My love of pinup runs deep. I love women who are strong and have curves. I love the nostalgia and what it meant to be a woman in the days of the classic pinup. We stood for something……we were women who could do it all make dinner, have a baby and still have flawless eyeliner and pin curls when the men came home! I am amazed by the women of the 50’s and how they juggled it all plus had an immaculate beauty routine. Do you know how long it takes to do victory rolls? Well I can tell you I have done it and it takes me an hour. How many women can honestly say they would even bother to mess with their hair for an hour every single day?I know I am not the only one who has this passion for the days gone by so I am going to give you some easy steps to have that Mad Men look without actually spending an hour or even 30 minutes to achieve it.

First thing is first you must wear foundation and primer. I don’t care what foundation you use it can be Revlon, Dior or anything in between as long as it actually matches your skin tone. When it comes to primer paying a few extra dollars can make a difference. What is primer and what does it do? Primer preps the skin for the foundation and helps smooth the wrinkles and shrink the pores. Any woman over the age of 25 needs this in their makeup bag. Personally I like Nars but whatever works for you is fine. So we have the primer and the foundation now to concealer. Concealer is your best friend so be sure and call for its help every day. Under eyes, around the nose and on the eyelids that’s your bare minimum no matter how old you are. The secret to the retro look is the flawless skin so be sure and prep your canvas and give yourself a perfect slate for all the fun stuff.

Step two, you need to create the rosy glow without looking dated. So many women struggle with blush but for this lesson we are thinking retro so don’t think this is the way to do your everyday look. You want to accentuate the cheekbones and create a strong jawline so you will need two colors of blush. You will need a bright pink, red or coral depending on your coloring and then a neutral. Start with the neutral and follow the cheekbone up all the way to your temple. My two favorites are MAC’s Dollymix and Melba. Now don’t get crazy, start off light and build. What we don’t want is you looking like a bad high school play. Next take your bight color and apply just to the apples of your cheeks and blend with the neutral so they look like they are fading together. Again start off light you can always add more later. Finish with a face powder all over for a soft glowing complexion.

Next we will move on to the lips. Yes I know you are thinking, “what about the eyes???” we will get there but for this look you need to see what the lips are going to do for your skin. You MUST wear color to get this right. I don’t know how many times I have this conversation with Boudoir clients. Even if you are a gloss kind of girl I promise you this look will fail without color. With that in mind don’t think that you have wear bright red. Revlon makes some great pinup colors that are also 16 hour wearing! Tomato, Tulip and Bare Maximum are a few that I like to use. Have fun and play with lip color you will be surprised how much it changes your skin. If you are going with the bright red here are a couple tips. One use liner if you are not using an all day lipstick and number two if have trouble with color “feathering” out try a wax product such as Benefits Dr. Feelgood and apply around the lips.

Okay we are finally to the eyes. The eyes are not as difficult as you might think it’s all about precision and keeping it simple. Someone once told me that simplicity is the key to elegance and that is the look we want. Start with a lid primer and there is only one that I will even think about using and that’s Clinique’s touchbase. I have tried everything out there but this one is tried and true. No more creased lids or smeared eyeliner with this little gem. For eyeliner you can either use liquid or cream not pencil. If you are new to this go with the liquid. Lancome Artliners are the easiest to control. You can use dark brown or black and follow the shape of your eye right on the lash line from corner to corner. If you are not used to liquid this may take practice. Next use a light shadow all over the eye, I recommend Shroom by MAC. Apply all over the lid and up to the brow. Now take a mauve or brownish pink and apply to the crease. This you can make as dark or light as you prefer. I like to make the crease darker on the outside of my eye and fade in to the corners. If you like false lashes this would be the time to use them and if you don’t like them use lots of mascara and show off those lashes! Retro women were all about the lashes so use what you have and make them dramatic. The final optional step for the eyes is liner on the bottom. Usually with this look you wont need it but this comes down to preference. Finish up with filling in your brows and setting with powder and voila you have an easy retro look.