Product Review-Besame Decades of Fragrance-Part 1

As much as I love vintage clothing and hair, and to a lesser extent make up like a good red lip, there is one aspect of vintage style beauty I have never been keen on: perfume.

I was always confused by the dizzying array of perfume options, put off by the price, and most importantly I never much liked how they smelled.  In fact until recently I think the only time I wore perfume in the last 15 years was on my wedding day in 2001.  Still I liked the idea of perfume:

It certainly seemed an important part of vintage beauty rituals which is why I was intrigued when my favorite cosmetics company Besame (I've written about their lipsticks here, and here, and here) came up with their Decades of Fragrance Collection.

At last this was perfume I could understand, aimed at the vintage fanatic, each perfume is meant to capture the essence of a different decade.  As a vintage lover who likes to flit from one decade to the next this really appealed to me, I liked the idea of changing my perfume to match the decade of my outfit.  Also while the perfume is definitely not cheap, each rollerball costs $25.00, it is more economical then many department store perfumes I have seen.   I decided to take the perfume plunge and try fragrance representing my three favorite decades:  the  1920s, 1930s, and 1950s.

The 1920s perfume is described as having notes of mandarin, jasmine, and cocoa (as well as a bunch of other stuff).  I have no clue what notes are, but this one smelled quite good to me.   I did feel it smelled a bit cocoa-ey and fruity and I could see it in on the neck of a flapper in a jazzy speakeasy, which of course is the idea.  I definitely like wearing it with my few 20s outfits, even if no one else knows it is there, it seems to fade quickly on me, I do.

The 30s perfume is, to my nose at least, stronger smelling then the 1920s one.  It is described as embodying Marlene Dietrich, cigarettes and seduction, which even if it isn't my look has a definite appeal.

Some of the notes are mandarin, tobacco, and vanilla, and I do notice a subtley smokey aspect in this one.  It's a bit darker then the others, which is appropriate for a dark and troubled decade in history.   The 1930s are the decade that first got me into vintage and I have lots of 30s outfits and I do like wearing this fragrance with them, it's currently the lowest of my three vials which shows how much I wear it!  It adds the perfect touch to a 30s look and it seems to last on my a bit longer on me then the others.

The last fragrance I tried was the 1950s once. 

 The 50s are, tied with the 1930s, my favorite decade.   1950s, as well as 30s, looks make up the majority of my wardrobe, and I would say my day to day look is usually somewhat 1950s. 

The 1950s fragrance is described as evoking Billie Holliday

who I adore (after all what other Diva would let her dog chew on her shoes),
with a floweryy scent of gardenia and frescia.  I find this to be the prettiest smelling scent straight out of the bottle.  It smells powdery and like flowers and make up in a good way.  Picture the most glamorous make up table you can imagine:

Sadly it fades a little quickly on me, so I need to reapply it multiple times if I want the scent to last all day.  Still I wear it quite a lot, and its a bit of mystery to me why there seems to be more of this one then the 1930s one in the bottle because I really think I wear this one more.  It adds just the right sweet scent to my 1950s  style dresses and jeans.

Since each Besame fragrance retails for $25 dollars I was able to get three for about the price of one department store fragrance, and they all smell, at least to me, infinitely better then any of the better known perfumes I have sampled. 

My only complaint is they seem to fade quickly, but that may just be my body chemistry, perhaps I reject perfume?  I haven't read  any comments on the Besame website from anyone else saying the fragrances fade quickly.  It  is also somewhat mitigated by the fact that they come in a rollerball:

and thus are easy to carry with you and reapply.  Overall I am very happy I purchased these fragrances and I am calling this post Besame Decades of Fragrance part 1 because I hope to try the other scents 1910, 1940, and 1960 soon!

Product Review-Besame's Blood Red Lipstick

I've written before of my penchant for Besame lipsticks.  I wore lipstick before discovering Besame two years ago, but I didn't care about it much and I was never brand loyal.  Today, however, I'm a total Besame convert.  I'd never wear anything else.

 Besame is the only modern make up company with a true commitment to replacating the glamourous looks of the past, and they do an amazing job of it.  Each of their shades is based on actual vintage lipsticks and is named for the year that inspired it.  Unsurprisingly, given their vintage aesthetic, there are plenty of red shades in the line, 

and several lovely non-reds too.

Another wonderful thing about Besame is that unlike a lot of other vintage repro companies that seem perennially stuck in the 50s, Besame regularly explores earlier eras.  Their latest shade is a perfect example.  Besame Blood Red 1922 is an absolutely gorgeous color that really captures the flapper era.  It's a beautiful red that the company website describes as looking like "a freshly bitten lip."  They also describe it as the "deepest red for the ultimate flapper", and while I agree it has a deepness too it, the very thing I love about this shade is that it's not too dark.  Previously when sporting 20s looks I usually wore  their Noir Red, a  a dark plum 1920s shade that while pretty, I find too dark for my complexion.   Enter Blood Red and my flapper lipstick dilemma is solved.

The shade definitely works well with 20s looks and is very pretty worn in the cupids bow fashion of the era.    The triangular shape of Besame lipsticks makes it very easy even for make up klutzes like myself to draw on a cupids bow, a la Clara Bow, no liner required.  

When I purchased the lipstick I also bought the Besame travel lip brush.

I was a bit surprised when I first saw the brush because its much thicker then any other lip brush I've ever used.  However, since you can use the edges of Besame lipsticks as liner the thicker brush makes sense.   You paint on a coat of lipstick after lining your lips and the brush does an excellent job of applying the color smoothly.

Blood Red may be advertised as a 1922 shade but as any reader of this blog knows, I'm not loyal to any particular vintage era.  I've been wearing Blood Red nearly daily this October and I've found that it works equally well with 1930s

and 1950s looks.

 Of course most importantly of all Besame does not test any of their cosmetics at any level production on animals so you can wear their lipstick guilt free.  

Blood Red retails for $22 on the Besame website, which may sounds like a lot when compared to drugstore lipsticks but the quality can't be beat and the shades last forever.   I have tubes from two years ago of Besame shades that are nearly full despite regular wear.  Do yourself a favor and if you plan to buy a lipstick this fall, make it Besame Blood Red, after all what color could be more perfect for the Halloween season!

 

Adventures in Vintage Hair Styling-Bright Blue Hair for Once In a Blue Moon

Technically this isn't really a vintage hair adventure, as blue hair isn't vintage unless you count old lady blue rinses (which I love),

 but I've noticed that plenty of people in the vintage community rock crazy hair colors, the sort of tones that would never grow out of anyones head.  Probably when your clothing ceases to be conventional your comfortable  with your hair going the same way.   I admired many of these tresses before trying pink hair this Spring and for my three week summer break from teaching I decided to try something a little crazier, blue hair.  

I'm no hair expert but I read everything I could online, there is a lot of information, before I took the plunge.  First off your hair needs to be a light blonde, at least a platinum color and if you want pastel colors you need Daenyrs Targaryen style ice blonde:

I was afraid that my own light blonde hair, which I get professionally blonded at the best salon ever, Artistic Hair in Jersey City, was to yellow and would make the blue dye turn green on my locks.   So to counteract this potential pitfall I used Manic Panic Virgin Snow toner.   I had washed my hair with clarifying shampoo the day before so it was clean and free of any products.  Then I applied the toner, which is not a bleach but a blue based product meant to remove yellow tones from blonde hair.  I saturated my hair with it and covered it with a shower cap and left it on for an hour.

This was the result.

Not a dramatic difference but it was a bit lighter.   

Next I applied the blue.  I used Manic Panic Voodoo Blue.  I choose Manic Panic expressly because their colors fade quickly.   I've since read you can add a bit of purple to the blue to counteract green tones, if I ever do this again I'm going to try that, but for this go I used Voodoo Blue only.  This is what it looks like straight out of the jar.

  It took one jar to cover my hair  so anyone with longer hair will need at least two jars.  I used a tint brush to cover my hair completely and even with gloves and vaseline at my hair line there was blue everywhere!  Seriously my bathroom looked like an alien murder scene.  Luckily the dye came off my skin pretty easily and most of it came off the tile.  

I covered my hair in another plastic shower cap and left it on for four hours.  

That is 8 times as long as the jar says but everything I read online said the longer the better.  I also applied heat a few times for a minute or so using the low setting on the dryer.  

After the wait time I rinsed it with cold water in the kitchen sink, cold water is a must, and don't get in the shower unless you want your whole body blue.   I also rinsed with a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and cold water since I read that helps set the color.   

The next morning my hair looked like this:

It is basically the color of a blue raspberry tootsie roll pop.  Here is a side view a few days later after I washed and pin curled it, excuse the frizz!

To maintain the color I will wash it only about twice a week in COLD water with a mix of Clairol Shimmering Lights shampoo, white conditioner, and a dab of the voodoo blue hair dye.  Note: you need to wear gloves while you shampoo this dye comes out easily and your hands will be blue.

This hair is definitely a love it or hate it kind of thing.  I've gotten plenty of compliments, as well as odd stares, my father in law was horrified and my husband isn't crazy about it, though he doesn't hate it.  I have mixed feelings myself and realize its probably a color more suited to a teen or a women in her early twenties (though I never would have had the confidence at those ages), then a 38 year old, but I certainly don't regret doing it.  It's fun and I do feel a bit like a land locked mermaid.  I'm removing it in September for the start of school though, so this is a brief vacation fling.   

Once in a blue moon crazy colored hair is a blast and I'm not  ready to stop experimenting yet.  I'm already thinking about trying a purple or pink on my roots for my next hair adventure.  Even though I am fond of unnatural hair colors I hate brown roots with blonde hair and bright colors seem a fun way to disguise them and stretch out the time between professional dye jobs.

Have you ever dyed, or wanted to dye, your hair a crazy color?  

Happy Birthday Esther Williams-Queen of The Seas (and The Hair Flower)

Today marks the 95th anniversary of the birth of one of the most gorgeous stars of all time, Hollywood's Mermaid, Esther Williams.

Williams a gifted athlete, was perhaps not the best actress, but she was charming and amazingly beautiful.   While film can never tell us what a person was really like, Williams always seemed like a kind person to me and her films shine with her delightful personality.    Her style perfectly captured one of my favorite eras in mid century fashion, the post war 1940s and the early 50s.   

While she is of course best known for her amazing swim suits, many on display in my favorite of her films, Neptune's Daughter, she also seemed to have a favorite accessory, the hair flower.  Esther's gorgeous chestnut locks were rarely without floral adornment.

Now I'm no Esther, I only dog paddle and I certainly don't have her gorgeous tresses, but I do love hair flowers.  Since I'm hair styling challenged they let me add a festive vintage look to my locks with minimal effort.  Most of my favorites are front the brilliant Jamie's Etsy shop Chatterblossom. Her beautiful creations are made from genuine vintage millinery flowers.  I have quite a collection by now.

My latest hair flower though is from Luxulite.  It's a tiki style hair clip and its tons of fun, inexpensive (less then ten dollars), and it really reminds me of Esther's flowers.

Perfect summery hair gear.  Now if only I could swim like this, and had such a fabulous pool!

Adventures in Vintage Hair-Pillow Soft Rollers

Recently, roughly 4 years after beginning my foray into vintage style, I'm experience something of a seismic fashion shift.  I was first drawn to vintage because of my love of 1930s styles.  Particularly the looks sported by Ginger Rogers and the fictional Miss Lemon on Poirot.

I sported 1920s and 40s looks too, but the 30s was my decade of choice.

These days the 1930s remains my favorite fashion decade but four years into wearing vintage I've realized that clothing from this era just might not be the most practical.  Authentic clothing that is 80 years old is extremely hard to find a very, very delicate. 

This dress only survived a few wearings before the seams became too fragile to wear

 Plus the repro options for 30s looks are limited exclusively to custom made which can be pricey and time consuming.   


So for those reasons I've recently been getting more and more into 1950s fashions.  Fifties clothes are fun and practical, there really is nothing more comfortable to wear then a full skirt, and both the genuine vintage and reproduction options are less expensive and more plentiful.    Plus the older I get, I'll be forty in two years, the more I'm drawn to fun fashion, particularly the whimsical novelty prints of the 1950s and the kitschy purses and accessories.  I guess I'm getting less mature with age.


This change has presented something of a hair crises.  I have absolutely no hair styling skills what-so-ever!   For years I had a pixie cut and didn't even own a hair dryer or a brush.    When I got first got into vintage I had a sort of short bob that could work with 20s and 30s looks and was very easy to style.

It worked for 50s looks to,  but I get  bored easily.  Lately  I've been looking at so many fun 50s fashion images that I'm really craving, curly mid-century hair.   My current dream hair is a 1950s style bob with bangs.  (Bangs are my gaur security blanket).

I love this ladies hair.  It's styled but not stiff.  

  

Vintage blogger Tasha of By Gum, By Golly has an amazing version:

What I love about this cut I think it could be styled for any decade from the 20s to the early 60s, and I certainly don't plan to give up my 30s looks completely.

I need to change my hair cut to get this look, and I'll need to grow my hair longer in the back then in the front, the reverse of what I have now.  However, length and cut is only half the bottle.  This look requires some styling skill and hair rollers.  I'm very, very new to vintage hair and my attempts are beyond amatuerish.  I joined the face book Vintage Updos For Modern Girls and those ladies are pros!  I've learned a lot but I still have a long way go to.

I began my vintage hair experiments with some pillow soft rollers I bought at the drug store.  I was hoping they'd be comfy to sleep in.  After washing my hair I just combed through some motions setting lotion and then twisted it up in the rollers (an interesting look).

I slept on it that night, not really all that comfy  but not agonizing, and this was the result the first day.

Not too bad, but not great.   Sadly by the afternoon the curls where seriously deflating.   I don't think the humidity helped.  

I don't wash my hair every night so that evening I just spritzed it with water to dampen it and then re-set it in the rollers.   The next morning  I was pretty pleased with the results.

It's a still a long way from perfect.  There is frizz going on and I don't quite have the curl height I wanted, but I'm going to keep practicing.  The curls don't seem to last long and I just don't love sleeping on rollers.  1950s ladies must have been slaves to their hair!  I'm determined to find an every day vintage look that will work quickly and well.   Any tips are appreciated!