Popular 70s Fashions and Makeup

1970s Style Disco Makeup and Era Fashions that have a Vintage Flair.

The Sixties left the coming decade with an taste for the natural, and the Seventies era particularized the “Natural Look” to makeup and hair. Hair was long, smooth, often very straight, but ideally with a flip on the ends. Think the Mary Tyler Moore show, and you've got the early to middle '70s in a nutshell. The longer hairstyles still required the large curlers (which could really damage your hair with daily use) used in the '60s to create big waves, but electric curling irons were added to the mix when Farrah Fawcett Majors became on of the decade's "It" girls. The flicked up hair cuts worn to some extent by all of Charlie's Angels was applied to bangs or wings on the sides of the head. Farrah combined flicks on both sides with a high lofted center and amazing, wavy curls in streaky golden hair. Never mind that the fabulous Angel had stylists galore to keep her look fresh and "natural"; everybody wanted to look like that. And 'that' entailed more than a superb and constantly-renewed layered haircut: it meant hours with the curling iron, plenty of hair spray or mousse and strict avoidance of anything athletic, outdoorsy or the least bit—well, you know—natural.

1970s make-up styles had a natural, surfer appeal

Along with the "natural" hair of the '70s came a natural look in skin and cosmetics. Earlier decades had made fashionable the dead white complexion, the flawless matte of a movie star skin, and the rosy blush of innocence through the magic of foundation. In the Seventies, it was cool to resemble to surfers at Venice Beach: an all over tan, a golden glow around the face, and minimal looking make up were the things to strive for. Bronzers made an appearance, fake tanning fluids turned thousands of young women bright orange, and women who today look with alarm at the spots appearing on middle aged skin laid out all summer covered all too lightly in a bikini and a slick coat of baby oil.

1970s makeup mavens lightened up on the eye makeup, with mascara nearly disappearing for daywear except for something to lengthen, not necessarily thicken the eyelashes. White or pale blue eyeliner was sometimes used on the inside lid to make the eyes appear larger, but dark eyeliners were out of fashion. Pearlescent colors were popular for eye shadow, nail polish and lipstick, and liquid eye shadows became the rage. When foundation was worn at all, it was not matted down with powder, but left alone to shine a bit.

Updated skin care and skin appearances in the 70’s

Skin care became more of a concept in the Seventies. In earlier decades, women were concerned about keeping their skin clean and moisturized: most women's skin care arsenal consisted of a bar of soap and a big jar of vintage Ponds cold cream. In the Seventies, products that had been available in spas were being sold to the general public; face masks, toners, astringents and a thousand other cosmetic skin care preparations found their way onto women's shelves—and into their faces. Natural products like oatmeal, avocado and milk were popularized as the public was made more aware of how what they put on their skin might affect their overall health.

Disco Fashions, Hair and Cosmetics that Danced the Night Away

Just a wee bit off the mainstream, ethnic inspired fashions were making statements on the street, at school and even at work. Afros were popular for African Americans, showing a new pride in natural hair that had often been suppressed by ironing or chemical straighteners. In solidarity, some Caucasian men wore Afros, too. Clothing fashions for women included turbans, tunics worn over lounge pants, chunky beaded jewelry and woven handbags.

Disco was big in the '70s, and the film Saturday Night Live helped create a subculture that sent some young people to discos in micro-minis, heels too clunky to dance in and blinding white disco costumes. Makeup was essentially the same, as was women's hair; it was the disco clothing styles that made it all happen, man. The classic retro '70's outfit for men is still the white disco suit, open-necked, with gold chains.

Retro Styles & Makeup of the 1980s

1980s Retro Makeup Application and Styles That Will Accentuate Any 80s Party Costume or Fashion Outfit.

Like all trends, '80s Makeup Trends seemed normal at the time, but looking back by twenty years or so, we can see the difference in the apparent natural look of today. In the eighties, women were coming into their own as far as workplace issues were concerned, and the trends were towards ultra-smooth color on the face, bright eye and lip shades and plenty of make up. The combination of workplace politics and cheap fluorescent lighting played absolute hell with women's makeup, turning foundations and eye shadows (blue was popular) into strange colors indeed. And makeup was important if you wanted to be taken seriously. It was quite usual for a woman to apply a full set of makeup—foundation, powder, lipstick and liner, mascara, eyeliner and eye shadow—to go to work. Like most fads, 80s makeup trends looked good: nowadays, women who make up that heavily look like they have something to hide.

For the perfect eighties theme party costume . . .

But if you're going to an 80's style retro party, you can easily create the eighties look. Fashions are easy: a matching dress or skirt suit with big shoulder pads, preferably in a bright color is a good start. Heels are imperative, and hair should be big and fluffy but very controlled. Remember, the '80s look is all about minimizing flaws but maximizing power. It was the decade of the woman's power suit, along with power lipsticks in bright reds and power perfumes heavy on the oriental floral scents. Need a model? For a perfect '80s hair style and suits, look at reruns of Designing Women.

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Mica Makeup and Cosmetics Complete the 1980’s Look

Before there was pure mineral makeup, there was mica for eye shadow. Mica is a highly reflective mineral, which makes for strong color and a lasting look. Ground fine, it provides all the glam of glitter without the grit or flakiness, because mica makes a powder so smooth, you can't even feel it once it's on. It's exotic, romantic and lush. In the '70s and '80s, mica was de rigueur for eye shadow, evening contours, dusting on shoulder blades and all sorts of other groovy places. A little pot of mica shadow will last you about fourteen years, unless you decide that it's so cool as a cosmetic that it would look even better swiped onto a wet paintbrush and smeared across a pure white wall in an iridescent rainbow. Then, you might need to buy a second pot. Mica is also great because you can find it all a lot of different colors ranging from black to purple to white, but all iridescent and shiny.

Unless you're planning to cover your entire body with mica, it's easier to apply it damp, either with a sponge or a brush. It's great worked into moisturizer or mixed with lip balm or even put into nail polish. It's inert, so if it gets in your mouth it won't hurt you, but it will still bother your eyes like any dust would, so be careful applying it around the eye area. Because it's so fine, it can be flyaway otherwise, and truly untidy. But it's so much fun to experiment with, you may just decide to buy a big powder puff and go for it.

See a selection of mica makeup that will glam up your eighties look.

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Put some glamour into your eighties look

But if you're looking to do something more glam, Madonna is your model. Not the Madonna of today, with her London-Pilates-yoga chic, but the younger, earthy, in-your-face fashionista who successful combined wedding gowns with soldier boots. Any woman who was a teen in the eighties probably has a mental picture of Madonna that makes ordinary eighties clothing and makeup look like something from another century. Madonna wore makeup, all right, but she wasn't afraid to tear it up with plenty of white foundation and stark black eyeliners. Eighties fashion for the fashionable was all about extremes: shock had its value, and the idea that everyday women were wearing shoulder pads and big brass buttons to claim their share of the glass ceiling workplace was laughable. There was an interesting thing happening in the 1980's: some women were trying to climb the corporate ladder while others were trying to capitalize on a sort of brooding sexuality. The combination was confusing, since the clothes were hard edged but the faces were hidden under piles of makeup. It's almost like women had taken up full body and face armor to meet the wars of the workplace.

80s hair and make-up styles

Glam came along in the 1980s, and the cosmetic and clothing fashions were a combination of Star Trek and an Illinois Human Resources convention. Glam makeup practically preceded the wearer into the room: we're talking eyes so smoky they teared from all the goopy makeup, and big, pillowy, pouty lips, the kind of lips that say, "kiss me and then I'll sue you for sexual harassment". The average woman put on a lot of makeup, did things to her hair with curling irons and bright hair dye color, blow dryers and three kinds of gel, and then it was time to do her eyebrows.

More 80’s fashion and outfit ideas

Other 80's styles included workout gear, because the 80's was the time when aerobics really hit the big time. Jane Fonda's workout video made leg warmers a must-have, and it became fashionable to be thin so you could look really great in your gym wear. We saw the advent of lavender jogging suits for women, millions of cross trainers and meaningless little visors for running in the sun while it burned the top of your head. Sunglasses were big, so big in fact, that they reduced the wearer's face to the size of a bug's. Indoor glasses were also big and round, covering from cheek to eyebrow and resulting in glasses wearers pouring on even more eye makeup than ever before.