'30s Glamour of Marlene Dietrich
Makeup Tips Inspired By the Ultimate Movie Star
She was the ultimate screen diva, with unreal beauty and screen presence. Capture her essence with step-by-step beauty tips inspired by the seductive Marlene Dietrich
A jaw-droppingly beautiful screen creation of the 1930s, Marlene Dietrich perfected the art of making herself look like a work of art onscreen. A master of using makeup, props, costumes and lighting to make her look her absolute best at all times, she was always stunning and pushing beauty boundaries. The velvety perfection of her skin, elegant cheekbones, hooded eyes and penchant for androgyny have never quite been matched.
To capture the essence of Marlene, focus on enhancing your own features using contouring and highlighting. Your skin should look as flawless as possible to begin with. This is not a natural look, so you want to achieve a matte or nearly matte canvas using concealer, foundation and powder. Using a light-toned contour powder (a pink-brown blush works, the tone depends on your skin tone) and a medium sized brush, blend the powder into the hollows of your cheeks – just below your cheekbones where your cheeks hollow slightly. Start with very little and add only if you need to – this should look as natural as possible, not like streaks of colour on the face. Blend the colour slightly up to your temples. Now use the same colour and a smaller brush to contour your eyes – blend it under your eyes and into your crease. If you wish, you can also contour your nose to make it look smaller by blending the same contour colour alongside the bridge of the nose. Again, use almost no product to do this and blend, blend, blend. It has to be subtle to be effective!
Now you contrast the contouring you’ve done with highlighter. You can use a cream highlighter, but to keep the look consistent, it's better to use a powder highlighter. With a small brush, apply it to the tops of your cheekbones and blend it down into the hollows slightly. Also apply it to your browbone, the very inside of your eyes and across the eyelid. With the contour colour in your creases and the bright highlighter on your lids, this will give the effect of having naturally hooded, sensual eyes.
To make your eyes look even more seductive, use a grey or medium brown eyeshadow and an eyeshadow brush to blend the colour into your crease. Starting from the outside corner of your eyes, blend in a curved upward angle to the inside of your nose, ending just below the start of your eyebrows. Blending is so important for this look, you want it to look as natural as possible, so start with very little and add if you need to. Now, line the top lid with a very thin line of brown or black liquid eyeliner and blend a tiny amount of black or brown eyeshadow on top to soften it very slightly. Curl your eyelashes and use lots of mascara on the top lashes only. You may also apply natural-looking false eyelashes if you wish.
If you've seen a photo of Marlene, you'll know that her eyebrows were incredibly thin and unnaturally sculpted. She regularly shaved them off and drew them in however she wished. This is not recommended for you. Simply, de-emphasize your brows while keeping them as groomed as possible. You can use a little bit of light powder or cream to "bleach" them out so they look fainter than they are. Marlene's look was all about the architecture of her face, and her eyebrows were the least of her features. You can achieve this effect as well, in a less radical manner!
Finally, Marlene was never seen without her full, sensual lips that curled easily into a seductive smile. Choose a deep-toned nearly matter red lipstick – think wine, not fire engine – and apply a matching lipliner first, outlining your lips and filling them in completely. Now, with a lipstick brush, apply a small amount of lipstick, to just cover your lips. Blot with a tissue and repeat. If you wish, you can try one of Marlene’s tips: with a clean lip brush, dip it into your highlighter and lightly outline the cupid’s bow part of your upper lip (the V-shape just below the center of your nose). Blend.
