Vintage Beauty: Coty

This weekend I popped into an antiques shop, just intending (of course) to look around. It was the end of the month and I guess they were trying to make their numbers, because they were basically letting me set my own prices for things. Although there were a lot of things that I was tempted by, the only thing that I ended up getting was this Coty powder compact, which I believe is from the 50s. I don't think it had ever been used, judging by the paper that was still covering the powder, and it was only $10; although I don't know much about this sort of thing, it definitely feels like a good deal. I've looked around a little bit online for information and not found that much, so if anyone knows anything about this - a more accurate date, for example - I would love to hear it.

 

Also, do you think it's safe for me to use this? It's the right color for me, and I figure powder never really goes bad, but who knows what could have gotten on it in the 50 years or so it's been floating around?

I'd heard the name Coty plenty of times before; their Airspun Powder is still a hit with a lot of the vintage bloggers that I read, but I didn't know much else about them until I started doing research this weekend.
Coty was founded in France in 1904 as a perfume company. Although the founder, Francois Coty, started out using castoff oil concentrates that other perfumiers rejected, in a few years he was doing well enough to open his own factory outside of Paris. A couple of years later, he began collaborating with artists on the packaging that helped make his brand a household name. His Lalique perfume bottles were works of art in their own right, and Leon Bakst, who designed sets for the Ballet Russes, created the iconic packaging for AirSpun Powder that is still in use today.


On a side note, AirSpun Powder was developed in response to another cosmetic company's "bite test." Lady Esther, the most popular brand of the time, had developed a much finer face powder that most of the competition, and to prove how much better their stuff was, they told women to put a pinch of their face powder between their front teeth and grind down on it to see if it was gritty. Since no one else could pass the test, Lady Esther rocketed to the top, and other cosmetics companies scrambled to develop something as finely milled. Can you imagine what beauty reviews would be like today if it was common practice to chew on the products? Michelle Phan, get on that shit.


Coty was one of the first companies to master the whole upscale/downmarket thing that brands like Armani are so good at today. He developed special perfume blends for royalty, but even shop girls could afford a small bottle of his fragrance. When soldiers coming home from WWI brought his products home for their wives and girlfriends, the brand, already popular in Europe, started to gain traction in the US.


The company was hard hit by the Depression, and their profits were stagnant through the 60s, when they were purchased by Pfizer. These days, they are best known, once again, for their perfumes, which they develop both under the Coty label and for other brands. They do still make that famous AirSpun, though.

I just want to leave you with one last gem.

The text, if it's not clear:
Jonteel  ~Will Not Grow Hair On Your Face~
Is that a thing that happens? Please tell me that didn't used to be a thing.

Links to Love

1. Want to Know if Your Food is Genetically Modified?
To quote somewhat at length:

"Though opposition to GMOs has its roots in the liberal environmental movement, an increasing number of environmental writers and thinkers have begun to take the industry’s side in the debate, pointing to an overwhelming scientific consensus—based on hundreds of independent, non-industry-funded, peer-reviewed, long-range studies—that GMOs are safe. The scariest recent study, which claimed that GMOs caused tumors in rats, was the work of a rogue laboratory in France whose findings have been widely debunked. The National Academy of Sciences, the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization, the U.K.’s Royal Society, the European Commission, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest have all sought to weigh GMOs’ purported risks, and found that there is no evidence they are dangerous."

I've already made my feelings about GMOs pretty clear,  but I was really fascinated by this article from The Atlantic. It's a long read, but it's really worth the time.

2. A Taxonomy of Carbonated Waters
Summer's almost upon us, and L.V. Anderson from Slate tackles this most important of issues - what's the difference between various kinds of fizzy bubble water?

3. Women in Space (part 1)
This review of women in space based sci-fi added several new entries to my reading list. I've already read more fantasy than sci-fi, but lately I've really been drawn to science fiction. It tends to be such a male dominated genre, though, that it's nice to have a list of novels to check out that actually have women in them. 


4. The Hollow Cat Eye: A Customized Twist on a Classic Look
Much as I love a classic cat eye, sometimes you just have to switch things up a little bit. This xoVain tutorial gives a few different ideas for how to mix things up with your beauty routine.


5. Model Co Tan Mousse and Mitt
The reason why I'm featuring this link is less because of the product review, and more because of what the lovely Marianne has to say on the issue of skin tone. This is something that I've noticed myself - the vintage look seems to be a very white look, both demographically speaking (I know many more white people who've embraced the retro aesthetic than people of color) and aesthetically speaking (the beauty standard seems to be very pale skin). I think that there are a lot of reasons behind that, and they're way too complicated to get into in just a paragraph or two, but I have to echo her statement that "...all skin tones are beautiful and let's enjoy them, whatever we have, and paint them, or not paint them, whatever takes our fancy, as we see fit."

6. Silk Mystery Outfit
One of the joys of wearing and collecting vintage clothing is doing the research to try and pinpoint their era and origin. The Vintage Traveler recently purchased this lovely silk outfit, and was trying to place the time period it came from. I've spent plenty of time doing this myself, and it was great to read her working through the various clues that made her conclude that it was, in fact, a 1950s garment.

My, what red lips you have!

I can't say that I hate the rain. I actually love the rain, when it's warm out and I'm properly dressed for it, or at least watching it come down from the comfort of my own home. After this interminable winter, though, I'm not really prepared to deal with more shitty weather.
Red lipstick is kind of my ultimate pick me up. If I'm having a bad hair day or just generally feel like I'm not looking my best, it brightens everything up and becomes the focal point for my face, drawing attention away from the things I'm not feeling so great about. It's also a great confidence booster, in no small part because any time you wear it, you will be inundated with compliments. "Oooh, I love your lipstick!"
I know a lot of women who feel like they can't wear red lipstick, but I think it mostly comes down to picking the right shade and just getting used to having something that bold on your face. It doesn't have to be an all the time thing, but for special occasions the right red is a great tool for making you feel like a million bucks.
If you're unsure about which red is right for you, take a trip down the Sephora or you local beauty counter. When you find one that you think you might like, take it home and just wear it around the house for a little bit. (Pro tip, though - take it off before you eat anything you have to open your mouth up wide for. Red lipstick smeared all over your chin is an absolute bitch to get off.) Once the initial weirdness of looking in the mirror and seeing bright red lips wears off, you'll realize that you don't actually look like a clown and can make a better judgement about whether or not the shade you chose suits you.
For application, I think it's best to keep things straightforward and easy. I like to put a thick layer of balm on before bed, which softens my dry, chapped lips. In the morning (usually as the last step before leaving the house, since I'm prone to getting lipstick on my clothes if I put them on after), I'll prep my lips with a little bit of foundation, which evens out the color and provides a good base for the lipstick to stick to. I apply one coat of lipstick straight for the tube, blot, and repeat. Any wonky edges I fix with the pointy end of the lipstick; if necessary, a q-tip and a dab of foundation are great for correcting any little mistakes.
Because lipstick is such a subjective thing, I highly recommend finding a place where you can play around with different brands and colors, like Sephora, Ulta, or any department store. Personally, I'm really partial to Sephora brand lipsticks, particularly the Rouge Cream line. They wear well, leaving you with a nice stain even after you take them off, and the color is creamy and opaque without being overly drying. They also clock in at under $13.00, so it's only a few bucks more than most drug store brands. The color I'm wearing in the photo above is called Passion Red.
Sephora Cream Rouge Lipsticks