There was a time when getting ready meant sitting in front of a bedroom mirror surrounded by rollers, powder compacts, jars of cold cream, and bottles of hairspray. Beauty routines in the 1960s and 1970s could take time, and many of the products involved would look surprisingly unfamiliar on a bathroom counter today.
Some disappeared because better alternatives came along, while others simply belonged to the styles of the era. But for anyone who remembers the smell of setting lotion or sleeping with rollers in their hair, these 18 beauty products can bring an entire getting-ready routine back to life.
1. Setting Lotion
Before curling irons became an everyday shortcut, setting lotion helped curls survive hours in rollers. Hair was dampened, coated with the liquid, carefully wrapped around rollers, and left to dry. The stiff feeling afterward was simply part of getting a hairstyle to last.
2. Cold Cream
A jar of cold cream was a familiar sight beside countless bathroom sinks and bedroom mirrors. At the end of the night, women massaged the thick cream over their faces and wiped away makeup with tissues, often leaving that unmistakably deep, perfumed feeling behind.
3. Cake Mascara
Mascara did not always come in a tube with a wand. Cake mascara came as a solid block in a compact, accompanied by a tiny brush that had to be moistened before being rubbed across the product and applied to the lashes.
4. Hair Rollers
For many women, rollers were less of a beauty accessory and more of a weekly ritual. They could fill an entire head, stay in for hours, and sometimes even be worn to bed beneath a scarf before an important morning.
5. Aerosol Hairspray
Once the hair was finally teased, curled, and arranged, hairspray made sure it stayed there. Large aerosol cans were a fixture on vanities, and a generous cloud could be the final step before heading out the door.
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6. Face Powder in a Large Compact
A powder compact could be almost as important as a lipstick. Many came with a mirror and soft powder puff, making it easy to sit at a vanity or quickly freshen up before leaving the house.
7. Hair Teasing Combs
Big hair often required a little engineering. Fine-toothed teasing combs were used to backcomb sections near the roots until enough volume had been created for bouffants, beehives, and other carefully sculpted styles.
8. Home Permanent Wave Kits
A permanent did not always require a trip to the salon. Home kits brought the process into bathrooms and kitchens, complete with curling rods and strong-smelling chemical solutions that promised weeks of curls.
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9. Liquid Eyeliner in a Little Bottle
The dramatic eye makeup of the 1960s demanded precision. Liquid liner often came in a small bottle with a thin brush, and creating a perfectly matched pair of wings could turn getting ready into a very careful operation.
10. False Eyelashes in Plastic Cases
Long, dramatic lashes were a defining part of many 1960s looks. False eyelashes were sold in small molded cases and carefully glued along the lash line, sometimes paired with heavy liner and pale lipstick.
11. Frosted Lipstick
Pale pink, peach, and almost silvery lipstick could instantly date a makeup look to the era. Frosted formulas reflected the light and became especially popular as dramatic eye makeup pushed lips toward lighter shades.
12. Blue Eye Shadow
A sweep of blue across the eyelids became one of the most recognizable beauty looks of the period. Powder shadows ranged from soft pastel blue to much brighter shades, often applied far more generously than most everyday makeup calls for today.
13. Eyebrow Pencil in Red or Brown Wooden Pencils
Before brow gels, pens, pomades, and laminated brows, there was the humble sharpened pencil. Women filled and reshaped their brows with makeup pencils that looked remarkably similar to something that might have been sitting in a desk drawer.
14. Beauty Mark Pencils
A tiny artificial beauty mark could become part of a finished makeup look. Special pencils and ordinary eyeliner were sometimes used to create the perfectly placed dark spot, turning something natural into a vintage beauty mark pencil 1960s woman makeup mirror
15. Brush Rollers With Pins
These were not the soft foam rollers associated with an easy night of sleep. Older brush rollers could be held in place with plastic or metal pins, creating a head full of hardware that women endured in exchange for the curls waiting underneath.
16. Hair Drying Hoods
Sitting beneath a hood dryer was once an ordinary part of getting hair done. At salons, women could spend the drying time flipping through magazines, while portable home versions turned the same ritual into something that could happen in the living room.
17. Nail Polish in Pearly Frosted Shades
Sitting beneath a hood dryer was once an ordinary part of getting hair done. At salons, women could spend the drying time flipping through magazines, while portable home versions turned the same ritual into something that could happen in the living room.
18. Sleeping Caps and Hair Nets
After spending so much time getting a hairstyle exactly right, starting over the next morning was not an appealing option. Hair nets and sleeping caps helped protect carefully set curls overnight, even if they were not exactly the most glamorous part of the beauty routine.
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