I Turned Myself into a Gibson Girl: Hair and Makeup Tutorial

Charles Dana Gibson was a famous American illustrator who was responsible for creating the Gibson Girl. The Gibson Girl portrayed the ideal beautiful woman. This beauty ideal was tall, slender, had large hips, and a full bust. This Edwardian beauty standard was enchanting with a slender neck, full lips, and with her hair piled high on her head in a pompadour. Men would admire the Gibson Girl in suing them everywhere they went and helpless to their captivating beauty. I will be using rags to curl my hair, but the Edwardians often used curling irons that were heated in the fire to curl their own hair, although this often led to singed hair and sometimes even baldness. To recreate these simple rag curls, curl the hair over the rag and roll under towards the head. I'm using water to dampen my hair and this will help the curl set overnight. Gibson Girls drove the popularity of the S-Bend corsets in the 1900s. They had a straight front and were curvy at the back. I'm not wearing an Edwardian corset here as I don't own one, but I believe this corset is inspired by the 1890s with its curvy front. Makeup in the Edwardian era was still very much taboo as women believed in natural beauty without the use of makeup. Makeup was thought to only be worn by actresses or prostitutes. In 1909 in London, the first cosmetic counters were introduced in department stores. This encouraged women to try the products before buying them. Facial massages with face cream became common practices to eliminate wrinkles and keep the skin youthful. Grease paint, which was also known as theater makeup, was used to whiten the skin. This contained white lead, which we know now is very toxic. Rouge was sold in little tins and was used to give a healthy flush to the cheeks. Rouge was also applied to the points of the face that displayed a hint of rosiness, such as the eyelids, nose and chin. Rice powder or pearl powder was often used on top of the skin. Since I couldn't wait to see the results of my curls, I had to take it out halfway through doing my makeup. Geranium and poppy petals were used to stain the lips, but rouge was also commonly used. Eyebrow pencils were very popular as the Edwardian women thought very highly of naturally looking brows. Burnt matchsticks were used for eyeliner to create a soft look. The burnt matchstick is finely crushed and then applied to the eyelid. Cake mascara wasn't invented until the 1910s. It was used by simply adding a small amount of water to the dry cake. The founder of Maybelline cake mascara was Tom Lyle Williams. He would often watch his sister Mabel create her own iron lash makeup with Vaseline and ash. After letting the curls out, human hair pattern is placed or pinned onto the head. Edwardian women often collected the hair from the hairbrushes and used these hair wraps to give body to their hairstyles. The head is then flipped upside down and the hair is simply pulled together. It is then combed and tied with an elastic into a very loose ponytail. It should have enough size that when you flatten the ponytail against the top of your head, it gives the illusion of cottage loaf, which is the name of this hairstyle. Once you are happy with the placement of the ponytail on your head, you can fix it with two bobby pins. Brunettes were considered the Edwardian beauty ideal, so many women coloured their hair with henna to darken their unfashionable blonde hair. Once it is secure, you can arrange your hair and brush over any places that are a little bit patchy and that need to be fixed. Now with the curls left over from your ponytail, you can swirl these around the elastic and pin them into place, making sure to hide any bobby pins. Making any last adjustments, you can pull out some little bits of hair in your ear and up in your forehead to create that very romantic, natural look.