Mascara Was Called ‘Mascaro’. Moon Manicures Were In. And Other Historically Accurate Downton Abbey Beauty Facts To Drop

Turns out we've been using lippie for a long time

rexfeatures_2185163g

by Laura Silver |
Published on

Should you be planning on going to a Halloween party as one of Sunday night's favourite aristos, makeup artist Lisa Eldridge could have made your Downton Abbey dreams come true today with an old-school posh makeup tutorial, demo'd on none other than Lady Edith herself.

Given Downton's reputation for playing fast and loose with historical accuracy, who knows if the gorgeous, fresh-faced natural look Lisa shows us on actress Laura Carmichael has anything to do with what makeup was actually like in the 1920s, when the show's currently set, but it did leave us asking, what was makeup like in the swinging jazz age? Did they even have mascara then? Did wearing lipstick encourage people to get all Chris Noth on you?

Well, wonder no more, thanks to these little fact-nuggets about make-up in Downton's day...

Tan was out - it wasn't until later on that Coco Chanel got everyone hankering for a Riviera tan, as pale skin suggested the indoor pursuits of poshos like the Crawleys. White face-powder kept women looking Lady Mary levels of pale and a weirder way women achieved pale skin was by using lemon juice like a toner. Remember that one next time you have a St Tropez mishap.

The multiple's been going a long time - one of the most popular cosmetics in the early 20th century was a pot of rouge which was dabbed onto lips, cheeks and eyes.

No-makeup-makeup's nothing new either - youth and freshness were the name of the game back when Downton was set, so colour was for achieveing a brisk walk around the grounds of your manor look, as opposed to a Gwen Stefani pout.

As such, to actually look like you had makeup on was frowned upon - until Selfridges opened its makeup counter in 1909, just before Downtown began (as in, when it was set, rather than when it was on, even though sometimes the episodes feel that long) it was only actresses and prozzies who actually wore makeup that was supposed to look like makeup, so it'd be a while before the Crawleys up north embraced a full face.

Mascara was called 'mascaro' in the 20s - and anyone who was willing to bat off the shaming that was still attached to proper make-up could enhance her lashes with a brush and solid cake of product.

The 1920s was the era of the lip - shaping the perfect cupid's bow was to the flappers what contouring is to Kim Kardashian. You could even get metal stencils.

Eyebrows were super-skinny - Clara Bow was the first champion of the shaved-off and drawn back on look in the 1920s, and she's got a lot to answer for as they pretty much stayed that way until Brooke Shields brought the bushy kind back in the 80s.

Nails were all about bare tips - just the centre of the nail was painted with new nail varnishes for a look known as the 'moon manicure'.

Like this? You might also be interested in...

It's 2014 so why are we still judging women by what they wear to work?

How Chanel won the youth vote. Even though buying anything would take you perilously close to your overdraft limit

Taking outfit advice from Pat Butcher is a more fashionable move than you think

Follow Laura on Twitter @laurafleur

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.

Just so you know, we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website - read why you should trust us