Despite the name of this video, the hairstyle is more of a 1910s mode than a Victorian style of hairdo.
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Edwardian Era Hairstyle Tutorial Video
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Edwardian Soaps and Shampoos
Take a look back in time at our first post here on GGGtG -- Edwardian Shampoo.
I found historically correct hair washes can be very helpful in achieving the puffy hair that the late Victorian and Edwardian eras are famous for, since they have a different effect on the hair than modern clean-rinsing shampoos and softening conditioners. Worth checking out if you're seeking the hairstyle.
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I found historically correct hair washes can be very helpful in achieving the puffy hair that the late Victorian and Edwardian eras are famous for, since they have a different effect on the hair than modern clean-rinsing shampoos and softening conditioners. Worth checking out if you're seeking the hairstyle.
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Victorian Era Makeup Recipe for Brunettes
Take:
Pure precipitated chalk, 12 ounces
Pulverized lycopodium, 1 ounce
Best starch, 6 ounces
French chalk, 2 ounces
Carbonate iron, 2 1/2 ounces
Oil of cloves, lavender, bergamot, each 1 dram
Oil of citron and sweet orange, each 1/2 dram
Mix the powders together, also the oils, then gradually add the oils to the powder and rub or mix together until the whole becomes completely commingled.
Directions for using.
This powder can be used just as required; it must be put on evenly all over and the effect will be gratifying. To those who desire to try this powder I would suggest they have a small quantity put up to try."
-- Joseph A. Begy
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Calling on Readers -- in need of your suggestions!
Okay, readers. I am asking for advice from you. I need to know what kind of products you'd be interested in buying through this blog.
Here is my situation. I've been running GGGtG for a couple of years now. While it was born out of some hobbies of mine, its intention was always to be a money making venture. I had initially considered writing the Guide as a book, but knowing from other books I've published that it takes an awful lot of work to get word out that your book even exists, it probably would have required making a blog anyway to promote it, so I decided to just write a blog alone and try to make the money through that.
Now, I was aware that a blog might take a couple years to gain enough readers to become a success. It's been those couple years, and currently the blog does earn a little income from Google Ads and Amazon affiliate sales, but not nearly what I was hoping to get by this time. It's on the verge of not even being break-even, with what I spend on cosmetics and things to write about here.
A few efforts have been made to recruit advertisers directly, which could be a little more profitable if successful, but so far there have been no takers.
So. I need to find some way to make actual money off this blog. My goal is to make $100 a month. So the question is -- is there any product you'd like to be able to buy that I could look to cater to? For example, would you like reproduction historical beauty products? Hair styling tools? Costumes? I'm all for using the blog as a springboard for an online shop, if I know I can sell something that is in demand. The question is, what is it you, readers, demand?
Please leave comments telling what you'd like to see for sale on this blog! Thanks for your help and support.
Here is my situation. I've been running GGGtG for a couple of years now. While it was born out of some hobbies of mine, its intention was always to be a money making venture. I had initially considered writing the Guide as a book, but knowing from other books I've published that it takes an awful lot of work to get word out that your book even exists, it probably would have required making a blog anyway to promote it, so I decided to just write a blog alone and try to make the money through that.
Now, I was aware that a blog might take a couple years to gain enough readers to become a success. It's been those couple years, and currently the blog does earn a little income from Google Ads and Amazon affiliate sales, but not nearly what I was hoping to get by this time. It's on the verge of not even being break-even, with what I spend on cosmetics and things to write about here.
A few efforts have been made to recruit advertisers directly, which could be a little more profitable if successful, but so far there have been no takers.
So. I need to find some way to make actual money off this blog. My goal is to make $100 a month. So the question is -- is there any product you'd like to be able to buy that I could look to cater to? For example, would you like reproduction historical beauty products? Hair styling tools? Costumes? I'm all for using the blog as a springboard for an online shop, if I know I can sell something that is in demand. The question is, what is it you, readers, demand?
Please leave comments telling what you'd like to see for sale on this blog! Thanks for your help and support.
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Natural Liquid Rouge Recipes Homemade from Old Recipe
Liquid Rouges were felt to impart a more natural look than cream or powder rouge (and I will say that my experience is that this is true -- it absorbs into the skin rather than sitting on top.) It also make a good early version of a lip stain, for remember that cheek, lip and nail colors were all one during this time.
1.
1 pint brandy
1 pint benzoin [ed: I assume this means tincture of benzoin]
1 ounce red sandalwood
1/2 ounce brazilwood *
1/2 ounce alum
Mix all ingredients and let stand for 2 weeks in an airtight bottle, shaking regularly. Then strain.
2.
1 ounce alcohol
1 ounce carmine
1 pint rosewater
3 drops rose oil
Mix the alcohol and carmine and let stand together for 2 weeks in an airtight bottle. Then add the remaining ingredients.
*Brazilwood is now endangered and is very hard to come by. However, there is a tree called sappanwood that is sometimes sold as brazilwood, and it is not endangered. If you buy brazilwood sourced from Asia you are probably getting sappanwood, which is not only a necessary modern replacement but also an acceptable historical replacement. In the middle ages the sappanwood tree was the original plant called "brazilwood" -- it was only after the discovery of a similar tree in the Americas by Columbus that the new species took over as the favorite for its comparative cheapness and accessibility.
Sappanwood is Caesalpinia sappan whereas Brazilwood is Caesalpinia echinata.
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New Makeup Tutorial Online
We've just posted our second ever video makeup tutorial -- a 1915 theatrical look modeled on Theda Bara as "The Vampire."
Also see our previous video for a more innocent sort of face.
Also see our previous video for a more innocent sort of face.
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Achieving the Utmost Beauty
A popular post from the past -- How To Make Yourself As Beautiful as Possible, according to the latest Victorian methods.
Drinking lots of milk was among these methods. It was believed to improve the complexion and whiten the skin by being imbibed.
Drinking lots of milk was among these methods. It was believed to improve the complexion and whiten the skin by being imbibed.
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Lavender Face Powder -- The Mystery Solved!
Some time ago I posted a recipe for Beauty Powder that was colored with ultramarine. I assumed at the time that ultramarine meant a blue pigment, since that's the color of ultramarine paint. However, I discovered when shopping that ultramarine can also be purple. It sounded like the mystery of lavender face powder was solved!
I got together the basic ingredients for a batch of the Beauty Powder. I did my measuring by weight but I would guess if you made it at home it's about 1 tsp ultramarine to about 3/4 cup of starch. I decided to use cornstarch instead of wheat starch because it's not much different and it's a lot easier to find cosmetic grade cornstarch. The other ingredients were just fragrance which I left out, since the cornstarch powder I found already came perfumed.
When I mixed the powders together, I found lots of little beads of ultramarine remained, and I had to spend a long time mashing everything together with a spoon to even it out. By the time I had it mixed all together the powder was very lavender -- I was beginning to worry it might even be too greatly pigmented.
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| Before -- no powder |
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| After -- with lavender powder |
As you can see though, it came out fine. The lavender doesn't look that noticeable -- there's greater effect from the whiteness of the powder. Perhaps that's the reason lavender powder didn't stay in fashion for very long? It seemed to be THE beauty secret around 1890 but isn't really mentioned after about 1905 or so, and appears never to have been sold on a large scale. Another fad maybe? It mostly seems to help lessen any yellow tones in the skin, which was probably desirable at the time (yellow was felt to be the color of aging skin, whilst pink -- a much more common powder color -- was felt to look youthful.)
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| Lavender powder under artificial and natural light. |
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1906 Hairdo Fashions
The “bun” has been promptly shelved. In fact, fashionable women haven’t been wearing it for some time. The hair is massed on top of the head, not straight upwards, mind you, or that pretty curve where the hair falls loosely over the neck will be lost. The lower portion of the hair must be “ratted” when the hair is thin, for a graceful sweep from the nape of the neck to the crown is absolutely necessary.The marriage of King Alfonso to Princess Ena has given even greater impetus to the wearing of high coiffures. The coiffure of the Spanish belle is renowned, her curly tressus being massed high on her head.The average face is much improved when the hair is raised off the forehead. The parting may be in the center or at the side, though much discretion must be used in either case.Correct and becoming hairdressing has more to do with a woman’s appearance than she supposes. It not only alters her facial expression, which in itself is not a little thing, but imparts either a distingué or commonplace air, the latter being inexcusable today.
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Pink Blush and Lipstick Recipe from Victorian Times
Historical rouge comes in one basic color: red. You might have had some slight options on the tint depending on the exact formula, but the options were usually limited to carmine red, cinnabar red, alkanet red, brazilwood red, or in later recipes, eosin red.
It is unusual to find pink rather than red colored rouge recipes from the Victorian/Edwardian era, but here is one from Joseph A. Begy's book of Toilet Preparations.
MODIFIED ROUGE
3 ounces precipitated chalk
4 ounces pulverized zinc oxide
2 1/2 ounces starch
20 grains carmine
1/2 dram rose geranium oil
1/2 dram lavender oil
20 [sic] drams clove oil [ED: 20 drams would be more than an ounce. I suspect this is a mistake in the original printing and something more like 2 drams was meant, or maybe 20 drops. ]
1/2 dram extract musk tree
Combine the powders, then gradually blend in the carmine and lastly the perfumes.
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Titanic or Downton Abbey Gibson Girl Makeup Look
Trying out one of the looks from the Gibson Girls's Guide to Makeup -- "Physical Beauty" so named for the magazine cover it was modeled from. I did this with a mixture of historical and modern cosmetics -- I used a liquid rouge made from brazilwood, carmine lip color, rose powder, and modern eye makeup from L'Oreal, Bare Escentuals and Stila.
The liquid rouge was perfect for this look, as it was much less overwhelming than most cream or powder blushes and the brazilwood had a slightly orange-brown color that made it look very natural.
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Old Fashioned Fragrances
Many old time beauty recipes suggest the maker add whatever fragrance they would like to the blend as a perfume. Here are some easy blends I've seen suggested that create a very 'old time' perfume.
- equal parts rose geranium and lavender oil
- equal parts rose and sandalwood oil
- 5 parts lavender oil to 2 parts rosemary oil
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Homemade Victorian Loose Face Powder
4 parts talc
1 part zinc oxide
1 part starch
This is a very easy recipe for white powder for the face. Lead white was rarely used anymore by the late Victorian era, though it was still legal to sell; zinc took over its place as a healthy alternative.
I made up a batch of this with rice starch, and the results seem pleasing. The powder is not clown-makeup white as I feared the zinc might make it, but rather a very sheer hue, actually not a lot different than plain rice powder, though it has a funny way of deadening yellow tones in the skin -- moreso even than lavender powder.
If you want a more intense white I'd suggest using the Enamel Powder.
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Another Video from GGGtG! Historically Accurate 1920s Makeup Tutorial
I've been using my 1920s makeup knowledge to make promotional videos lately. This is a basic everyday 1920s look, but it's also an acceptable heavily made-up Victorian or Edwardian look. The kind of cosmetics available, and the way of applying them, didn't change a great deal from about 1900 to 1930 -- the biggest innovations during this time were in lipstick, which in the 1920s was a much more solid substance than we usually expect (it helps to realize that the idea of a lipstick container was also brand new at this time; so lipstick previously needed to be made firm enough to not get smashed or melted if carried in a makeup box or purse.) No thick, creamy lipsticks here -- it was a solid mixture that usually needed to be blended with the fingers, and many unskilled women were criticized for applying their lipstick 'unevenly.' Those who wanted a creamy texture had to go with the old pot of lip-rouge, like in this video.
The authentic 1920s face powder used above was made from 9 parts cornstarch and 2 parts talc, by weight. I would say it was approximately a heaping tablespoon of the starch with about 1/4 teaspoon of talc mixed in.
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Making Your Own False Hair Pieces for Historical Victorian and Edwardian Hair Styles
*Squee!!!*
Yes, for everyone who has been disappointed to find that most late Victorian and Edwardian hairdos were made using supplemental false hair, here's the site for you: Your Wardrobe Unlock'd has instructions for how to make your own false hair pieces.
Yes, for everyone who has been disappointed to find that most late Victorian and Edwardian hairdos were made using supplemental false hair, here's the site for you: Your Wardrobe Unlock'd has instructions for how to make your own false hair pieces.
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Natural Beauty Recipe: May Dew Complexion Lotion
1 ounce epsom salts
1 pint water
1/2 dram tincture of benzoin
Dissolve the salts in the water and add the tincture, a drop at a time, with constant shaking. Let stand overnight and then strain or filter.
Apply with a soft cloth, after washing the face and drying it thoroughly. In applying, dab on instead of rubbing and when it has become dry go over the face with a soft, dry cloth. This preparation possesses marked whitening properties, renders the use of powder unnecessary, and is entirely harmless.
-- The Modern Formulary, 1911.
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Nail Polish Color in Victorian Times
Colored nails were done in Victorian/Edwardian times, but they didn't use modern nail polish (it hadn't been invented yet.) What did they use? Why, rouge!
The blog has posted many recipes for nail rouges in the past. But here's another one from 1892 for a special liquid, which seems could also be used to pinken the fingertips as well as the nails:
"Tiny boxes of tinted nail powder, and dainty jars of red cream for tinting both the lips and nails come into play in exercising proper care of the nails and hands; but a good rosy stain for the fingertips may be made as follows: soak an eighth of an ounce of chippings of alkanet for one week in some diluted alcohol -- say an ounce or so, and at the end of this time the tincture will be of a lovely hue. Touch the fingertips with jeweler's cotton dipped in this tincture, blending it properly with another bit of cotton."
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Alkanet Rouge or Turkish Rouge Homemade Blush
So I have gone forth with making a bit of that liquid alkanet rouge... interestingly, I also found another recipe for basically the same stuff under the name "Turkish Rouge" in a book from the 1890s.
It's supposed to macerate for a week, but it started taking on color almost at once. After 7 days it was a deep purple, like red wine.
On the face it maintained the slight purple tone. I was surprised by this, as other cosmetics I have from alkanet are definitely red in color. In fact, this purple tone that I got here is almost identical to some modern powdered color I have -- Bare Minerals Glee All Over Face Color. I sometimes even mix Glee powder with Vaseline to make this very lip color!
The alkanet tincture is slightly buildable but overall it doesn't produce a great deal of pigment where you add it -- which is good for making a natural effect. It actually looks a lot like dousing yourself with red wine. The fingernails, too, become purple where tinted (which is actually kind of unattractive, makes it look like you have bad circulation.) As far as using it to tint the hands, I wouldn't recommend it as it seems to just make them look dirty -- the purple appears more brown in that context.
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American Duchess and Victorian Hairdos
The American Duchess blog has a series of posts about "Edwardian Hair Mysteries." It basically confirms a lot of the things that are said here, but in a tight little package. Check out the series:
Part one: Hair care products
Part two: Hairdressing methods
Part three: Tools of hairdressing
And then, in Part four we are treated to actual hairdressing instructions. Check them out!
Part one: Hair care products
Part two: Hairdressing methods
Part three: Tools of hairdressing
And then, in Part four we are treated to actual hairdressing instructions. Check them out!
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More on Lavender Powder -- "Pistachio Powder" Victorian Makeup
Another lead on the mysterious lavender powder -- it seems a popular mixture in the 1880s was called "Pistachio Powder." It never contained any nuts, and seems to have just been a lavender tinted starch or talc. From there you just "...Perfume nicely, put on a French label, and put up in a fine German-willow box, charge an exhorbitant price (1 dollar to 1 dollar 50 cents according to customer and location) and you will be supplying a so-called pistachio nut face powder."
$1.50 would have had the buying power of almost $40 in today's money, so get a sense of what kind of powder this was.
$1.50 would have had the buying power of almost $40 in today's money, so get a sense of what kind of powder this was.
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