1960s makeup is perhaps one of the most recognizable of the vintage styles of makeup, whether you choose to go for doll-like makeup of Twiggy (above) or a more sophisticated Mad Men style look, it’s definitely all about the eyes…

Base/Foundation

For a 1960s look go for a good matte foundation topped powder so that you have a good base for the rest of your makeup. Add a little peach or pale pink blusher blended in the center of the cheeks.

Eyes

The main focus of all Sixties makeup were the eyes. Cover your lids with foundation and powder, or an eyelid primer (I use this one by Benefit).

If you want to add some colour go for pale pastel eye shadows, pale blues, greens, pinks and purples were all popular.

Deepen the line of your eye socket with darker shadow or a kohl pencil (see how Twiggy does it above).

Next add your eyeliner, which should go in a solid sweep from inside to the outside of your lid and extend along the eyes a little. The idea is to open your eyes up and make them look as big as possible!

If you’re just learning to do eyeliner try something like the Barry M Wink Marker Pen (v easy to draw a smooth line as it’s like a chubby felt tip pen).

Or, for a darker, finer line with more staying power I use YSL L’Eyeliner Noir. It’s a bit pricier and takes a practiced hand to use, but it a good tip is to start your line by drawing little dots along the line you want to draw and then joining them up until you have your solid line.

Once the rest of your eye make up is done you’re ready for your lashes. For this go as big as you dare. You can just add lashings of mascara (if you curl your lashes first they’ll look longer), or add false eyelashes if you fancy it.

I don’t ware false eyelashes very often, but when I do I wear Ardell lashes, I’m not sure whether they’re the best choice, but I’ve always found them comfortable and they stay in place, so I figure that covers what most people are looking for!

If you’re going for big doll-eyes like Twiggy you’ll want to draw on fake lashes under your eyes too (see above).

Lips

You don’t want your lips to compete with that big eye makeup, or you could end up looking like a circus clown. Go for something in light pink or nude and if you’re feeling really brave why not try some white lipstick!

Eyebrows

There wasn’t much focus on eyebrows in the 1960s (unless you were Andy Warhol’s iconic muse Edie Sedgwick) they were just shaped and then left fairly natural. Gone were the big statement brows of the 1950s!

The majority of women in the 1960s didn’t wear makeup like Twiggy’s. As with fashion magazines today, the makeup on Twiggy is an exaggerated version of the everyday fashions. Just make sure you get big eyeliner and lashes and you’ll look fabulous! Take a look at the gallery below to see how other 1960s style icons wore their makeup.

Related Articles:

• Vamps and Flappers: The Lowdown on 1920s Makeup
• Winged Eyeliner and Statement Brows: 1950s Makeup Tips
• 1930s Beauty: Jean Harlow and the Rise of the Platinum Blonde
• Beauty Solutions of the 1940s: Wartime Workarounds

Image sources: 1: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence. 2, 3, 4, This work is in the public domain in that it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1977 and without a copyright notice. 5: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license.