29 January 2013

Twinsie Tuesday: Vintage Beauty Ads

This week's TT theme is nails from a vintage beauty advert, and after googling the subject for several days, I've learned that with few exceptions, vintage nails = red. Possibly pink. Peach if you're adventurous. Black if you're ancient Egyptian nobility.

Without a doubt, Revlon Cherries in the Snow, first introduced in the early '50's, is one of the nail polish classics. And since half-moon manicures were all the rage as far back as the 1930's, I decided to combine the two for today's vintage nails.

half-moon manicure with Revlon Cherries in the Snow

Actually the real "vintage" look from the '30's features almond-shaped nails with a half-moon left unpainted at the base and tip...

source
...only when I tried to replicate the look, it did not look right on these square-ish tips. I also took a little liberty with the "unpainted" area. Namely, I painted it. Well, sponged it, to be more accurate, but come on--are you going to tell me those "Robin Red" nails are naturally that white? Advert colorizers, j'accuse! That's gotta be some pre-Photoshop fakery there. Still, I liked the higher-contrast look of the whitened half-moon and thought a roughly sponged application of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls might a) be a little softer, and b) look a little bit like snow, to go with my new Revlon Cherries in the Snow polish.

I was actually out yesterday looking for a good vintage-looking red and stumbled across Cherries by chance in the bins at Sasa. I was surprised at how strongly pink it leans. In fact, I'd call it more raspberry than red, and in lower light it's practically fuchsia. The coverage on it is fantastic, though--if I hadn't planned to take pictures I could easily have gotten by with just one coat!

half-moon manicure with Revlon Cherries in the Snow

I wonder how many of the other Twinsies went with half-moons and/or classic red for this theme? I'm literally finishing this up with about 2 minutes to go until posting time, so I'm about to find out!


Amanda at Amandalandish
Anna at Going to the Showing
Anne at Grape Fizz Nails
Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi
Cordia at Seriously Swatched
Elizabeth at Did My Nails
Jamie at Polish, Please!
Katherine at Haul of Fame
Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Meredith at Polish and Charms
Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails
Rachel at Top Coat It
Sarah at See Sarah Swatch
Tara at Polishy of Truth
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32 comments:

  1. While I didn't do half moons, we're Twinsies in color!

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    1. I saw! And it's so pretty on you, Amanda! :D

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  2. I find it so interesting that they only painted like, half the nail back then - doesn't make sense to me! This color is so vibrant and rich though - gorgeous :)

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    1. I was surprised by how much I liked this pink-red too, Heather. Thanks!! Yeah, the style kind of baffles me. I'll bet they had MUCH thinner brushes "back in the day" to do these with.

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  3. I simply love this. You hit all the great vintage 'notes' with this for sure!

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  4. I love this color! It is beautiful!

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  5. Aww, a true classic - lovely inspiration and mani!

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    1. Thank you, Maria! Given how quickly it seems I need to grab each season's polishes these days before they're gone forever, I'm so amazed that this one's been out since, like, 1953. That's amazing!

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  7. We found the same ad! :) This looks great...I just love Cherries in the Snow!

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    1. Heehee, we did!! And thank you, Jamie--I couldn't believe I just happened to spot such a "vintage" polish for this one!

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  10. Beautiful!!! I love the colour of this one!! :D

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    1. Thank you, Ash!! This isn't a colour I'd have picked for myself without the theme guiding my choices, but it really was pretty IRL.

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  11. Looks beautiful! I never could tell if that was supposed to be unpainted or white in the ads!

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    1. Thank you, Meredith! Yeah, those ads...I was wondering myself, but then I happened to see another vintage one with a 'how to' guide on it. So maybe that's how it was supposed to be done, but there's no way these ads aren't "helped" by some colourists. :P

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  12. Really nice manicure and looks great on you! :-) I like Revlon Cherries in the Snow, beautiful nail art base and one-coater too..! :-)

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    1. Thanks, Tanja! It really does have amazing coverage!

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  13. I really love this! So classic and chic!

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  14. very classic and pretty! :) makes me think of my mom

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    1. Thank you, Lydz! I think one of the reasons I don't wear much red is because I associate it with more mature women, but then I'm sure by the time we're older ourselves, teen girls will be all, "Neon zebra nails are soooo grandma!" >_<

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  15. You and Amanda make me want Cherries in the Snow, is it easy to find?

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    1. I just happened across it in a literal pile of Revlon polishes. Amanda could probably tell you better, but given it's been such a classic Revlon colour for decades, I'd be surprised if it were WTF.

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  16. So many of us did this! I love it! Love that you used Cherries in the Snow, it's one of my fave reds!

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    1. Thanks, Anne! I'm still crushing on your squared off version and the pretty lilac polish you used!

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