Book Review - Max Factor, The Man Who Changed the Faces of the World

Max Factor

The Man Who Changed the Faces of the World

This book tells the story of Max Faktor who was born in Poland and worked as a beautician and wigmaker to the Russian Imperial Family in the 1900s. He brought his expertise to America after he fled Russia with his family.

Max Factor was a magician with hair and cosmetics and brought make-up to the average woman, who previously thought only stage performers and prostitutes painted their faces.

The book contains numerous stories of how Max's transformations of actors and actresses helped them to become huge stars including Clara Bow, Joan Crawford, Rudolph Valentino and Rita Hayworth. In 1930, his transformation of Jean Harlow from a natural blonde to a platinum blonde launched a national craze.

 It also tells of his genius in developing new technologies in makeup to keep up with the changes in the movie making industry. In 1926 he developed water-proof makeup as it was needed for a spy film Mare Nostrum. This was later used in hundreds of productions including those starring Esther Williams. Bette Davis and Claudette Colbert actually refused to appear in Technicolour films as the public considered them a novelty and the Panchromatic makeup used in black and white films was unflattering on colour film. After several years of research, Max and his son developed the now famous Pan-Cake makeup, which the stars loved so much it kept disappearing from the dressing rooms!

This is an extraordinary story of how one man changed the face of Hollywood and the average woman and I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in makeup, pinup or vintage glamour and Hollywood movie stars.

Let me know if you have any favourite biographies of pinups, burlesque or Hollywood movie stars, as I am always on the lookout for a great read!

Friday Photo

A pic from a recent 'boudoir' style shoot with Whiskey and Rye Photography.

Boudoir is French for a lady's private bedroom, sitting room or dressing room.
Boudoir photography aims to create an erotic or semi-nude portrait where the nudity is generally implied rather than explicit. These are usually shot in a studio or luxury hotel suite.
Boudoir portraits are popular for brides-to-be to surprise their future husband, anniversaries, birthdays or Valentine's day gifts.

Hollywood Costume Exhibition

Last week I was lucky enough to be in Melbourne and have a bit of spare time to visit the Hollywood Costume Exhibition at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI).

The exhibition doesn't just bring together a fabulous collection of costumes from film from a period of 100 years, but illustrates the costume designer's creative process from script to screen.

It was amazing to see costumes worn by Marilyn Munroe, Liz Taylor, Ginger Rogers, Hedy Lamarr and Audrey Hepburn.

Costume for Liza Elliot (Ginger Rogers) in Lady in the Dark, 1944

Many of the costumes were displayed in an interesting way with the mannequins having monitors for heads which played a loop of video of the actor's face.

There were the iconic costumes such as the green velvet curtain dress from Gone With the Wind, Marilyn Munroe's subway grate dress from The Seven Year Itch and Dorothy's gingham dress from The Wizard of Oz.

There were also costumes from more recent movies such as Spiderman, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Hunger Games and The Great Gatsby.

Costumes from the Great Gatsby

Interviews with stars, directors and designers provided more detailed background for some costumes such as the green suit worn by Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and Daniel Day-Lewis' Bill the Butcher costume from Gangs of New York - both movies that I have seen recently.

Costume for Tippi Hedren in The Birds

There was a spotlight on Meryl Streep and her many transformations in the movies including Out of Africa, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Iron Lady.

Basically, the exhibition had to be seen to be believed! So if you get a chance, get along to it.

Now I am looking forward to seeing the James Bond exhibition coming to the Melbourne Museum later this year.

Friday Photo

A classic Bettie Page pose. Be sure to rise up slightly off your heels to give your thighs a more flattering line!
The tiki is carved from a piece of vintage teak that was originally used as a grain mill.

Book review - Vintage Beauty Parlor

Vintage Beauty Parlor

by Hannah Wing
Photography by Penny Wincer

This book provides instructions on how to achieve "flawless hair and  make-up in iconic vintage styles" from the 1920s to the 1980s.
The book starts with a timeline of key trends through the decades, followed by some basic hair and makeup techniques. Methods for achieving the vintage hair looks using modern tools are used throughout the book. 

The instructions seem detailed enough to follow and are accompanied by step by step pictures. 

The makeup directions contain a similar level of detail and tend to focus on one aspect of the look that is unique to the era, such as 1920s Cupid's bow lips or 1950s rockabilly bold eyeliner.
Most of the hairstyles I have seen covered before in other books, but the modern mohawk look (which is achieved without shaving the head!) I found pretty unique.

One thing I really like about this book is the section entitled "Accessorizing this look" that appears with each era. It describes the perfect accessories, such as gloves, bags and jewellery to complete your look. I think this is really important as some overlook these small, but vital, finishing touches that can make the difference between an ok outfit and a stunning one.

If you have a favourite vintage styling book, let me know, as I'm always on the lookout to add some new inspiration to my library.

Friday Photo

As well as 40s and 50s vintage glamour, I do love the 60s look. This photo is from a 60s styled set we did.
I am showing off my Rockabetty bag which has a personalised pin up doll inside.

Stretching

We all know how important stretching is for your body, but what about your mind? When was the last time you got out of your comfort zone and tried something new?

It can be daunting to start something new, especially if you are used to being the expert in your field, but there are also a lot of rewards. You will probably meet some new people and you may even be surprised how friendly and helpful they will be. You might think others will laugh at you when you are a beginner, but many people who have a passion for what they do love to share it with others. You can also get a fantastic sense of achievement when you finally master something you thought you never could.

Last year I took some lessons in hula hooping. Now, I'll never be a performer or anything, but it is fun, and it was absolutely awesome when I managed to master a trick which at the start seemed impossible! (Let's face it, at the VERY beginning, it was even awesome once I was able to keep the hoop up for more than a few seconds!!)

Last year I also started doing pinup modelling. It was a bit scary to start with to put myself out there, but then I got my first pictures published, and haven't looked back since. I get a lot of support and positive feedback on my page from my wonderful followers.

Whiskey and Rye publications 2013

As part of setting up our own photography studio I decided that I would like to do hair and makeup. I'd had a bit of experience doing makeup before, but not at this level. So, I did my research, took courses in these areas and learnt a lot. At times it was frustrating, but sticking with it really paid off!

Miss Ivana B Serious. Hair and makeup by me!

So, what am I doing next? How am I stretching myself now? Well, I'm currently working with my personal trainer to master handstands and chin ups, and I'm seeing improvements all the time. I've also started pole dance lessons and there are lots of challenges to master there. I'll keep you updated and hopefully have some photos soon. In the meantime, I recommend allowing yourself to be a beginner at something. Try something new, you may not like it, but if you don't give it a try you'll never know.

Friday Photo

I couldn't go past this for the Friday photo today!
Happy 4th July to all my American friends!

How to prepare for your photoshoot.

You don't need to be a model or performer to have a photoshoot. A professional photo is a wonderful way of capturing a memory that you will cherish for years to come.

I have put together a list of tips that will help you prepare for your photoshoot, so that you get the most out of it.

Firstly, collect some pictures of poses that you would like to do and practise these. Try different facial expressions in the mirror and see what suits you.

Practise posing and facial expressions and make use of props!

Check that the clothing you are planning to wear fits well and is ironed and fresh. Try your outfit on before the shoot so that you can check everything works together. For example, if you are wearing a halter dress, make sure you have a strapless bra.

If you colour your hair, have it freshly dyed.

Attend to any waxing/shaving 2-3 days prior to the shoot to avoid any redness.

Depending on your shoot you can decide what colour (if any) polish you want to wear, but make sure your nails are well manicured regardless.

Virtue Van Tassel
You should be well manicured and well rested for the big day.

Avoid any fake tans, including spray tans. It is difficult to fix a blotchy or orange tan. It is possible to add a 'digital tan' in post processing if you would like your skin to look warmer.

On the day, be careful of tight fitting clothes such as bras or socks, which can leave red marks on your skin. I also suggest wearing a blouse/shirt that you can unbutton to get changed so as not to ruin your hair and makeup.

Bring a spare pair of tights/pantyhose - just in case.

Bring along any accessories or props that you would like to use.

Finally, don't have a heavy night prior to your shoot. If you have had a late night with or without alcohol, you may end up with red, puffy eyes and not be at your best.