Our Vintage Queen no 17 shares her beauty secrets: How to get luminous skin – the vintage way

My absolute desert-island beauty product is also the one that’s been with us the longest. Cold cream has been around for centuries, and it was something that our grandmothers would never have done without. There is a very good reason that this traditional product was so popular for so long, it really works. Use it as a cleanser, a deep-cleaning face mask, and even a moisturiser and eye-lash conditioner. It leaves skin baby soft, never tight or dry. And it’s incredibly cheap.

Cold cream’s main ingredient, mineral oil, has got rather a bad reputation in recent years as being comedogenic, or pore-clogging, but this isn’t strictly true. Actually, the best way to draw oil and impurities out of your skin is to use oil. It might sound counterproductive but the theory is sound. Oil dissolves oil, rather than stripping it off your face and causing your sebum glands to overcompensate and produce even more. It really is wonderful stuff. If you’re still not convinced, just take a look at Eve Lom’s  celebrated cleanser. Retailing at £48.00 ($79) for 100ml, a quick glance at the ingredients reveals it is nothing more than simple cold cream, with a few fancy botanicals and parabens thrown in.

I choose Boots’ Traditional Cold Cream Cleanser because I love its retro packaging, and you get even more for your money than with Pond’s, but many vintage girls swear by the latter too. Using it in my evening ritual never fails to make me feel glamorous. I apply it in my bathroom mirror, wearing my vintage dressing gown, thinking of all the Hollywood stars and glamorous grannies that did the same all those years ago. I massage a generous dollop of it into my face, and remove with a steamy flannel, following with some more refreshing witch hazel.

The stars of yesteryear would probably have finished with a Vanishing Cream, such as the one Boots are doing as part of their Original Formula range, but I don’t find I need to use moisturiser at all. A caveat: a girl can have too much of a good thing, and if I use cold cream in the morning, or fail to remove it well at night, it can lead to breakouts, so use with caution!

My final vintage beauty essential is one so popular today that supermodels have been said to swear by it. Created in the Thirties, allegedly to soothe the legs of its creator’s beloved racehorses, Elizabeth Arden’s 8 Hour Cream is a staple in many modern stars’ and makeup artists’ cosmetic bags, and one that never leaves my bedside table. Some people aren’t fond of the smell, being slightly medicinal; but I adore it, and can never go back to boring old Vaseline (itself a vintage classic, of course).

Last year, (on 8 August 2008 to be exact) , Elizabeth Arden brought out a commemorative vintage container, glass, with a metal lid. So much more chic than the plastic squeezy tubes. It’s pricey, but lasts a long time, and it can be used on rough skin, cuticles, grazes, sunburn, the list goes on. Try it – I guarantee its soothing vitamin E and salicylic acid formula will ensure you wake up with lips as kissably smooth as those Golden Era glamour girls’, and ready for that ruby red lipstick!

 For more vintage beauty essentials in divine packaging, have a look at Boots’ Original Formula range. And do keep your eyes peeled for my next beauty article, which will feature vintage make-up classics.

Pages: 1 2

Tags: cold cream, eight hour cream, Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream, Fleur de Guerre, Pears soap, vintage beauty tricks, witch hazel

Category: Beauty, How to, Vintage news