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In my seemingly never ending quest to find my style and learn how to be girly, this past weekend I attended a 1940’s vintage makeup and hair styling class at Besame Cosmetics in Burbank! I have written many times about how I adore the classic pinup style so when my friend Hope alerted me to this class, I couldn’t wait to attend! It helps that Besame Cosmetics is about two miles from my house and is my new favorite makeup shop since I discovered it thanks to the Lifestyle Bloggers Conference.
The three hour class is a great value at $20 per person and the classes are limited to 15 attendees so you get one-on-one attention. The class is very casual so you can observe the model, ask questions as the instructors are going along, and even get personal attention if your hair and makeup skills are severely lacking (like yours truly).
The class was led by Gabriela Hernandez, the creator of Besame Cosmetics, and Mia Morte, makeup artist extraordinaire. While Mia demonstrated the hair and makeup techniques on our lovely model, Trish, Gabriela was there to offer makeup and hair styling advice. Of course the emphasis was on Besame Cosmetics products, but both instructors talked up other brands as well, which was refreshing.
Gabriela Hernandez of Besame Cosmetics
Mia Morte
We started out by learning how to create Victory Rolls, as seen styled on the lovely Mary Beth Hughes below.
{Image Source: Vintage Visions 27}
My first tip for attending this class is to bring a good sized mirror, or get there early so you can get a front row seat in front of their three wall mirrors! This was my attempt with no mirror, which if you think about it is pretty decent. Thankfully Gabriela redid my Victory Rolls when class was over. Gabriela said part of my hair’s problem is that my hair was too slick and clean, despite me not washing it for two days in preparation for this class! I think I’m lucky that my hair looks pretty good days after a wash but it also makes it nearly impossible to hold curl or style.
Once our hair was styled, we got to dive into the hair accessories! There were flower clips, bandannas, and snoods available just to play with or to purchase.
Next we moved on to makeup. We got an overview of the 1940s makeup characteristics and techniques, and then they were demonstrated on Trish. We followed along using our own makeup or samples from Besame. We learned a lot of makeup application tricks, from the best way to apply foundation to how to make the perfect “Cupid’s Bow” on our upper lip.
Foundation …
Eyes …
Cheeks …
Lips …
For lips we got to try whatever shade we wanted from their extensive collection! Christina from Besame Cosmetics picked out “American Beauty” for me. It’s a classic shade of red that works well for just about every skin tone.
I made sure to take a few pictures of myself when I got home to remember this look, because it will probably be a while before I’m this dolled up again!
I am wearing …
Besame creme Foundation (forgot to jot down the shade)
Besame Porcelaine powder on eyelids
Besame Rouge for cheeks
Besame Lipstick in “American Beauty”
Eyeliner and mascara from my personal collection.
Dress by Pinup Girl Clothing.
I had such a great time at the Besame Cosmetics workshop and I highly recommend them for makeup dunces like me AND well-styled pros alike. Besame Cosmetics is located in Magnolia Park in Burbank, CA.
