Re-create vintage 70s makeup looks with modern makeup pencils and crayons
Crayons and pencils with a wide range of colors and a softer texture were suddenly being used for eyeshadow, blush, lipstick, highlighter and concealer.
Produced by all the major players — Max Factor, Revlon, Maybelline, Elizabeth Arden, Mary Quant and others — these easy-to-use tools helped women create a variety of new styles with a minimum of hassle.
Unlike some other vintage beauty products, makeup crayons and pencils never went away! You can even find dozens of different kinds today — see what types and colors are available at Amazon here — which means you could even recreate some of these 70s makeup looks for yourself.
Learn to draw a pretty face. Start with your own. (1974)
There’s nothing to it with the new soft makeup crayons.
Now blusher, highlighter, eye and lip color all come in crayon form. Choose from a scandalous array of colors, and don’t be surprised if you produce a masterpiece.
The secret is in picking a minimum of shades for a maximum of looks you can vary from pale and subtle to deep and dramatic.
Tips on using makeup crayons: How to get a vintage 70s makeup look
- Crayons and pencils are safe to use anywhere on your face unless, because of pigment, there is a prohibition on the package. Check directions before using.
- All brands are compatible. You can mix and match either monochromatically or in contrasting colors.
- Every type works better over a layer of moisturizer or creamy makeup. You can powder over pencils, but you can’t pencil over powder; powdered skin doesn’t have the proper “slip.”
- When using a pencil or crayon, dot color on, then use fingertips to blend.
- You will have more control with pencils and crayons than with pot-type gels or creams. especially in a small area.
- Before sharpening pencils. put them in the freezer for about twenty minutes (prevents breakage).
- Make sure the pencil wax extends considerably beyond the “wood” so you don’t scratch yourself when applying. especially important when doing eye area.
- If your skin is very oily, use pencils or crayons on eyes and lips only.
- If your skin is very dry, you may find crayons beneficial since they are quite waxy or “greasy.”
- Frosted pencils and crayons look deceptively dark in the stick; they appear lighter on the skin.
- Stay away from frosteds if you have black skin; pastels go ashen.
- An off-white pencil is especially versatile. You can camouflage dark circles. lighten laugh lines. highlight brow and cheekbones. even turn a dark shade into a pastel.
- When using pencils for lips. make the outline a shade lighter than the filled-in color. The effects is soft, less aging.
- Because makeup crayons and pencils contain waxes and oils. we don’t recommend their use on skin covered with excessive superficial hair (it tends to cling to the hairs).
ALSO SEE: See the top vintage nail polish brands and colors from the 20th century
How to use makeup crayons to get a vintage 70s makeup look
Here are three new crayon faces by makeup expert Stan Place — see what we mean?
The look: Deep, warm tones create an earthy look.
Subtle monochromatic browns complement Sandy’s radiant skin and auburn hair.
Brown crayon in hollow of cheeks for contour. Cinnamon on lips. Nutmeg over entire eyelids as shadow.
Pastel colors for a fragile look (not shown): Yellow crayon stroked on eye bone for highlight, pale aqua on eyelids as shadow, peach on cheekbone for blusher, frosted peach on lips.
The look: Bronze highlights on a vibrant tan skin
Pulsating colors lend a marvelous dramatic quality to Barbara’s bronze-is-beautiful face.
Bronze highlights in the center of the forehead, on top of cheekbones, and in laugh lines. Pale blue on eyelids. Bright red crayon in hollow of cheekbones for contour… also on lips.
Purple and mauve for a soft, muted look. (Not shown.)
Dark brown pencil circles eye close to lashes, purple crayon on eyelids, mauve under outer brow bone for highlight, clear red on upper cheekbone as blusher, mauve on lips.
NOW SEE THIS: How to get awesome & authentic on-trend ’80s eye makeup, like multicolored eyeshadow
The look: Fresh greens for a young, wide-eyed look
Delicate, airy tones of peach, copper and pale green are perfect with Nina’s blonde good looks.
Fern green under eyebrow, willow green on eyelids, acid green smudged under the eye, frosted copper on upper cheekbone, burnt orange lips, glossed over with pink frost.
Cool ivory and frosted pink for a little-girl look (not shown): Frosted pink blusher high on cheekbone, pale pink shadow over eyelids, ivory under browbone as highlight, pale pink on lips.
Elizabeth Arden introduces Creative Coloring Pencils (1973)
26 soft strokes of ingenious color for eyes, lips, cheeks, chin, etc., etc.
We’ve just created the most versatile, most exciting most fun new makeup idea in years — creamy, soft-centered pencils with a unique, shape-able, controllable point.
Think of them as everything pencils. Because they can do everything you can think of — light up a lid, bring on a blush, ripen a mouth. They’re highlighter, lip and eye liner, contour and brow color. Literally everything, (except foundation and mascara).
They glide on like silk. Stay on longer than creams. And are infinitely simpler to use than powders. A handful’s all you need to create a shatteringly beautiful face. And if that isn’t everything, what is?
How to use 70s makeup pencils for eyes, face & lips (1973)
Lips: Line them, color them in; Sunny up a forehead; Dazzle your eyes; Sweep on a blush
Eye Color Styler Pencils – 70s makeup (1978)
Maybelline Color Styler Pencils (1979)
It’s Lip Writing with lipstick in a pencil. Lots of luscious, long-wearing colors.
It’s Cheek Writing with creamy-soft, blendable blush colors.
It’s Eye Writing with the latest shades to shadow, line, contour and style.
Maybelline makes it easy to write a face as unique as your signature: Color Styler Pencils
Color Styler Pencils Duos (1979/1980)
MORE: Blue eyeshadow: The good, the bad & the ugly vintage makeup
ALSO SEE: How to create the pretty retro pastel eye makeup look they loved back in the 60s & 70s
