I’m often asked about my favourite products and things I use to achieve my unique vintage pinup look.  I know when you’re first starting into vintage hairstyles and makeup it can be overwhelming. There are so many products and they are so expensive. Through trial and error, I’ve managed to find some reasonably priced products that go a long way to creating that perfect pinup look.

My Hair Products and Tools

How I get my head-turning hair colour

Pravana Chromasilks Vivids Violet – I ALWAYS get compliments on my bright hair whether it be the blue I’ve had for years or the new purple shade I’ve recently changed to! Pravana makes gorgeous colours and I highly recommend this brand! I’ve tried their blue tones, greens, and purple, all have lasted and faded beautifully. My hair stays shiny and soft, though there is a little colour bleed that happens initially it’s worth the beautiful tones. If you do it right your colour can last to the next root touch up!

The perfect setting lotion for vintage styles

LottaBody Setting lotion – This setting lotion is the go-to for a lot of women in the vintage community. It’s a great starter setting lotion to use when perfecting wetsets, or even doing heat sets. I don’t use it as often anymore with the more intense colours it can tend to pull some of the colour out. So I chose to move to mousse or gel with my sets.  If you don’t do fashion colours in your hair, I totally recommend using this. You will need to dilute it according to how thick or thin your hair may be. But I found my sets always lasted and looked lovely when using this product. I have fine hair so I used a 2:1 dilution of the product in a spray bottle.

Comfortable foam rollers for overnight sets

Conair Foam Rollers – I swear by foam rollers! Not everyone can sleep in them I know, but that’s why a good ol’ bonnet dryer is great. You can speed up the process of a set with heat, or just do the traditional sleep on them. I wrap my head in a scarf after rolling and it keeps the rollers from moving too much while I sleep. Conair foam rollers have been my favourite brand to use; the dollar stores have similar foam rollers but they tend to rip and break more readily.

Coloured bobby pins that stay hidden in fashion coloured vintage hair

Tint-o-Matic Fashion Hair Color Bobby Pins – If you do vivid fashion colours, it really helps to have bobby pins that match your hair colour, so nobody notices that you have 800 bobby pins holding up that classic beehive.

My go-to curling iron for when I’m in a hurry

Hot tools ½” curling iron – I managed to find one of these while doing thrift shopping! So I got it for a steal! I’ve found it online, so you can pick it up but always keep an eye out at your local thrift store. I don’t often like using heat on my hair, but there are times you just can’t do a set. This curling iron has been a life saver for times I have to get ready short notice. I love that it has an adjustable temp gauge so you don’t fry your hair, and it swivels without the cord tangling up.

My favourite hairspray

Got 2 Be Glued hairspray– This is my go-to hairspray, the hold is amazing! And I’ve even gone swimming with my hair done and it’s held pretty good. It’s kept my beehives nice and in place even overnight! If you want a hairspray with staying power look no more. It doesn’t flake, but if you have a few layers in you may need to wash your hair second time.

The amazing time-saving vintage hair tool

Roll&Go Vintage Hairstyle Tool – When I was first learning vintage styles, I wanted to do all the victory rolls and bumper bangs! Problem was I had no idea how to do the roll despite watching youtube tutorial after tutorial. I came across this tool and picked one up to try! Well after the brief learning curve I was doing my hair like a pro (ok how about great). This tool is also great for doing standing pin curls. It came with a handy guide and some extra bobby pins.  I was sold and knew I had to sell this one! It’s a big helper no matter where you are in terms of skill.

My favourite styling powder

Got 2 Be POWDER’ful Volumizing styling powder – I take this product with me everywhere I go. It’s great to spruce up some greasy hair and get some volume, or avoid doing teasing for a style. Sometimes I just want to get up and go, so I shake some at the root of my hair and take sections and “fluff” them up so to speak.

My favourite mousse

Got 2 Be Kinkier Gloss ‘N Define curling Mousse – As you can tell I love this brand too. When I discovered this mousse and tried using it for a wetset I fell in love. The curls were soft and not frizzy. The hold was amazing, my styles lasted all day long! It was easy to resculpt styles as I like, I would just spritz my hair with water to make it a little damp. After my hair was damp I’d just straighten or repin the style. This product lasted me a while too.

For those stubborn fly-aways and frizzy bits

Kenra Whipped Taffy # 20 – My bestie recommended this product to me when I was having issues smoothing my styles out. The struggle is real when it comes to frizzy ends and fly aways.  This not only smells soooo good you want to eat it, but it does an amazing job at smoothing and holding the style. A little trick to get it to hold a little better is to apply some to a toothbrush and smooth it over the area. Run a hair dryer on low over it and no more frizzy bits!

My Favourite Makeup Products

Perfect eyebrows every time

Eye Brow stencil Band – This band is the secret to my always fabulous brows! I have to say this was one of those items I purchased on a lark thinking it’ll at least be worth some laughs. Well was I ever surprised about how well it works! It’s cut the time I spend on my brows in half, and my brows are always even. I simply strap it on (with the template for my shape) and lightly brush over the stencil area, undo and remove then fill them in! That easy.

Best gel for fuller eyebrows

Kabrow by Benefit – LOVE this brow gel. It lasts forever and hasn’t smeared unless it’s been a super hot day or I didn’t set my makeup. This product lasts forever and goes on beautifully. I love the applicator brush.

How I get my bold lashes

I love Extreme Mascara By: Essence – I’ll be honest, I don’t like spending a lot on mascara. I use it so often I go through it quickly so where I can save and still get a good bang with my buck I’m always up for. I find the Essence line of mascara’s great! I use the waterproof line they have and love the EXTREME mascara the most. Not clumpy or sticky and gives a nice coating and length to the lash.

My favourite face powder

Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Talc-free Mineral Face Powder, Translucent – I discovered this brand a few years ago after getting gifted the Flawless complexion kit. It is so great for setting and baking your makeup. It’s light and stays all day, I don’t find it sinks into my creases or wrinkles and has a very softening overall effect in pictures.

Physicians Formula Super BB Balm Cream – This cream is amazeballs. I love the light coverage and moisturizing effect it has. It’s silky, smells lovely, and doesn’t feel heavy at all.

How I get the perfect even skin tone every time

Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Flawless Complexion Kit – This kit started my love for this brand. The blush is beautiful and can be layered to get a more pigmented pinky blush to the skin. If you want to try out this brand I highly recommend investing in this kit.

The only face primer I use

Physicians Formula Instaready Face Primer SPF 18 – I found face primers pointless until I tried this one. It has a slightly strange feel to it but it’s soft and easy to apply. The skin feels amazing after you apply it. This also has SPF 18 in it which is always an added benefit.

How I keep my makeup looking good all day

Physicians Formula Instaready Setting Spray – I had tried a number of setting sprays and always found they felt sticky or didn’t dry fast enough. Others had a strange slickness to them (best I can describe it). This one is GREAT! A nice spritzing of this before you go out for a long hot day and your makeup is not moving.

My Favourite Bath and Body Products

My favourite perfume

Sweet By Lolita Lempicka – I have grown such a love for perfume over the years. I’ve never liked the heavy floral scents or the musky hard scents. This perfume is sweet (as it’s name suggested), with notes of cotton candy, apples, and cherries. It’s not over the top about it but when I first got it, I must confess I spent a lot of time smelling myself LOL.

My other favourite perfume

Sweet like Candy By Ariana Grande – Ok so I’m not a huge fan of this perfume and wish Ariana would make more along this line. It’s so subtle with a citrus, sweet honey almost cotton candy scent. I bought as much of this as I could find, it’s lovely and I’ve never had a complaint about the scent.

How I get clean without drying out my sensitive skin

Jason Aloe Vera Body wash – Skin issues are a thing for me and finding the right soap took forever. Daily I have to shower and exfoliate my skin, but everything I had to use was so drying and harsh on my skin. Not to mention the cancer risks of using the chemicals needed. When I came across this brand in my search for natural soaps, I figured I’d give it a try. I haven’t regretted it at all. I use this body wash or their tea tree oil one and find my flare ups aren’t so bad, my skin isn’t painfully dry, and it smells lovely.

My favourite hair conditioner

Hemp Co Soak it Up Conditioner -After I get my hair bleached and a refresh done on my hair, I find it can be dry. I discovered this brand at Winners of all places and picked it up along with the hair oil they make. LOVE this product. It’s not too heavy and my hair is always soft and tangle free. It doesn’t impact my dye at all and is all natural.

My favourite shampoo

Hemp Co Soak It up Shampoo – This shampoo is great. Most of the natural shampoos I’d tried pulled a lot of dye from my hair. I wasn’t going to use store brands because they can strip dye even quicker. I found this in Winners and gave it a try. It gets any hair products i’ve used completely out of my hair and doesn’t strip all oils at the root.

How I relax after a long day in heels

Philosophy Cinnamon Buns Bubble bath – This is a little bit more than I typically spend on bubble bath, but it’s so worth it for the occasional indulgent soak. I love the bubble bath (it also doubles as shampoo and body wash), the scent is lovely but not heavy and chemical. My skin is always soft and doesn’t tend to get irritated by the soap. So if you want to have a little luxury at bath time, grab one of these.