory Rolls to a Rockabilly style headscarf. But if you don’t have a “Betty Bang” fringe then you can still style your hair in a vintage way. Victory rolls will still look good with any fringe but I would probably blow-dry it so there is a bit of bounce in it.  If you have a sweeping fringe (or can sweep your fringe) then a lovely 40s/50s style curl looks great and you can even pin a cute hair flower in the side opposite your fringe to give a tiki look.  Or you can go for a super cute high pony tail and even tie a ribbon or scarf round the hair band to give a 50s look.