11 life hacks from Soviet fashionistas that allowed them to always look "100%"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Now you will go to the store and buy anything, so you can become beautiful and fashionable in a couple of minutes without much effort. In the USSR, as you know, there was a total deficit for everything, including cosmetics and clothing. But Soviet women of fashion with imagination and ingenuity did not experience problems and used various improvised means in order to look their best. True, today their methods seem very strange, but, as they say, beauty requires sacrifice. We recall the most famous life hacks.

"Leningrad" ink, powder and a needle

"Spit" - this was also the name of the popular mascara, because it had to be moistened in order to apply. She was in the cosmetic bag of almost every Soviet girl, but still she often gave only a lengthening effect. However, savvy girls found a way to achieve volume: before dyeing their eyelashes, they applied a little powder to them.

However, in this case, it was not possible to achieve the desired result immediately, and the process of creating beauty did not take a couple of minutes. After all, the "Leningradskaya" ink had another flaw: after its application, the eyelashes stuck together so that, rather, they resembled spider legs. In order to separate them, women of fashion used a needle. Yes, the method is traumatic, and required skill. In addition, it was necessary to protect your eyes from water. Otherwise, a strong burning sensation was provided.

But the "spit" was so in demand that it often disappeared from the shelves. Then those wishing to get luxurious eyelashes boiled mascara themselves, melting soap and adding ink with powder. The product turned out to be no worse than "Leningradskaya".

Diy scarce tights

It was even more difficult to get nylon tights, so the purchased copies were taken care of like the apple of an eye. However, there were still troubles in the form of “arrows”. But if now we ruthlessly throw out the spoiled thing, then Soviet women of fashion could not afford such a luxury and learned to darn a capricious wardrobe detail imperceptibly. If you believe the girls who lived in those days, instead of threads, they either used threads from already strongly "unbearable" stockings, or … their own hair.

But fashion does not stand still, and when models with a seam in the back turned out to be in trend, then this time the beauties of that time were not at a loss, deciding to imitate the seam on their legs with an ordinary pencil. But I had to tinker with fishnet tights. Since it was practically impossible to find them in stores, ingenuity came to the rescue again: they took simple cotton models, cut off the sock and dismissed the purl rows. Thus, an original and fashionable thing was obtained.

Beer or sugar syrup instead of hairspray

It turns out that you can fix any hairstyle with a foamy drink. If you don’t believe it, ask those who lived in Soviet times. They will confirm to you that the curls "treated" with beer will last longer. But the intoxicating liquid did not hold high bouffants. However, even in this case, an alternative to varnish was found - sugar syrup. He tightly fastened his hair. True, then combing the hair took a lot of work.

Hydrogen peroxide for hair bleaching

For a long time, blondes reigned in Soviet films, so many women, whom nature has awarded with dark hair, dreamed of blond curls. But what if there was no trace of hair dye on the shelves? But in any pharmacy you could buy high concentration hydrogen peroxide - perhydrol. He turned brunettes into blondes.

By the way, the gray hair was painted over in another original way - using ordinary ink.

Colored pencil instead of eyeliner

The fashion for "arrows" left the movie screens, and, naturally, many women of fashion wanted to be like the heroines of films. Only here is the problem: you will not find eyeliners with fire during the day. Then they were replaced by colored pencils, but only copies from the "Painting" sets were suitable for this role.

However, the very process of drawing "arrows" took a lot of time: a hole was made in a black pencil, a finely ground match was immersed in it and a perfect straight line was drawn with it.

Match in a tube of lipstick

By the way, matches were considered universal magic wands. They took out the remains of the lipstick from the tube - the sulfur head was easy to apply.

However, in the cosmetic bags of Soviet women, there were mainly lipsticks of red shades, and in the 70s, the trend came to brown lips. But even in this case, there was a way out. To obtain the desired effect, the girls mastered a simple technique: first, they applied foundation on their lips, then painted them with an ordinary brown pencil, and covered them with a nutty sheen on top.

Boiled jeans

In the 50s, jeans reached the USSR, but not everyone could buy them, but only those who had the opportunity to travel abroad, shell out a large sum or contact speculators. In the 70s, the country nevertheless launched the production of denim items, but unlike imported models, they did not have fashionable scuffs and a "boiled" effect.

Then another original life hack appeared: jeans were boiled in boiling water with the addition of "Whiteness" (it could certainly be found in every home) until the desired result was achieved. They also rubbed denim things with bricks. By the way, it was difficult to get the right sizes, so women of fashion most often bought those models that at least somehow could be squeezed into. Then they soaked the jeans, took water into the bath, lay down in it and pulled on trousers there. But that's not all: it was necessary to walk in wet jeans until they dry.

Colored pencils instead of blush

A light blush has always been considered one of the signs of beauty. But how to get it and not become like Marfusha from the famous fairy tale, if there is only lipstick in the cosmetic bag? "What do you need colored pencils for?" - Soviet women of fashion would say. The technique for making homemade blush was very simple: a white sheet of paper was painted with a slate of the desired shade and applied to the cheeks. That's the whole secret.

Ink varnish

Office supplies during the Soviet era were not always used for their intended purpose. Take a regular ballpoint pen, for example - adding ink to a tube of nail polish could create a shiny and dark manicure. Just this was considered bold and daring, but at the same time the most fashionable.

Foundation from improvised means

Those who happened to live in the Land of the Soviets probably remember the Ballet foundation, which did a very poor job with its purpose and, on the contrary, lay down like a mask, emphasized all the imperfections of the facial skin, left an oily sheen and even provoked the appearance of inflammation. Therefore, girls who wanted to get the perfect tone replaced the dubious remedy with a homemade one, mixing an ordinary cream with powder. And to get the effect of a light tan, they rubbed their face with carrot juice.

Original shoes

As a rule, the industry of those years mainly produced shoes in black and brown colors. But the fashion trends of the West still seeped into the USSR, and our young people, trying to keep up with their foreign peers, decorated their shoes and boots as best they could. The course usually used multi-colored foil, from which various figures were cut and fastened with nail polish. When white shoes came into fashion, it was not surprising that everyone rushed to dye their shoes. True, the result did not last long.