Cosmetics of the USSR: 12 products used by our mothers
Cosmetics bags of our mothers and grandmothers were not replete with newfangled beauty products. Almost everyone used the same domestic products, and only a few became happy owners of overseas cosmetics.
But what a lot of effort it took to get the scarce cosmetics! People from all cities came to the capital and lined up in kilometer-long and many-hour queues.
Note that the girls of the Soviet era did not stop looking as attractive as possible, even with the smallest choice. No highlighters, mineral powders, glitters, concealers!
What kind of cosmetics did Soviet ladies have to be content with and what tricks were they willing to go to in order to emphasize their beauty?
The famous “Leningrad” mascara, which also played the role of mascara for eyebrows, was the only salvation for girls who wanted to make their eyes more expressive. Hard as dried old paint, it was complemented by an ugly flat brush. And the process looked even worse. Spat in a palette and let’s paint eyelashes until the paint has dried. Such mascara held very badly, and washed off even worse.
Soviet beauties, sparing no effort, rubbed their eyes, and the cosmetics desperately did not want to wash off. In addition, after applying the legendary mascara, the eyelashes were glued together into the so-called spider legs, and then a needle was used. With her help, the owner of lush, but glued eyelashes, separated them from one another.
Very thick and reminiscent of a building material in consistency, the cream existed in a single shade that was able to transform beautiful skin into something unnatural and inanimate. But even here, Soviet ladies found a way out – they diluted the terrible cream with moisturizing, achieving the desired consistency and even bringing the shade closer to a more natural one.
The nail polish with an incredibly strong hold was able to hold on to the largest fleeces and bangs! But he mercilessly glued his hair together and created the illusion of a wig. However, this did not stop the girls, and long queues lined up for the varnish. Those who were left without “Prelest” did not particularly despair: they used a popular remedy in the USSR. An ordinary toothbrush was taken, dipped in sugar syrup (ordinary water with sugar), the brush was drawn over the bristles with a finger over the hair. The splashes of sugar water did not hold the hairstyle for so long, but there were simply no other options.
Hygienic lipstick or petroleum jelly
We are now spoiled by a variety of lipsticks that promise to make our lips silky and velvety. Everyone will find a remedy literally to their taste – chocolate, strawberry, peach – you can list endlessly. Have you ever wondered that there is petroleum jelly at the base of any chapstick? The same one used by girls in Soviet times. And without any flavorings!
Here the Soviet beauties were more fortunate, because the choice was richer: the well-known “Ballet” (in addition to the foundation), “East”, and the “Velvety” powder belonged to the “luxury” category. Krasnaya Moskva, Ellada, Skazka, Kremlin were just considered good, and Mask, Chypre and Camellia were even worse. And cheap powders “Lilac”, “Carmen” and “Violet” were designed for a mass audience. Unfortunately, mirrors and puffs were not attached to the powder, and no one suspected the existence of sponges. Ordinary cotton wool was used!
Shadows in the USSR were produced by the Moscow factory “Rassvet”, they were called “Elena”. Shades in two or three-color sets were, as they say, pluck out your eyes: blue, green, purple. It was especially funny when several girlfriends walk down the street, wearing the same makeup. One of them had a box of eyeshadows, the other had fashionable lipstick, so the makeup was like a blueprint.
Later, quieter colors began to appear. And some still managed to get Polish shadows. On the box, however, was written for some reason “Shadow for the eyes.”
Lipsticks were considered the most scarce beauty product of that era. Lipsticks were used to the end and, so to speak, under clean. The remnants of the product were picked out with a match, and an already perfectly cleaned tube was thrown away. There were also not so many shades, more and more eerie bright colors prevailed. Carrot orange, coral, red, cherry and burgundy, as well as pearlescent pink. The latter was used by the girls in combination with pencils for drawing, wanting to give the lips a more natural, but at the same time, saturated color.
The greasy and sloppy blush was sold in very modest jars. Dry blush simply did not exist, and saturated fat blushes were not suitable for everyone. In addition, the product did not adhere well to the face and tended to spread. Girls sometimes used blush as lipstick. And more often lipstick as a blush: a couple of wide strokes, vigorous rubbing – and pink cheeks are ready.
Bottles with contents of incomprehensible shades not only did not decorate women’s nails, but also had a destructive effect on the nail plate. The indistinct washed out color did not hold well and began to peel off already on the day of application.
Soviet girls came up with various tricks in order to somehow apply the pest varnish. Firstly, for the design they used small paper drawings, foil from sweets and even pieces of fabric, added colored pastes from ballpoint pens, and secondly, they used artistic brushes for application.
Tooth powder has been used for a variety of purposes. He was not only an irreplaceable assistant in everyday life (he perfectly cleaned silver jewelry and cutlery), but also a cosmetic product. The girls used it to whiten their teeth, and then applied the powder to the eyelashes so that the mascara gave them volume.
Shops for … artists became a real salvation for the ladies of the Soviet era. It was almost impossible to purchase a set of eyeliner pencils with the simple name “Cosmetics”. Firstly, it was difficult to get them, and secondly, they were expensive and were not affordable for ordinary Soviet girls. For eye makeup, women used ordinary stationery pencils: the lead was moistened, and the sharpened match played the role of a brush – it was with its help that the desired arrows were drawn.
The perfumery store shelves were richer. The famous perfume “Krasnaya Moskva” has an interesting history. Initially, the perfume was called “The Empress’s Favorite Bouquet” and was created in 1913 by perfumer August Michel, especially for Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova. And in 1925, after the revolution, the perfume received a new name, bottle and packaging! “Krasnaya Moskva” was popular among the divas of the Soviet era. For example, actress Lyubov Orlova was a big fan of this fragrance.
Also famous were the Soviet perfumes “Natasha”, “Night violet”, “Red poppy”, “Wild flowers”, “White lilac”, “Silver lily of the valley”, “Stone flower”, more expensive Polish “Perhaps” and Latvian “Riga lilac “. Men were also not cheated – a line of colognes was created especially for them: “Sasha”, “Commander”, “Chypre”, “Bars” and the famous “Triple”.