1930-1939
The 1930s was when makeup advertising and Hollywood influence gained true prominence in American culture. By the beginning of the decade, most cosmetics came with how-to manuals and inserts describing different applications and techniques for the consumer. Companies were taking out more full and half-page advertisements, in both film and women's magazines, than in previous decades. The expectation for women to wear at least the bare minimum of foundation and rouge was well-established as the standard. It was during this decade that makeup consumption began to spread significantly beyond city limits. Cosmetics had been mostly absent in rural and poor areas until beauty shops began to pop up in the mid-1920s, but the consumption of beauty products by women in these areas grew significantly in the 1930s and hit a level on par with urban women by the end of the decade.
Magazine covers from this decade are examples of the makeup style and look that was popular.
The importance and influence of the Hollywood Star System became especially prominent in the 1930s. Stars of the screen were hailed as symbols of feminine beauty by everyone, not just film fans.
An article from the April 1939 issue of the Ladies' Home Journal, titled "What the Men of America think about Women", uses photographs of three actresses and praises them as the ideal beauty for each 'type': brunette Hedy Lamarr, red-haired Myrna Loy, and blonde Virginia Bruce. As was the standard, these 'types' only represented white women. They also enforced defining women based on their physical appearance. All of the actresses are pictured wearing the fashionable makeup style of the time, reinforcing that cosmetics were essential to achieving beauty, and that these stars were exemplary.
This entry from a reader response section in Photoplay Magazine is an example of what young women thought about their favourite film stars. This young woman writes that Garbo was their ideal and that they want her to continue to embody glamour "as only she can". She also mentions that Garbo is an escape for her and other young women from their "uncolorful school surroundings", implying perhaps that they did not have the means or the freedom to copy Garbo's beauty. Being from a rural area and either a teenager or college student, this was possible. Companies did not begin targeting the female teenage consumer until the 1940s.
Film makeup had to be revolutionized with the invention of Technicolor film in the middle of the decade. Film production studios had to use new, more intense lighting, which meant that actors were sweating more. The existing screen makeup could not handle the new conditions and made the actors' faces reflect the bright lights. Following the release of Becky Sharp in 1935, one of the first Technicolor films, critics overwhelmingly commented on the looks of the actors and suggested the invention of new makeup immediately. One of their biggest complaints was the amount of colour that the actors' faces had; they claimed they were too dark, meaning they did not reflect the standard of whiteness.
This led to companies manufacturing foundations and powders that would be more comfortable and look better under the harsh new conditions. Max Factor Hollywood and Elizabeth Arden both devised new products: Max Factor's Pan-Cake and Elizabeth Arden's Screen and Stage. Both were advertised to the public during and after their respective film debuts in 1937. As going to the movies was such a popular passtime, especially for young people with disposable incomes, this proved an effective strategy. The young female consumer would see the makeup in action on the screen, and then had it advertised to her as a way for her to achieve the beauty of the stars of the screen. In large cities, makeup was a major commodity by 1931 among wage-earners and college students; 85% of them used cosmetics regularly, and spent an average of $12-$13 on products annually ($238-$258USD today).
Sources