Lily Fair

What glamour girl doesn't want the fairest skin she can get? That's not to say that warmer tones are unattractive, but pale skin is essential to a vintage look.

There are various ways to achieve a lily complexion. When I informed my sister I would be washing with buttermilk, the tart answered, "K, you don't have a mammy!"

If only.

Lightening methods include, obviously, avoiding the sun, coating the skin with SPF, washing with buttermilk, applying lemon juice, and using facial lightening creams. I have done the latter two with minimal success, but I'm already fairly pale. If I didn't have such strong undertones of pink, I'd be set.

Most glamour girls have to rely on makeup. Dita von Teese achieves her lily complexion through heavy foundation and powder.

The Muse has a great blog entry on how she achieves a whiter shade of pale: http://www.musingsofamuse.com/2008/04/beauty-secrets-whitening-your-skin-how.html

(This just in: a mixture of yogurt and lemon juice applied to the face overnight may lighten skin tone. It is also said that olive oil will lighten the skin)

There are tanning salons everywhere, but what's more lovely and pure than white skin? Just don't start envying tuberculosis victims.

Hollywood Makeovers

Old Hollywood stars like Rita Hayworth and Greta Garbo strike us as people so beautiful that, much like Aphrodite, we imagine that they were born looking so good. That's not quite true.

Rita Hayworth was born in New York to a Spanish flamenco dancer and Ziegfield chorus girl. She went through a lot to become a Hollywood starlet. Her hair was dyed red and she had to endure a painful treatment called Electrolysis to raise and define her hairline. Rita also underwent serious diet and fitness programs to slim down. Her makeup also needed to be applied a certain way because one of her eyes was smaller than the other, most noticeably when she smiled. (this last bit of information was gathered from Miss Vintage, a site I consider to be the absolutely authority on vintage beauty)

Greta Garbo was a successful actress in her native Sweden before she hit Hollywood. She, like Rita Hayworth, was put through a rigorous makeover that included intense dieting. She dropped 30 pounds. She was also subjected to Electrolysis.