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1950s Beauty Products

Clarins Since 1954, the Clarins Group has used its unrivaled expertise in the field of beauty to offer its consumers the safest, most effective products that deliver real results. Beautiful Society women prefer Pond's beauty Tissues - made by beauty experts (1951 Pond's Tissues)

Antonia Drexel Earle,
Society Lady

"I've become completely spoiled by the softer texture of Pond's Tissues," says Mrs. Earle. "They're simply wonderful for removing face creams- without tearing. Marvelous for handkerchiefs!"

The Marchioness of Milford Haven, Society Lady

"I like tissues that are soft -yet firm enough to remove make-up completely. Pond's Tissues, I've found, are perfect...they really do have unusual quality."

The Duchess of Rutland,
Society Lady

"Pond's tissues are far and away the loveliest facial tissues I've ever used--so soft and yet so strong." You'll notice their unusual quality when you use Pond's Tissues for handkerchiefs."

Hollywood's Hottest 1950s Stars

Doris Day

Audrey Hepburn

Grace Kelly

Tina Louise

Dorothy McGuire

Marilyn Monroe

Debbie Reynolds

Elizabeth Taylor

Natalie Wood

RETRO-SPECTIVE BEAUTY AND COSMETICS

1950s

Elizabeth Arden Lipstick and Nail Polish Guide What were the popular cosmetics and beauty products of the 1950s? Are any of these beauty products still around today?

Elizabeth Arden (née Florence Nightingale Graham) started her salon in 1910 on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Her salon's signature was a bright red door, and the salon and her treatments soon became popular with the well-heeled. The business expanded into a complete line of cosmetics, perfume - Blue Grass was the first, and into couture clothing. (Click here for an Elizabeth Arden Timeline).

Ms. Arden died in 1966, but the cosmetics line she created is still going strong.

To the left: 1952 Elizabeth Arden Lipstick and Nail Polish guide. Ever Wondered: "Which Elizabeth Arden nail polish should I wear with which Elizabeth Arden Lipstick" Now you know! Assuming you can track down the original shades!

Removing Stains From Hands

The quickest way to do this is to rub them with a mixture of lemon juice and water.

Bunny Yeager's Pin-Up Girls Of The 1950s - One measurement of the standard of beauty in the 1950s would be the perennial pin-up girl. Of course, this would reflect the standard of beauty from the male's point of view, which as some women know, is not the same as how women judge each other! The pin-up girls all have one thing in common - Can you tell what it is?

1950s Dorothy Gray Facial Cream Advertisement Cosmetic companies certainly did not shy away from using good, old fashion fear as a motivator to purchase their products. Should you not buy Dorothy Gray Salon face cream, your husband will leave you for another woman and you will die alone. This tragedy is compounded by the fact that nothing they had back then actually worked! (Strivectin hadn't been invented yet.)

The only thing that prevented millions of wrinkly women from being abandoned in favor of their smooth-skinned counterparts was the fact that divorce was more than frowned upon and not quite so easy as it is today.

1951
"Does Your Husband Look Younger than You Do?"

They caught them early too....(I bet these girls didn't wear ripped jeans and belly button rings!)

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice - Ad for a Hairdressing Salon for First Day of School Appointment.
1951
Ah yes, the good old days, when charming young ladies made a trip to the beauty salon in preparation for that first day of school! Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice Of course that's what little girls are made of! (Except when you tell them to clean their rooms)

1958 Zest Soap Ad - Feel Really Clean

1958
"Feel Really Clean - Zest totally new kind of bath and beauty bar"

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Tell us at the retro housewife hotline!

The Beehive

How to style your hair into a beehive: Backcomb your hair, (hold your hair with one hand and brush from your hand towards your scalp), then hairspray the heck out of it, and shape your hair into a high mound on the top of your head.

1959 Sears Ad for Time-Out - Sensational Cosmetic Discovery Helps You Regain Younger Skin Beauty - almost overnight

Just out. An exciting, new skin care discovery— "TIME OUT" which coaxes the return of teen age texture to aging complexions. Contains wonderful new moisture control lotion which performs miracles on exposed skin areas. "TIME OUT" acts in the skin, not on it.

POTENT! One little dab of "TIME OUT" containing Natural Moisture Factor 100% N. M. F. 100* applied at night seeps in -sets up a moisture factor, which helps you regain a more youthful-like complexion, while you sleep. Use "TIME OUT" as a foundation for your make-up -it disappears immediately - moisturizes. Never greasy, never messy, its delicate fragrance surrounds you with a spring-like halo while it creates a satin-smooth "feel" under your make-up. 1959

MAKE-UP FOR SPRING

This spring calls for a new make-up to go with fashion's emphasis on pastel and neutral shades and on the flattery of violet, soft green and gentle gray. This girl starts off her spring make-up with (below) a softening lip pomade. It helps her lipstick to glide on smoothly and to stay on. How To Apply The Make-Up For Spring, 1957

For evening, her lipstick is a deep pink with just a touch of violet. Since she's a brunette, she's using (above) an ivory make-up foundation, the lightest shade she can use. It contains a bit of pink. Since her eyes are brown, she smooths on a leaf-green eye shadow over a film of petroleum jelly. Girls with brown eyes can try out the delicate blue and mauve eyeshadows too. Both are ideal for this spring's romantic colors.
March, 1957

Nose Emphasized By Type Hairdo

Women with large noses must watch what they do with their coiffures. Hair pulled severely back from the face tends to emphasize the nose. This is especially true with a pony tail which young women seem to like.
June, 1959

Bouffant Bangs New in Hairdos

Perhaps you would like a new hairdo but with the least fuss. How about bouffant bangs? Roll a plump strip of cotton batting into a kerchief and tie it across your forehead. Comb your bangs over this pad and then set them with a hairspray. Let the spray dry, remove the pad and comb lightly. It takes about ten minutes.
June, 1959

1950s Avon Ad

Avon 1950
"Avon brings you 13 shades in Color-last Lipstick and matching Nail Polish"

Avon 2006
Still bringing us new shades! Let's see...That's 56 years, and 4 seasons per year, and (est.) 13 new shades per year...(56 x 4 x 13) = 2,912 new shades of lip color, nail polish and rouge! I bet nobody else has that many! Avon must be THE BEST!