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Eyebrows frames the eyes and gives the face shape is what's generally been said about them. And it's true, I have aaalways been a huge fan of eyebrows and it is one of the first things I notice in someones appearance! There are so many styles and so much that you can do, or not do with them and there is no one perfect formula for everyone. Lately I have been tired of my eyebrows so I decided I would finally take the plunge and reshape them. It is seriously a teadering task as it takes ages for them to grow out and I have to look like a cave man  If you have seen any of my older posts you can se that my brows was much thicker before, and around last summer I reshaped them a bit thinner with a higher arch. And now it's time for a new change! 

In search for a photo of the kind of eyebrows I had got in my head that I wanted I turned to Pinterest and other sources to look at vintage and vintage inspired eyebrows to show to my beautician friend who is going to help me. And golly, there are so many different brows out there!

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When I think of Elisabeth Taylor, I think about eyebrows. Hers are classic, dark, not too thin, elegant and arched. This is the kind of brow I have been going for the last year. Classic, not to strange but still well thought out. I think these are the brows that would suit most girls and they are gorgeous, but I'm up for a change!

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The glamorous Dorothy Lamour sports the brows that were in fashion a bit earlier in time. High, curved and thin. These are quite dramatic and I wish I could pull them of, but I tend to find that you have to live a life in black and white to make them work and not to read like 90's over plucked teenage brows. One modern vintage lady who despite this definitely makes them work fabulously is fellow vintage blogger Riikka who also wears inspiring finger waves and beautiful vintage fashion.    

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Here we come a bit closer to what I'm looking for right now. I want my brows to be a bit thicker in the arch and thinner in the front if you know what I mean. With her big beautiful eyes Lucille Balls eyebrows gives her an open and clear eyed look. One modern lady who rocks something similar is vintage gal Emma Sundh. She has those high brows, a bit rounded and thicker in the arch and it suits her lovely blonde looks just perfectly. For me they are however a bit too small and thin to work though.

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Ok, so everybody knows about Frida Kahlos eyebrows, or her unibrow of you want. 

This photo is from 1939 and I just love it. Together with the fawn she looks like a fairytale character. She is a big inspiration for me with her flowers, patterns and colours especially since she makes me aware of the possibilities to showcase my latin heritage in a vintage way. 

Since the eyebrows are so typical and famous for Kahlo I pick her up in this blog post to showcase

 how important brows can be in a look. A few hairs in the middle of the eyebrows on a woman and "Tadaa" you've got something weird and spectacular. (In the last sentence I'm being ironic if you could not tell.) I think she is beautiful and that her eyebrows does what eyebrows should, they compliment her face, her style and gives her an edge.   

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Another pair of dramatic and stylish brows belongs to the classic model Dovima. I could actually go for something like this and I love the final upwards motion of them. It's not what I'm looking for right now but there might come a time when I change things up this way. These brows make me think of Marina, hair stylist and Instagrammer with a vintage flair. Hers does not have that upwards twist at the end but they are full, dark and stylish.

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In this photo from ca 1945 Gene Tierney wears a flawless makeup paired with some perfect eyebrows. These are just perfect and I so wish they would suit me. But, since my face shape is a bit more elongated than Tierneys this might give me a too surprised look and also my brows does not grow in a way that makes it possible to satisfactorily get this shape. 

That's another thing you have to be aware of when you are reshaping your brows, what is possible with what you've got? If you do not want to use a lot of makeup to make your brows work your choices gets a little slimmer, depending on what you have.  

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Finally, of course Marilyn Monroes eyebrows. This photo from the 60s, although a bit fuzzy, shows quite clearly what I am looking for right now. Smaller at the front, thicker in the arch and not too thin. Now I just have to wait until my eye brows has grown out, big sigh..





Psst! I apologize but some of the sources might be bad in this post, I've found all photos through Pinterest and sometimes it can be a real challenge to find a good source there. 

A fun vintage thingamajig!

As my collection of vintage clothes, furniture and items slowly grows I find myself creating smaller collections of items that fits under one specific theme. For some time I get some sort of a tunnel view and I focus in on one particular era, occasion or body part. And my guess is that this is a phenomenon many vintage lovers can relate to! 

A while ago I was all in to vintage hair tools, and collected an array of books, hairpins, tools, wave clips and decorations. All of which I still have to use at some point, all though the books have been a wonderful source of inspiration!

One of the more odd things that I found was this little pin curler. I have always had a soft spot for old mechanical thingamajigs and this one is just darling, so when I saw it I just had to pick it up! 

Used together with a hair pin it's supposed to help you create the perfect pin curl and I got it along with some instructions on how to use it.

I have yet to put this little curler to use but every time I see it in my drawer of hair tools, I smile. 

There is something both adorable and a little funny over an old time aid that was made to solve "problems" now long gone (for the more modern lady, we vintage gals may still some days struggle with our pin curl coiffures). I can just imagine it being advertised as the perfect solution to a bad hair day!

The bride and the wedding

Yesterday my best friend and amazing lady Jonna got married to her big love since many years back, Mattias! They had decided to hold a small wedding where only the parents where invited to the ceremony and knowing Jonna who doesn't like to make a big fuss over these kinds of things, it suited them just perfectly!

But what kind of friend would I be if I didn't find a way to be a part of their special day? So I had to find myself a job! Knowing that Jonna's adorable and talented sister where going to make her a lovely 20s inspired dress I "graciously" volunteered to make the hair and make up for the day.

So I spent the night at the soon to be newly weds apartment making pin curls and nails the day before the big day. While drinking non-alcoholic sparkling wine and eating chocolate we laughed, watched the olympic figure skating and talked late into the evening. When the morning came I was so tired that I overslept a little bit and the cute couple didn't wake me because they thought I needed my sleep. I have been working very early mornings all week and have been sleeping very bad so a little extra rest was very welcome event though I had planned to get up earlier and prepare breakfast.

Then it was time to take out the pin curls we had done the day before and Jonna looked like a little fairytale princess with the cork screw curls we ended up with. While it was cute this was not the look we where going for so of course I had to whip out my trusted boar bristle brush and start to brush, brush, brush and brush a little more.

After a while a shape started to form and we went from fairytale cork screws to smooth forties locks. This was actually the first time that I pinned curled Jonna's hair so I was not absolutely sure on how it would turn out. So for being the first time I thought it came out completely fine, Jonna's hair is very thick with fine hair strands and I had to do a lot of brushing to make the whole head come out smooth.

This was the final result! A loose 20s inspired up do with a wave in the front and some curls on the sides! We kept the makeup quite simple with a light foundation, some warm brown and gold eyeshadows, a winged eyeliner and peachy/coral cheeks and lips. I also worked with some different shades of concealer to bring out the shapes of her face. This is a good tip and something to keep in mind if you are going to be photographed a lot, sometimes the angles of the face gets faded out due to changing and different light conditions. 

I think it all turned out great and she was absolutely beautiful!   

Mattias were handsome in a navy blue suit, white shirt and a dotted bow tie. They looked so adorable together and when they shared a glance they were completely radiant!

A high heeled pair of light brown Swedish hasbeens adored the bride's feet and suited the breezy simplicity of the dress well.

Jonna's talented sister Janelle who had made the beautiful dress also photographed the couple. They started outside but due to bad weather they returned back home to take a few indoors. I did not complain because that made it possible for me to also snap some shots!

Though the wedding was a small affair many people came together to give the couple a wonderful day. Another family member had personally arranged a beautiful bouquet of flowers as a gift and without even seeing the dress (except a little colour swatch) she had made an amazing job! We were all surprised at how perfect it matched everything and suited Jonna's taste to a T. It also contained my absolute favorite flower ranunculus, aren't they simply divine?

Then the couple left the building and went of to get married! I stayed at the apartment, cleaned up a little bit and fixed some snacks for when they got back. And I will not lie, I did it all with a little tear in my eye. I'm a complete sucker for weddings and I always cry a little because it is all so wonderful. To have a day where you celebrate the special love between two people in the manner that they want is nothing less than romantic! (And I never use that word!)

Whats new pussy cat?

Vintage outfit styled by me

Photography by the lovely Åsa Edling

So, I think I will start blogging again. I stopped due to lack of inspiration but lately I have been thinking about picking this up again. I just think that I will have to stop being so over critical on myself. It's never good enough, and could always be better. But it is what it is, my vintage diary. For those of you who still hang around here from time to time, thank you! And for any new readers, you are marvelously welcome!

Baltimore snapshots

Power plant view.

Train ride to Baltimore.

Of course.

Signals.

Mayors office and detective Love.

Life savers at the harbor.

 Train gear.

Cubistic lamp at the harbor.

Places to park your boat I guess?

House view.

Close to the mayors office and on the same street as the police department.

Awesome.

Haunting nature on the way to Baltimore.

Tic tac toe buildings.

My first cheese steak at Crazy Joe's.

Dreams of the sea.

Harbor heights.

Dome at the Mayors office. 

My beautiful friend Liv.

These are some of the snapshots that I took to, in and from Baltimore. The visit there was interesting, I met some of the kindest people and got my wallet stolen at the train station at the end of the day. I must say that the experience reflected how the city portrayed itself. Sharp differences. Old and newly built, clean and dirty, safe and unsafe, hard and soft.

I have more photographs from this mini-trip and will hopefully post those soon. Until then, lots of love!  

Land girls

One day in June I followed my friend Liv to her and her boyfriend Mattias new little vegetable patch in the middle of the city. I'm myself most interested in eating the veggies and enjoying the flowers and not really growing them, but I thought I would tag along to get some dirt under my fingernails anyhow. And of course snap some photos of Livs new green pastures. 

It turned out to be amazing! I watered the plants, cut the grass and covered the plants with soil so that they would keep warm and grow comfortably!

Anything doing with nature stuff, Bengta naturally has to come with. She was sniffing around and exploring everywhere, so much so that I finally had to tie her to a little table so that she wouldn't disturb the other "patch owners".

   My lovely friend Liv, her name means life in swedish. Very suitable for when she plants bulbs and grows veggies!

  

We also drank some coffee and ate strawberries while admiring the view.

I grew up with these flowers and I love them. They remind me of summer!

Bengta was quite content with her little spot. I call this look "relaxed eyes".

Since then I have eaten both spring onion and zucchini from here, and of course it tastes a little bit more special when you know where the vegetables come from. 

Now it is time to close everything down until next spring/summer. Feels a little bit sad but I can't wait to see what my friends will grow then! And maybe I will come out and help a little bit again, as long as there is coffee and strawberries, haha!