With the current abundance of cosmetics, sometimes we can’t help but remember the (un)good old days of total scarcity, when women also desperately wanted to be beautiful, but had nothing.
And, nevertheless, there was still something, and something our mothers, and then we, used it.
Let's be nostalgically horrified by the patristic makeup of yesteryear.
Everyone probably remembers the episode from “Office Romance” (1977), in which, as soon as they arrive at work, the “statistical beauties” go on a rampage.
Even from this episode it is clear how modest the cosmetic range was in those days: all women apply gray-blue shadows to their eyelids, line their eyes and thinly plucked eyebrows with pencils that suspiciously resemble ordinary ones for drawing, and tint their lips with lipstick of a vague red-pink tone.
The transformed Lyudmila Prokofyevna then appears with approximately the same makeup.
By the way, Nadya from “The Irony of Fate” (1975) appeared on the screen with absolutely the same makeup two years earlier.
But no matter how modest the choice of cosmetics was, Soviet screen beauties cannot be called behind the Western fashion of that time.
On the Maybelline advertising poster we see very similar makeup: blue shadows almost to the eyebrows, eyebrows in a thin semicircle, quite bright reddish blush and matching lipstick.
The fatal blonde Svetlana Svetlichnaya wore very similar makeup in “The Diamond Arm” (1968), only the actress’s eyes were lined with bright “arrows” in the fashion of the 60s.
A predilection for gray-blue shadows generally characterized the makeup of the late 60s and 70s. True, for Soviet women it was not so much a matter of taste as of the notorious choice - why this particular shade was presented on sale most often.
Natalya Kustinskaya in the film “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Profession” (1973)
The legendary “Yakin threw his kikimora!”
In the same film, the actress demonstrates the iconic cosmetic product of Soviet women - mascara in a stick that you should spit in.
They spat in the mascara, and then the most desperate ones also separated the eyelashes with needles or pins.
The effect was stunning, especially if they first resorted to another terrifying procedure - curling the eyelashes with a hot knife or spoon.
The famous Leningradskaya mascara
An even complexion was ensured by another legendary cosmetic product - the Ballet foundation from the Svoboda factory, which lays on the skin in a thick layer, creating the effect of a smooth, albeit unnatural mask.
By the way, the cream recently experienced a rebirth, and now “Ballet 2000” is presented on the market, which, according to rumors, is very good.
Then the skin was powdered - sometimes simply with what was at hand. For example, in provincial cities, women used ordinary talc or tooth powder for these purposes.
On paper, everything, as usual, sounded much more luxurious: “Powder is distinguished by a number of characteristics. In terms of consistency, it can be powder (the most common), in the form of tablets (compact), ointment-like (cream powder) and liquid. Powder powder is divided into four groups according to the degree of grinding and type of fragrance: the highest quality - “East”, “Velvety”, “Ballet”, etc.; Group A (good quality) - “Red Moscow”, “Kremlin”, “Hellas”, “Fairy Tale”, etc.; Group B (medium) - “Mask”, “Camellia”, “Chypre”, etc.; group B (mass) - “Carmen”, “Lilac”, “Violet”, etc. According to the intended purpose, the powder is produced for oily skin (“Chypre”, “White Night”, “Leningrad”, etc.) and dry (“Velvet” , “Magnolia”, “Red Poppy”, “Cream Powder”, etc.); by color - white, pink (for blondes), Rachel No. 1, 2 and 3, tan (for brown-haired and brunettes).”
Proud representatives of group A are “Red Moscow” perfume and powder.
Charming round paper boxes for “mass” powder.
“Carmen”
“Carnation” and “Lily of the Valley”
The recommendations of that time for applying powder are interesting: “Powder can be applied in the following sequence: first powder the chin, then the circumference of the mouth, cheeks, forehead, nose. It is not hygienic to use powder puffs for this purpose, as they quickly become dirty. It’s better to use a clean cotton swab every time.”
Powder “Leningradskaya” for normal and oily skin (produced in 1985, price 85 kopecks).
Do you remember fat blush in plastic boxes?
My mother had exactly the same ones, only in a very vibrant pink color.
By the way, many women even then, with their own minds, reached the now fashionable technique among makeup artists - using lipstick as blush.
As far as I remember, all lipsticks were produced in plastic cases, something like this.
The lead of the Cosmetic pencils - black, brown, blue and green - was no softer than the wood from which these pencils were made. Therefore, in order to line the eyes, the pencils had to be actively moistened with saliva. The result was thick and uneven lines.
And sometimes even such pencils were not available. Then the most common ones were used, fortunately the difference between them and cosmetic ones was not so great.
The look was completed with nail polish, most often matte and approximately the same reddish shade as the lipstick of the heroines of “Office Romance.” But there was also a mother-of-pearl one, shining with a desperate brilliance.
Nail polish from the 70s
Well, and of course, perfume.
The selection of perfumes was much better than the range of decorative cosmetics.
I remember, in my distant childhood, the limit of my dreams was my own bottle of “Natasha” perfume (Novaya Zarya factory, 1 rub. 50 kopecks).
And my mother also had the perfume “Scythian Gold”, which seemed to me the most delightful in the world! They were released by the same “New Dawn”.
The fashion of the 80s demanded a completely exaggerated image: bright and shiny fabrics, lurex, massive jewelry made of plastic and fake “gold”, fluffy hairstyles and “war paint” of unimaginable shades.
The crazy backcombing was generously doused with “Prelest” hairspray, so that the hairstyle literally became hard to the touch. The higher and harder the bouffant, the more beautiful it is!
Lips had to be painted with shiny lipstick of poisonous colors. And lips outlined with a brown pencil and tinted with pale pearlescent lipstick were considered especially chic.
Cosmetics of Western brands began to appear in “currency” stores, where mere mortals could not get into.
All women began to dream of Lancome’s “golden roses” and Dior powders and lipsticks packaged in blue boxes.
Estee Lauder blush from the company store, which was accessible only by special invitation.
In the late 80s and early 90s, fashion was still flamboyant. Blue, green, purple glitter shadows up to the eyebrows, thick pencil eyeliner, feverish spots of blush and lips visible a kilometer away.
My first makeup looked something like this, only the shadows were green and my lips and cheeks were crimson.
But now it has become much easier to achieve a fashionable look - the market is flooded with cheap brands of a wide variety of cosmetics. The Ruby Rose brand kits alone guaranteed ultra-fashionable makeup.
A necessary attribute of the image is nail polishes in all colors of the rainbow. Particularly loved was the American brand KiKi, which produced glittering varnishes of the most incredible shades, due to which nails peeled, turned yellow and broke (personally, I ended up with a nail on the thumb of my right hand cracked “to the meat”), but for what reason? you will go in the name of beauty.
And then the Soviet Union ended, and a completely different story began.
