Bimpa

There are several biopics of Elizabeth Taylor coming out and this has brought back a style of makeup that Taylor wore in the eighties.  The look was basically a play on her favorite color “purple.” The truth about Elizabeth Taylor’s look when she was marketing her famous scent “White Diamonds” was that it was actually a look that was a study in purple.  The reason that she loved shades of amethyst, lilac and violet is because they were supposed to match her light violet eyes. Yet another reason she liked purple is because she considered it to be the color of Hollywood Royalty.

First off start off with a very thick pasty white foundation in ivory and cream and make sure it is well set with powder.  The idea is to make your complexion look pasty, like you are wearing enough make-up to pass for a Japanese Kabuki performer. Dust the hollows of your cheeks with a tawny dark bronzer to sculpt your cheeks and make them look hollow. Dab the bronzer to beneath your nose to make it look a bit shorter and more upturned.  A dusting of bronzer beneath your chin makes it look like you have less of a double chin.

Create a smoky purple eye by smoothing amethyst eye shadow on your lids, dark purple shadow in your creases and shiny pink eye shadow on your brow. Line your eyes on the top and bottom and inside with thick black eyeliner and then coat false eyelashes with lots of thick black mascara. Wearing thick black short false lashes can help augment this look.  It is okay for the shadow and foundation to be applied so thickly that you can see the beads of powder.

The look also looks just right if you apply a light plum colored shade of lipstick that is smothered in layers of amethyst gloss. Dark purple lipstick is found in the Goth section of most cosmetic counters nowadays but back in the eighties it was quite common.  The deep plum lipstick is necessary if you want to look completely eighties.

To get the hair to be just right dye it black and then add a bit of a dark purple or very dark plum tint so that it gleams violet in the light. Whether you like violet, blue or plum highlights in your hair is a matter of personal preference and what hue looks best with your eyes and skin.