how to be a Pin-up Model - HAIR/MAKEUP

MUAH. No, no.... I'm not blowing you kisses. Or creepy laughing. Or misspelling the word "moi." This fun little acronym is what makes the pin-up world go round.... MAKE UP AND HAIR.

I would venture to say that if you are going for the pin-up look and don't know where to put your time/money, hair and make up is where you should put it. If you have fabulous victory rolls and cat eyes and you are wearing it with a simple black dress and some pearls- wa la, instant pin-up. Congratulations, and you're welcome. Same outfit, but plain Jane hair, and congratulations, you look like you are going to court or maybe the library. A really nice library.

If I say victory rolls, and you think of someone celebrating with summersaults, then let me help you with a little imagery.

Photo credits: Suzie Q Pinups/MUA Heather Tremble and CPW Photography/MUA Vivienne Vermuth

Now, victory rolls come in all shapes, sizes and directions. The ones in the black&white photo are actually nicknamed devil rolls due to their resemblance to devil horns... no matter how much, how many, and in what way you do them - the victory roll screams VINTAGE.

There are also popular pin-up hair do's that are up-do's - that just isn't my thing so I haven't tried that out. Maybe I will find a photo that I like and will change my mind. Which leads me to my next point: Please do research and please take photos to your hair stylist (unless you are doing your own hair, in which case, you are brave, please keep reading)... 

For makeup, you want to have several items highlighted on your face... 

- eyelashes. either get fake ones or make sure you have AMAZING mascara. your preference.

- red lipstick. make sure that you put a base foundation on your lips, line them with red liner and then apply a good red lipstick. the red liner will make sure you don't look like a monster when it bleeds everywhere.

- cat eyes - black liquid eyeliner. 

- you do want to have exaggerated makeup, but you don't want to look too much like a clown.. the pin-up look was a very clean, fresh look. 

Now, there are plenty of youtube tutorials out there regarding both hair and makeup. I would say that whether you are planning on doing this look more than once or you are only doing it one time for a special occasion, you owe it to yourself and others to hire a professional. I'll go through the reasons why in a second. But first, how do you find an amazing MUA (makeup artist)... I would go with 1 of 3 ways... 

1) go to your hairdresser that you already have and ask her. she's in the industry and chances are she (or he) either knows how to do a little something-something themselves or knows someone who does

2) word of mouth. research pin-up models or burlesque models in your general vicinity. or local pin-up photographers. we are all in the same business and believe me, in Pin-up Land, people talk. Ask for a good MUA. oh, by the way, you say you don't know any pin-up/burl models or photographers... do a little facebook stalking and send a private message. or a lot of times the MUA is credited in photos (and if they aren't, they should be)

3) dangit. I had a number 3, and I lost it. I talked too much during number 2. :) 

Now, for the reasons that I personally think that going with a professional for MUAH is the way to go. 

- especially if you don't know exactly what you are doing, shell out a little dough and let someone else help you look fabulous

- especially if you are doing photos, a MUA will a lot of times use high-definition makeup... MAKEUP IN HD, i know - who woulda thunk it. but it's true. and the HD stuff makes a lot of difference in pictures, so put your covergirl compact down. now!

- have you ever started on a hair do that requires a lot of pins and a lot of hair spray only for it to look like a slicked-down, nasty piece of dog poo? then after realizing your failure have to try to salvage your 'do only to end up wetting it down completely and starting over. If you know this feeling, then you might be chuckling. If you don't know this feeling, then you haven't tried vintage hair. 

Now, (I just realized that I have started approximately MOST of my paragraphs in this post with "now") on to the youtube/website make up and hair tutorials. They are out there, and I will be perfectly honest that I have not have the attention span to sit through any of them. However, I do think that doing your own hair and makeup for the pin-up look would be appropriate for any of the following activities:

- going out on the town

- practicing for fun at your house 

- bar mitzvahs 

I actually do plan on learning how to do pin-up hair and makeup to save myself a little money down the road.... but for now I prefer to leave it to the professionals. 

XOXOX 

Sweetpea Bettie