A Lash Into The Past Pt. III: The Roaring 20s! | Makeup Timeline | Luxe Lashes

Take a lash into the past makeup trends of the 1920s with Arielle Davis, owner and founder of Luxe Lashes in Richmond, Va.! 

Our last Lash Into The Past left us in the early 1900s, with Max Factor opening up the first makeup salon in L.A. in 1909, and in 1918, introducing the first makeup for film actors, “Flexible Greasepaint,” to make actors appear more soft and human on screen. With the growth in the film industry, came to influence of celebrity culture, particularly in setting the stage for the makeup of the day!

Many of the distinct makeup looks of the day were attributed to movie stars like Clara Bow. The iconic scarlet-red Cupid’s bow lip was Clara’s signature look that soon stained the lips of the women of the roaring twenties! Thanks to actresses Myrna Long and Jean Harlow, plucking and shaping one’s eyebrows into a particular shape became a thing. Thin, high-arched eyebrows added such drama to the screen! The Prohibition “Flapper” made bold statements with intensely colored eyes that developed into what we all know and love, the “Smoky Eye.”

By the late 1920s, the beauty industry grew to roughly 18,000 beauty salons in America as a multi-million dollar industry. There were 1300 brands and shades of face powders, 350 rouges, and 100 different red lipsticks! But the road to looking good and living luxe had only just begun, beauties!