Beauty On Duty: The Importance of Makeup During Wartime

TEN-HUT! Beauty is officially on duty, and this one is for the gals! We're falling in line, at the makeup counter, and unpacking the importance of makeup during the war. Don't think we're serious? Well, red lipstick became an act of defiance against Hitler during the war, as he had been open about how much despised it. Morale boosters like Montezuma Red lipstick, made famous by Elizabeth Arden, was created especially for the US Marine Corps Women's Reserve and came with a matching nail varnish! The women of the Land Army also had a special powder and rouge, which was created to help them stay looking like a lady while driving a tractor! Still don't believe us? Join us in The Clubmobile for fresh coffee, sinkers and the history of the red lip during wartime! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Hey guys, here come the dollars. They got fresh sinkers, hot coffee, and the sweetest smile. Welcome back to the Club Mobile, everybody. We're so happy to have you joining us.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Hi everyone. Welcome back.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

I'm so excited for this episode. I haven't even said a word about it. Haven't even said a word about what we're talking about yet. I'm just jumping right into it. I'm so excited. But I am.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

This one is very you though.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

I I appreciate that. I I think.

unknown 0:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

I think.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

I appreciate that. This one is very, very you.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

Uh we're we're gonna be diving into a topic that I think any woman that has listened to our podcast will appreciate this one. We're gonna be talking today about the history of women's cosmetics in World War II, also known as Beauty on Duty.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Yes, I thought that it was a really fun play on the propaganda that was released um during the war uh for women that were in the armed forces.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

It was uh yes, beauty on duty or beauty in duty, sort of like in the face of um it works, and propaganda was propaganda was everything during the war. So you had to have it, you had to do it right.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

You had to do it correctly and you had to um make it so that uh obviously a lot of men thought that women going to work and women being enlisted sort of took away from their femininity, and you know, all this propaganda being pushed out right from the start of the war in England in 1939, yeah. Um it gave the makeup gave them back this femininity that was supposedly lost by these women having to go to work and taking jobs from men. So it happened on both sides. A lot more money was spent um in the US after the US entered the war on cosmetics.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

Oh, of course. Of course, and not just on not just for women in the factories either. This was for women that were enlisted in their subsequent branches of the military. Yep. There were requirements. And I didn't realize until we started researching that each branch and each division on both sides, British and American, had requirements. They had um, you know, like it was part of their like a kit that they would get. When they would get their uniform, they would also get this package face powder, a lipstick, and a rouge that went with their uniform. Not necessarily their skin, but their uniform.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

But the uniform they were color matching wasn't a thing during the war. No, not then. They were provided this kit at boot camp in a lot of instances. Um, and one fact I found really funny. Um, this was a rule with the women marines, the US Women Marines, was that um once that kit had been depleted, um, they had to go to the PX and buy a new one. And it was $2.27. And it was quoted that um some women marines were extremely resourceful and had men buy it for them.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

There's like as a good woman should.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

There was a there was a propaganda poster or something, and it was women are so resourceful. And it was a guy handing a woman marine her little like makeup kit that he had bought for her.

SPEAKER_02 3:39

But also, two dollars and twenty cents back then was a lot of money.

unknown 3:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

If I could get a three-pack of lipstick, blush, and and foundation for two dollars and twenty cents today. I'm not sure it would be worth it because I would probably break out because who is putting who is putting that on their skin today? Um, if you're buying no shades of drugstore makeup, but I would break out personally. I would personally probably break out, and it would end up costing me a trip to the dermatologist.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Yes, I'd be looking kind of crispy. It was a lot of money during the war.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

Back then it was, and it comes out of this tiny paycheck that and they were you know, good on them for being resourceful and having a guy do it for them. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. As you should.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

I completely agree. As you should. Um, I'd love to get into the history of makeup on the stuff.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

Yes, let's let's let's spin it back a minute and start from the beginning with the history because you can't get to the fun stuff without the exactly history.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

So, of course, England enters the war in 1939. Um, and by December of 1941, conscription of women was made legal. By 1943, 90% of single women worked in factories on the land or in the armed forces. So you've got all of these women who are now free to work, and a lot of men and a lot of elders are complaining that these women are having their femininity stripped from them because they see all these types of work as men's work. They see it as the job of the patriarchal figure in the family to be able to do it. But of course, there was no choice.

SPEAKER_02 5:25

Um they had to choice, and it was a large, I mean 64,000 women.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Yes, 64,000 women were in the three women's military branches: the RENS, the WAF, and the ATS.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

All of these women were encouraged to wear makeup. And the women working in factories on the land in the British home front, they were advised maybe perhaps muted colours and styles. Whereas if you were in the armed forces, you were allowed to wear makeup as they women were allowed to wear makeup as they pleased, so long as it was there to their commander's rules.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

So of course a lot of their commanders were men in a lot of cases. A lot of commanders.

SPEAKER_02 6:07

Which means that these men seldom objected to makeup because who didn't love a beautifully made-up women, woman during the war, during any time, but especially during the war.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Yes, especially during the war. A lot of uh a lot of the women not in the armed forces, those on the home front that worked in factories or they were in the land army, they were recommended like muted colours, so things run and that they wouldn't look, you know, garish or you know, they wouldn't look unkempt from sweating. Exactly. Um one really cool thing I found um while we were researching was they made a specific um they made a specific makeup for land girls. And it was called Miners Liquid Makeup. And it was, I guess, sweat proof, and I guess it was I don't know, on based on what we read, I would say it was probably a little more durable.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

I don't know if it would be sweat proof or workproof, but probably a little bit more durable. I love the uh the propaganda advertisements that goes along with the miners liquid makeup. I'll try to read this as if I was a propaganda radio, uh radio gal from the 40s. I'm gonna do my best here, but tractors are tricky till you get the hang of them. And this pretty lamb girl has just bowled over a wall, but she won't get into trouble with the instructor because she's bowled him over too, in a different sense. You see, she's wise. She uses miners liquid makeup, the amazing complete wartime makeup in a bottle. You just smooth it on in the morning and it stays matte, fragrant, delicately tinted, whatever happens. Heat, cold, wind, rain, air raids, kisses. Nothing can disturb this miracle makeup.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

It really tickled me.

SPEAKER_02 7:59

It does. It really, it really does.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

I, when I found that, I was screaming. I loved it.

SPEAKER_02 8:07

I love it. It's adorable. Because you could picture this pretty made-up girl. She's got her hair up in um in a scarf, probably. And she's got very subdued makeup, and she's driving a tractor. And don't worry about that wall because your instructor thinks you're pretty.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Exactly. Don't worry about anything because he thinks that you're very sweet looking. Don't worry about it. Um, there was also specific makeup made for British women who were in the armed forces, and again, it was very similar to the women Marines getting Victory Red or Montezuma Red. Um makeup was made to complement certain uniforms. There was a cosmetics company called Yardleys, and they planned a specific colour series that worked with all of the uniforms the Ren uniform, the WAF uniform, and the ATS uniform. Um, for all blues, they suggested a natural rose lipstick and that cost three shillings. A cream rouge, that cost just over two shillings. With English peach or rose Rachel complexion powder, that was just over three shillings. With khaki, vivid rouge and lipstick and deep peach powder, they're more flattering. They didn't have red lipstick because I believe uh it looked too garish. We love that word in England, garish. Can't look garish. They'd hate to see me coming. Um, burnt sugar was the lipstick and now varnish vogue for girls. Uh for those who look chic in navy blue, the special stop red tint is the rage, stop light red. Um, whilst the young women of the WAF find themselves catered for with the latest red wood colour, which has the advantage of toning admirably with Air Force Blue while also remaining inconspicuous.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

It compliments the man's uniform, but keeps her looking inconspicuous. I every time we get into something where it's like, yes, right, women's women at the front, women, this, that, you get to a point where it's like it complimented the men, and she could still stand next to him and not be the center of attention. Yeah. But what if she wants to be the center of attention? Well, yeah, rightfully so. Let her.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

And again, it's the narrative of she must remain inconspicuous because she is still a woman, therefore she does not need to be looked at or seen. Let me encourage her to wear makeup so that she can be seen. How was that making sense to anybody? How was that like, oh yeah, this makes complete sense?

SPEAKER_02 10:49

Because a well-kept wife, right, reflected well on her on her husband. And her home. And her home. It goes back to, we were just talking about this earlier this morning. You ever see those cartoons from Looney Tunes? Yeah. Follow Follow where I'm going here. Where it's, you know, the model house, the model wife, or there he goes into the beauty salon and she's looking a little um haggard, right? Maybe she's a little frumpy looking. She's got a couple of rolls and no makeup. And she sits in this always wearing glasses, always wearing glasses, right? And she's dragging her handbag on the floor, and they put her in the chair, and it's like she gets attacked with powder, and all they do is take her glasses off and cut her hair. But then they squeeze her into this dress and they pull the laces on the corset, and suddenly she's the model wife, she's the model housewife, and the model wife always gets up before her husband, puts her makeup on before he gets out of bed because heaven forbid he sees her unkempt.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

Real quick, could you imagine scrubbing the floor in that tight corset they'd always put this poor woman in? No. Because that that was what was expected of her.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

I don't want to scrub the floor now.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

I don't want to scrub the floor now.

SPEAKER_02 12:06

I mean, I do. I clean my house, I wash my floors. You have to. But my god, when it's like the day to get down into like cleaning, deep cleaning, it's leggings all day.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

And even then, I'm so comfy. I still don't want to do it. So I can't really imagine being in a tight dress all hoiked in like that.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

You'd have to do that thing where, like, you know, when you spill something on the floor and like you throw a paper towel down the floor and you like kind of like with your push the paper towel around with your foot. That's what I'm kind of what it would have to be.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

But when you get ice out of the freezer and you drop it and you just kick it under the fridge.

SPEAKER_02 12:38

Kick it under the fridge because you know it'll melt and then it'll dry up because the fridge, the motor under the fridge is hot. Um exactly. But yeah, that's what I would do if I had to wear one of those those tight corsets or like you know, clean my house all like done up like that. I'd I would do the the the paper towel push around with my foot.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

And then and then I would be really yucky and pick up the paper towel with my foot.

SPEAKER_02 13:00

Well, like house keep housekeepers weren't really, unless you were of the upper class, the upper class. You didn't have a housekeeper. You didn't have somebody who came to clean your house. You did even then, you had to do it yourself. Didn't happen. And imagine living in Britain. Imagine living in England, living in Britain during the time of the Blitz, where like your house is just consistently covered in dust, no matter what.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

And they were still expected to have to be up, like keeping up with the house and making sure.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

My god, I clean my apartment, I dust, I look at everything, I go, it's sparkly clean. I get so much natural light in this house that the next morning I wake up and I'm like, son of a bitch.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

It's dusty all the time. It's dust again! Yeah, exactly. Um, a lot of women were spending way more on makeup in both England and in the USA, um, despite rationing. Um, especially here, lipstick became such a commodity of the American femininity that the federal government quickly rescinded its wartime materials rationing restrictions on cosmetics in order to encourage the use of makeup. And I believe England did the same. They never ration makeup, they never ration cosmetics.

SPEAKER_02 14:09

No, I love that America had this kind of slogan that a lipsticked American was a good American, that to look unattractive these days is downright morale-breaking and should be considered treason. That's a direct quote.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Um, I didn't find out who it was by, but I saw it a bunch of times while doing research. If anybody knows who said that, please, you know, please let us know.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

Drop us a line, let us know. We'd I'd love to know who it was that that said that said that. Um, because it really is, I mean, you think about it now, it's like, oh my God, you know, should be considered treason. They should see what I look like when I leave my house on Sundays. But also during the war, yeah, I get it. Morale was everything, especially in the States with all these women whose husbands were overseas. You know, you don't know where he is, you don't know if he's alive, you're not getting mail frequently, you're not obviously there's no smartphones, you can't call and just be like, you know, send him a text and be like, Are you alive? Are you okay? You couldn't do that. Relying on the mail. So any kind of oomph to your morale, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Yeah. Pass it over. Right? The government even recommended that women wear brighter lipstick on dull days so as to cheer up everyone around them. Um, and I think that began, especially in England during the days of the Blitz, where people were still expected to leave their house and they were encouraged to wear a brighter lipstick in order to break through the the darkness and the and the fog, and apparently it boosted morale and and women keeping themselves together, I think sort of put on this face of um patriotism and it kept spirits up for those also on the home front.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

Yeah, it helped make life feel as normal as possible in the face of something really dark.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

And I think again it stems from you know, the things we read about other women um who were volunteering or enlisted, like never let them see you cry, always be put together. Again, it w it it's it's given to the women to make sure that morale is kept and it's left to the women to make sure that everything is together and everything is clean and everything is is is in its place. So despite the woman now having to work and to take care of a house and potentially take care of children while her husband is away, she's now expected to boost everybody else's morale, not just in her house. It's right, and just in her own. Yeah, and it goes back to us always saying that women were under this incessant pressure constantly they were trying to please their family, and and now they're trying to through just stepping out of the house, please everybody else they came into contact with. That must have been such a chore to constantly be on, to constantly you're in charge, you're making everybody else happy.

SPEAKER_02 17:12

And then there was the women who were not just in the factories, they were the women who served, the American women who served, and they were strongly encouraged to wear makeup. And this was to counteract the opinion that they were masculine, that they weren't feminine, that they were undesirable now to men. So if they were zhuzed up and kind of really pulled together in their uniform, you could you there was no doubt, yeah, that's a lady.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

Yeah. Real real quick going back to the women working in the factories on both sides, these women were encouraged to have shorter hair so as not to get their hair caught. Yes, they were. So they're already chopping away at some of their femininity. Femininity. So they would wear a scarf on their head, obviously, if they had long hair. A lot of other women didn't want to bother with all that. They wanted to essentially roll out of bed and get to work. I do not blame them one bit. No, they didn't want to spend their free time, you know, setting their hair and putting a scarf on for bed and what happened. Right.

SPEAKER_02 18:19

There were no there were no claw clips, there were no scrunchies. You had a couple of bobby pins and some finger rolls, and you know, you would either be on your way or you'd put your hair up in a scarf, the famous, you know, the red polka dot scarf, the rosy scarf. Yeah. That was it. And it's funny, you can't really tell in the photo of like, you know, in the rosy photo. You can't tell whether or not her hair is short or not. She's just it's all tucked up there under her scarf.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

Exactly. But that was one of the reasons why they were so encouraged to wear makeup and to buy makeup because the women with shorter cropped hair were then being seen as more masculine. Yeah. Um, and the makeup gave them this air of femininity. So it would show that, oh yes, she is still a lady, despite the fact she's building B17s.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

Right.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

The women who served were strongly encouraged to wear makeup to counteract this newfound theory that they were now undesirable and manly.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

Especially because these women that served, you know, cosmetics was their way of kind of expressing themselves because now you're in uniform, now you're you're enlisted, your your personal civilian clothes, your high heels, no loose wavy hair, your jewelry, it all had to be suppressed in favor of functionality. So, you know, lipstick doesn't and rouge doesn't hinder your functionality. So exactly. Whereas big high heels and exactly would. And they encouraged it to be liberally applied. And especially during an era when smoking was a part of sophisticated adulthood, that's why I think people say, like, you know, red lipstick around the filter of a cigarette.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Apparently the men loved it.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

The men loved it.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

That was the thing of the time. Yeah. That was the the thing. And apparently it was so much.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

Like if you're if your gal kind of would take your cigarette from you and and take a drag of it and leave her red lipstick on it and hand it back to you, it was like it was a form of flirting almost, too.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

Like it's like again in Looney Tunes where the wolf has the big eyes and he's like a wooga. Uh-huh. That's exactly what it is. Um yes. I also found this wild theory while going through stuff for the episode was that the thickly applied lipstick guarded women's delicate lips from the smoke vapours. So people truly believe that a thickly applied red lipstick would protect women from yes, and that it gave a sexy polish to the actual cigarette.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

It's just messy. It's just messy. Kids don't smoke.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

No, please don't. Yeah. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 21:16

No, no. It's not like it, it's not like it used to be.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

No. I found it so funny that they genuinely put out like propaganda to say that you can smoke because if you're wearing lipstick, it's not gonna hurt you. It's not gonna, you know, mess up your health for the rest of your life. Yeah, it's not gonna affect you in your life. You're fine, you're good. You're completely you'll live forever. The fact that it was seen as sophisticated and I think it was the era, you know. It was, it was the era.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

I mean, you look through any old life magazine, you're gonna see multiple ads for Lucky Strikes, for Chesterfields.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

I mean, there's a Old Christmas ad for Chesterfields that funny enough, my brother puts out in his house at Christmas just because it's you know it's vintage and it's fun. It's cute. We're not smokers, but he puts it out as part of his Christmas decor. And it's you know about how if you buy your husband Chesterfields, you're buying him like the best gift ever, you know. The man who smokes Chesterfields, that a man who smokes Chesterfields is is a man who knows what's what. And it's I love that. It's like back in the late 80s and the 90s, there'd be billboards for Newports and Marlboro Red. There was the Marlboro Red Cowboy. Yeah, billboards for Newports. I don't know. You were a kid in England in the 90s. Yeah, we didn't have that. We had that here. I'd be on, you know, we'd be in the car, and um now remember, I'm just for argument's sake here, I am older than Winnie. So not by that much, not by that much, but by the when you were born, I was already six years old. Five, six, six six ninety-five, right? Okay, eighty-nine. Yep. There you go, guys. There you go. Now you know the now you you do them. If you do the math, now you know. It's me, Ma. It's grandma. Don't you dare you stop that right now. Okay, grandma, let's get you to bed. Um, I remember being in the car with my parents, and we'd be on the highway in Brooklyn, and there'd be billboards, billboards for Newports. For cigarettes. Yeah, for Newports. There was a whole commercial. There were commercials for Newports, and it was always like people on spring break in these wildly bright bathing suits playing volleyball, and you know, that like, you know, Newports were cool. And then there was the Marlboro Red, the Marlboro Cowboy. The Marlboro Red Cowboy.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

I need to find a this is there.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

Was this was life in the States in the 90s, the 80s and 90s advertisements, full-blown billboard advertisements for cigarettes. And the Surgeon General's warning, the Surgeon General's warning would be like microscopic.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Yeah, the tiny writing. Microscopic.

SPEAKER_02 24:21

Camel camels too. Did the camel have a camel in it? And it was a camel. Okay. The camel smoking. It was a camel. There were multiple camels, there were multiple. There was, and the camel was always suave, right? The camel was this like debonair. One of them is he's in a hot tub and he's wearing sunglasses, and he's got a cigarette in his mouth, and he's got a pack of camels next to him on the hot tub and he's drinking a beer. There's another one where he's in a tuxedo and he's offering you a cigarette, and it says smooth character, and he's got a cigarette in his mouth. Another where he's on like Hollywood Boulevard, he's wearing a leather jacket and he's offering you a cigarette. And then there's one where he's it looks like um Miami Vice, and he's got like the bright t-shirt with the jacket, and he's smoking a camel, and there's a um an 80s babe on the hood of a red convertible.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 25:21

This was you know, his name was Joe Camel. Joe Camel.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

Yeah, we never had that. Um, I it was like to the point where I thought only one brand of cigarettes existed, like the the brand that my grandma used to smoke. So when I was older and I saw all of these choices, I say choices, things I shouldn't touch. Um, I was like, what?

SPEAKER_02 25:46

Yeah, we both inevitably did at some point in our lives. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:50

And funny enough, I did at one point smoke camels.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

You wouldn't have to be a channel. But there was a brand, influence.

SPEAKER_02 25:56

There was a brand of camels when I was in college called Camel Camel Crush. I used to and you could smoke it regular, or you could as if as if cigarettes weren't bad enough for you already. You could crush the fiberglass menthol bowl in the filter. Okay. So as if you weren't already inhaling garbage. Let's inhale the fiberglass. Here have some fiberglass. But if I put lipstick on, but the 1940s told me if I put lipstick on, they're good for me.

SPEAKER_01 26:33

I think as well, there was a lot of different ingredients in comparison to then and now.

SPEAKER_02 26:38

Yeah, it was probably like just tobacco.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

It was just tobacco and the filter in the paper.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

All of a sudden they became filled with tarcinogens and tar and chemicals. And this is why you find a lot of people that still smoke will like roll their own cigarettes. They will buy a bag of loose tobacco and papers and roll their own cigarettes. Not that that's any better for you. Tobacco will still cause mouth cancer. Don't do it. At least, hate to say, at least, at least they are eliminating all the excess garbage. Yeah. But still, it's still not good for you. None of it is good for you.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

None of it, and it wasn't good, it wasn't good for you then. It's not good for you now. But yes, apparently, this this red lipstick that had been created for women, specifically in uniform, was gonna be the thing to stop you from all these health issues later down the line. Um, and speaking of the red lipstick that was created specifically for my women's favorite.

SPEAKER_02 27:43

Um this is my favorite shade. It's my time to shine. It's my favorite shade in the world.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

Um it is beautiful. So, makeup artist Elizabeth Arden, who was also a women's activist, she was she followed the British idea of uh the Yardley's cosmetics that we mentioned earlier. Um, that of creating a lipstick and a makeup set that matched uniforms. So Elizabeth Arden was approached by Lieutenant Colonel Ruth Streeter, who was the director of the US MCWR, which was the women's reserve of the Marines. Um Lieutenant Colonel Streeter knew that women Marines were unique and she wanted them to fit this attitude that she had made for them. Um it was called Montezuma Red originally. So the shade made for the women Marines was Montezum Mared, and it was made to match their uniform accents for them.

SPEAKER_02 28:40

Yes, they had those, they had those olive green uniforms with the red, you know, think Lana Bassalone in the Pacific. Yeah, it matched with the red piping, yes, and they were gorgeous.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

Beautiful, it was beautiful, and I love how even though we mentioned earlier that it was to fit the men's uniform with a woman next to him, this was made for strictly for the woman. Yes. Um in turn, they were then provided a standard kit that included cream rouge, nail polish, and face powder and the lipstick that coordinated with the uniforms.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

I love the idea of the lipstick matching the nail polish. There's something very clean and chic. Even today, like I love a clean red manicure. Yes. I do it a lot to match. When he knows this, I do this a lot. Yeah. Um, it's like and I get a color, it's funny enough, I get a color that is probably as close to the Montezuma red or what people now call it victory red as you can get. And it's a color by OPI, it's called Big Apple Red.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

And it is I find it so funny that every single time, every single time you go, you send me pictures of these swatches or these shades, and they're all not the red that you pick. And which one should I go for? And I'm like, you know what I'm gonna say.

SPEAKER_02 30:06

Keep going with and at the time of at the time of this recording, I am going for a manicure later today, and I know that I'm not gonna get a red now, simply because I will be going again on Valentine's Day, and I'll probably get a red for Valentine's Day. So, and every time I go, it's so funny. Every time I go and I pick a red, the girl that does my nails, she goes, You always pick red. Yes, because it's my trademark.

SPEAKER_00 30:32

That's so cute, though.

SPEAKER_02 30:33

I love that. Um, um, but no, I always I always get the same. And Victory Red is like just fell in love with it the first time I saw it. I did. I actually have two two or three tubes of it in my my makeup.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

It doesn't suit me. It's too bright on me, which I am really upset about, and it's one of my um one of my beefs with my genetic makeup. I apologize. Is that is that it's too bright for me and it washes me out and it makes me so upset. So you can wear a pink, I can't. No, I can't wear pink because pink washes me out even more. I look sickly. So I have to go for like a almost brown, like a maroon. Oh like like a purple. I can wear red, but it has to be like a purple undertone.

SPEAKER_02 31:26

Yeah, there's a lot of different ways you could pick a red these days where it's like people go, is it an orange undertone red or is it a blue red?

SPEAKER_01 31:33

Yeah, that's the one. I can't do an orange undertone red because I look sick. And funny enough, I have to have a blue red.

SPEAKER_02 31:38

Victory Red, I believe, is a blue, is a blue red. To be fair, the last time I tried it, but there are different types of blue red.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Different types of blue red.

SPEAKER_02 31:48

Um, when I tried it, I was any man that listens to this episode is gonna say, I don't know. Ask my wife. My wife would know, I don't know. Any of the men who follow us, they're gonna go, uh, this one's for my wife. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

Like I tried it when I was 19 or 20, I think, and it just washed me out. But then again, I was still very much wearing mostly black and yeah, there was a time where there was a time.

SPEAKER_02 32:13

There was a time, we won't talk about it.

SPEAKER_01 32:17

Maybe it'll work now, now that I've grown older and my skin's aged slightly, and it's possible and maybe that would work. Um, so every recruit was issued their first makeup kit in boot camp, along with instructions on how it should be applied. Um, speed and efficiency in the application of makeup was demanded of every recruit, and they were expected to take no more than two minutes to apply a full face of makeup with the kit that they were provided. Wow. Could only slap it on in if I slap makeup on in less than two minutes, I'd look like Krusty the Clown from The Simpsons.

SPEAKER_02 32:54

I can put a basic face together in probably five to seven minutes if I'm not doing anything fantastic, if I'm just kind of like making myself presentable to leave the house. I can get away in like ten minutes tops, probably.

SPEAKER_01 33:11

Two minutes, two minutes is insane. Who thought of that?

SPEAKER_02 33:15

That's that's a bit a man thought of that. I would guarantee you that a man thought of that.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

Um I don't think it would have been Lieutenant Colonel Streeter. I think she would have been like, hey, hold on now, girl. Um which was insane. Um, they had two minutes to apply the makeup and they had to keep it up during the day as well with the very limited time they had, like bathroom breaks. Right before going to lunch after PT.

SPEAKER_02 33:44

They were still expected to wear it doing physical training, doing physical training in makeup no look sick.

SPEAKER_01 33:52

Just be drowning in sweat. No, it isn't happening. Um, so I found that very crazy. Yeah. Um, but it then Montezuma Red became so sought after that Elizabeth Arden sort of went back to the drawing board and she made it into Victory Red, which made it available for everyone on the home front.

SPEAKER_02 34:12

Yes, and that is what you can still purchase it today. It's not an Elizabeth Arden shade. It's not made by their company anymore. Um, so there is Beseme Cosmetics, and Gabriela Hernandez is the CEO and creator of Beseme Cosmetics, and she basically reproduces to the absolute letter oh yeah, historical shades of lipstick. And she even does old-fashioned style like mascara, where you buy the tin and you get the brush, and you have to like wet the brush a little and scrape it into the tin of mascara and then do your eyes. And you can use the same one with a fine line brush to do your eyeliner or do your brows. It's very versatile, which is what makeup was in the 40s, right? The 30s and 40s, it was versatile. It was, you can get three products out of one. And she has reproduced Victory Red, and just last year she reproduced it with in a special victory red, like with a with a V for Victory pin for the anniversary of an VJ. You would buy the lipstick and you'd get the victory pin, and it looked like an old-fashioned V for Victory pin. It was a repro reproduction of the pins. And because Winnie can't wear Victory Red, I bought myself two and then sent her one of the pins because I didn't feel right that she didn't have the pin, at least. So what I did was I bought two and sent one of the pins to you, which is what a good friend does. But the fact that there's somebody that has taken care to make sure that the history of cosmetics remains it's maintained so well. She and she maintains it with such dignity and she maintains it so well. And it's not, this is no shade to companies like Mac or anything like that.

SPEAKER_00 36:14

No, of course.

SPEAKER_02 36:15

But because, you know, we all, you know, at this age, we use what works for I think we're both at the age where I could say I wear what works for my skin, right? Um, but something like Besseme that really transports you back in time is just I think it's incredible. I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 36:36

I love it. I really, really love it. I think it's um, I think it's really sweet that that that piece of history is being maintained and and kept for women and yeah. Um that girls now will say, Oh, I like this color red. What does it mean? And yeah, again, it also encourages you know, diving into history and learning about where it came from and how it came to be. Yeah. Um, again, it encourages the learning of women's history.

SPEAKER_02 37:02

If somebody like your daughter's age, she's almost eight. So she's not far off the cusp of being interested in these things. Exactly. And somebody, you know, somebody like her is gonna look at it maybe and go, well, what does that mean?

SPEAKER_01 37:17

Yeah, which then be able to research it, which then encourages a little rabbit hole, which I think is great. She gets it from me. She's gonna be jumping in out of rabbit holes, this kit, which is which will be fun. Which will be very, very fun for everyone. Um, so yes, Monte Duma Red was then made into Victory Red, and it became something that was in the face of patriotism. These women had to obviously be patriotic and maintain their femininity. And um it almost became an act of defiance. Um, it really became to spite Hitler. Yes, to oppose the Axis powers, it became an act of um an act of defiance. But while British and American women were being encouraged to maintain their femininity and buy new cosmetics, was of course millions of women are now going to work. They have more money, they're now being encouraged to maintain their appearance even more. Nazi Germany was giving the opposite instruction.

SPEAKER_02 38:23

No, Hitler despised makeup. And it was especially red, yes, especially red lipstick. He despised it. Um, and it was, you know, women in the States and women in the UK, they were seen as patriotic. And when a woman in Germany did this, it was an act of defiance because it was the opposite of what he considered the Aryan ideal, which was supposed to be a clean, unlike an unscrubbed face, meaning an unmarred face, pure.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:56

And if you were a woman visiting any type of any one of Hitler's retreats, you were given a list of what you could not do, which is included. Oh yeah. Well, yeah, I mean, think about it.

SPEAKER_01 39:13

He was saying exactly.

SPEAKER_02 39:14

He was insane. Still, but this list included avoiding excessive cosmetics, avoid red lipstick, and under no circumstances were women visiting any of Hitler's retreats allowed to paint their nails.

SPEAKER_00 39:27

Um plain, he wanted them simple.

SPEAKER_02 39:32

Yes, they were not recommended to wear jewelry, perfume, fur, or trousers. So basically everything. Basically everything that the American and British women were doing. Yes, essentially. A an act of patriotism, B, an act of morale boosting, C a big middle finger in Hitler's face.

SPEAKER_01 39:57

I couldn't find any records of women in Nazi Germany, you know, opposing Hitler and wearing the red lipstick and wearing trousers, and I couldn't find any like example, like any like big examples of it. I'm sure it happened and I hope it did.

SPEAKER_02 40:16

I would bet that it did, and I just think that maybe it was very underground, right? Probably, yeah. Probably very underground. And for the sake of for the sake of of staying alive would be Yes, of course.

SPEAKER_01 40:30

Would you when I say when I say I hope it did happen, I mean in in the face of defiance and absolutely everything he believed. Not that I hope it happened so that women could be punished, obviously. No, no, I never thought you said it that way. Yeah. To him. So um, but yes, he hated red lipstick. There has been uh articles and stories written of that how that that was wrong, and it was propaganda made by the Brits to encourage women to keep wearing lipstick, which was then passed on to the US government to release that propaganda, keep wearing your red lipstick because Hitler hates it. Um, so there has been like some, you know, some things that don't add up. The the general consensus was that he did not like makeup. Therefore, it is safely assumed that he did not like a bright red lip or excessive, um, excessive makeup upon a woman. Um, another really cool thing I found um during research in this was that women would save their nail polish by having scrubbed down nails where they would only paint their nail to the white of their fingernail. Oh, like a fr like a French tip almost. Yeah, but they do like the red only to the white of their nail. And it would look like scrub.

SPEAKER_02 41:57

Oh, from the back to the front. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 41:59

Yeah. They wouldn't do the whole nail in order to save some that's interesting.

SPEAKER_02 42:05

And I've seen photos like I've seen photos of that. Like where they said that this was, you know, A to save for rationing purposes, and you know, it would make a manicure last longer.

SPEAKER_01 42:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 42:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:20

I um I don't know if it was just a British thing or like just a land, a land army thing, because of course those women were using their hands quite a bit and digging in the dirt with their nails. They don't want to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_02 42:33

There were no gloves.

SPEAKER_01 42:34

There were no gloves back then. So I don't know if it was a um it was just a them specific thing. Um I thought that was a really cool a really cool little tidbit was that they would paint their nails, but they would not paint their nails completely all the way to the top. Yeah, which I I found really cool. That is very cool. Trendy. Yeah. Yes. Essentially makeup and cosmetics was done as a morale boost and was done in the face of the war effort. And you know, no matter where these women worked on either sides of the Atlantic, whether they were enlisted, whether they were in factories, working on the land, um, they were encouraged to maintain femininity and they were encouraged to I think as well it it served themselves while they were looking after everyone else. Absolutely. Because I absolutely I know that I know that I feel better when I have uh quote unquote put my face on and I feel like more put together.

SPEAKER_02 43:38

Yeah, I mean there was a time when like makeup was a defense mechanism for me almost.

SPEAKER_01 43:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:46

But now it's more of a feel good type of thing. Like, you know, yes, I like when I look clean. I don't like to look caked on, but I like when I look clean and just put together. Together elegant is the word I would go for. And yeah, you know, there's a quote we have here that I think is the perfect way to wrap this up that makeup was not only necessary to the war effort, it was vital. Quote, lipstick is your weapon, and you are the soldiers of the rear.

SPEAKER_01 44:20

Yes, I really love that because despite being left behind at home for a lot of women, you are still fighting the war from where you are. Absolutely. And you looking good and feeling good only helps the war effort. And I love the bit where it says lipstick is your weapon, because as we've discussed, Hitler hated lipstick. And again, it's an act of defiance and a symbol of confidence and patriotism. It was a weapon for those who couldn't pick up a weapon and fight. Yes. They were able to fight in their own way. Yes. Even though you're at home, you're still able to fight, and it's just by putting on lipstick. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 45:06

So grab your lipstick, girls. Yeah, get it. Pick up a tube of victory red if it's your shade or whatever your shade is. Grab your lipstick.

SPEAKER_01 45:16

If it's not, I have recommendations for those pasty and Irish. I've got a I've got a whole list for you. Drop me a line. I'll let you know.

SPEAKER_02 45:28

Yes, but put on your lipstick and just go out in the world and feel good. Feel good about yourself.

SPEAKER_00 45:33

Yeah, just feel good about yourself. It's not for anybody else, it is just for you.

SPEAKER_01 45:38

For you. This one was so fun. I loved research.

SPEAKER_02 45:42

This was great. And we learned something new. I taught you all about Joe Camel.

SPEAKER_01 45:47

Yes, you did. And we learned that we actually did smoke the same cigarettes back in the day.

SPEAKER_02 45:53

And if you're one of my parents listening to this episode, no, I didn't.

SPEAKER_01 45:57

No, you didn't. You never heard this, mother. This is not for your ears. I know that I've encouraged you to listen to this for the past year. Let's skip this one. This one was really fun. I had a great time doing this one.

SPEAKER_02 46:10

The research was fun. The topic was just great.

SPEAKER_01 46:14

This one was so you, like old Hollywood is so me. This one was so you. Good. As you said, it's your shade. It's my shade specifically. It's my shade.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

So just remember just remember, girls, wearing red lipstick won't stop cigarettes from killing you. No. Um, but it does pair well with a cup of coffee and a fresh sinker. So correct. On that note, thank you for joining us, and we will catch you guys next time.

SPEAKER_01 46:51

Thank you guys.

SPEAKER_02 46:53

Bye.

SPEAKER_01 46:54

Bye.