Lauren Bacall 2.0

Waahh... Do I really stroll around to kill better dressed ladies on the street? Don't worry, just kidding!

This is a "behind the scenes"- picture from the Film-Noir-Shooting by the super talented and award-winning Austrian photographer Bina Winkler. She wanted to do a tribute to the great Lauren Bacall who deceased lately. Luckily I knew the perfect beauty for our project: the lady behind the Just Another Wandrobe Experience blog. What a natural acting talent.

I did the make up&hair&styling and story&set design&lighting asisstence, used my furniture to decorate and the incredible collection of authentic clothing from the model. We had so much fun - it didn't feel like work at all.

Hope you like that movie Lauren Bacall never made ... "Deadly Lovers" in the style of 1946.

A young blonde beauty from a little village is captured in an unhappy marriage to an older and rich husband in Metropolis. She decides to get rid of him, calls the life insurance company to change the contract and tries to poison him in a hotel room after a romantic night out. But she gets caught in the act... the witness is a ganster and then she finds out that her husband is one, too. After a thrilling pursuit she kills the gangster and leaves the big city with a heart full of dreams and a suitcase full of suppressed dollars.

 

THE END

-please don't use this pictures without permission-

UFA Divas: Marika Rökk

I recognized that I unattended my big passion lately: old movies. So I decided to start an UFA-Diva series. 
Let´s begin with Marika Rökk. 

She was a Moulin Rouge and Broadway dancer before she signed by the Universum Film Studios in Germany. Her image was constructed by the Nazi propaganda as an Hungarian/Austrian counterpart to the Hollywood movie stars like Betty Grable. The slogans sounded like: She has the same humor and charme as the Americans, but a lot more paprika in the blood! You get it? Most of the movies that were produced in the time of the regime of Propaganda Minister Goebbels were very prude with one exception: Marika. She often wore half-naked or exotic costumes.

Let me show you some stills from the movie: "The woman of my dreams" from 1944. While the WWII was in his hard last year and the German army had high casualities, the UFA produced this revue in colour with big efforts. A little escape in a very difficult time...

Marika plays a showstar who needs a time off in the hills. The story is dull, but it contains a contemporary hit-song and the costumes are great. She was pregnant while the film was made, but you can´t see it. 

 I specially love the traditional style... 

 or this high turban with the wide shouldered silverfox fur.

The stage design is so beautiful and Art Deco. The stage costumes reaches from Balinesian dancer...

to a dangerous Spanish lady...

in a seems-like-naked dress...

or glittery floor-length evening robes with oversized hairflowers...

and even a 40s bride.

And of course everything ends up in a cheerfull happy end.

After the war, Marika was banned from the movies because of her closeness to the Nazi regime, but already in 1947 she was rehabilitated and made some more movies and TV shows. But she never reached her stardom from the 30s and 40s.Some people still remember her as a part of Nazi propaganda, others point out her talent.

So lets say goodbye to Marika Rökk with one of her Spanish dance numbers out of "Frauen sind doch bessere Diplomaten" from 1941:

beauty classics and favorites

 Today I wanna introduce you some of my favorite beauty products -

 great quality for a good price and real classics.

Oil of Olaz was invented in the 1950s and still is a bestseller. I have tried a million skin creams and always came back.

REVLON Colorstay is the one and only really longlasting foundation for everyday use and perfect when you look for a vintage matte look. I recommend a beautyblender to apply.

Vaseline is such a multitalent and was a secret weapon for make up artists in old Hollywood. I use it for everything. Just give a small amout on your lashes every evening before you go to bed, you will be very happy with the result. It is perfect for foot care and soft elbows, too.

When you prefer a 1940s inspired eye make up with pale eyeshadows and a thin black eyeliner, then check out these three products, I buy them again and again to create that natural look: MAC Vapour Eye Shadow, MAC Quarry Eye Shadow and this great liquid eyeliner, that looks like a nailpolish: LAKME Insta-Liner. You will find it on ebay or in Indian shops. It is cheap, easy to handle and lasts a year in daily use.

Now it´s time for the real beauties:

Do you use body powder? You shoud. There is nothing better for hot summer or party nights and under shapewear. Try the  famous Italian brand BOROTALCO. You will love the fresh fragrance and the feeling on your skin. Apply it with a huge powder puff to feel like a diva.

La Bella Nussy was the first waterproof mascara, invented for stage actresses in the 1930s. It still comes in the paper package and in a tube. I´m using it as kind of a topcoat on my lashes and I´m addicted to that special fragrance too.

Sweet Georgia Brown is a middle hard hair pomade. It works for every hairstyle and again, it smells like heaven.

Penaten Creme was invented in 1904 for baby care. I recommend it for irritated shaved skin, it works wonders over night.

And last but not least THE translucent powder: COTY Airspun. It sets your make up perfect, is a jewel in your bathroom and like a perfume for the face. Go for it!

Californication

As promised - some more pictures from our California road trip. Hope you enjoy:

above: on the knees for my hero David Bowie at Hollywood Walk of Fame

Venice Beach

 

Look at this crazy miniature-encrusted van in Santa Barbara!

Oh, they smell!

 

driving the Highway 1 to the great Santa Cruz: 

beach fun, vintage shopping, mexican food and an art-deco-cinema, needless to say I was very happy there.

arriving at San Francisco  

 

after vintage shopping at Haight Street I enjoyed all my shopping successes

 for so far at the bedside locker in our 1930s hotel

playing Mini Golf at the Lake Tahoe

watching TCM on a rainy day in a retro motel near the Mono Lake

 Welcome to the wild Wild West on the 4th of July! 

 

  

talking to the ghosts in Ghost Town Bodie

 

 

After hiking in the more than beautiful Yosemite National Park, 

we were heading trought the unscalable Death Valley by 50 degrees strait to Nevada.

 

Las Vegas was overlain by a giant smoke cloud from the bushfire,

but at night - it´s just neon lights and show girls.

on Route 66 trough the Mojave Desert we reached Palm Springs, our last station.

There I was finding myself, as a vintage clipons collector,  in real HEAVEN...

but more from that in the next post.

PS: a big thanx to all our fabulous air bnb hosts!