History of Makeup: The 70s Makeup Tutorial

Every 70s makeup look should start with a glowing, bronzed complexion. With my Beautiful Skin icons, you can give your complexion a healthy-looking, sun-kissed glow reminiscent of the bronzed bodies that were all over the dancefloors of the 70s.

Smoothing Charlotte’s Beautiful Skin Foundation across the face will create a hydrated, radiant base for your 70s makeup look – use my Magic Complexion Brush to lightly blend this medium-coverage foundation into the skin from the centre of the face outwards.

Then, apply Beautiful Skin Sun-Kissed Glow Bronzer to give the cheekbones, nose, forehead and jawline a soft-sculpted appearance with a warm, sun-dappled glow.

Lastly, use Charlotte’s Beautiful Skin Radiant Concealer to conceal and brighten the look of your complexion, using upward motions to create the illusion of a more lifted face.

Tilbury Tip: Set your complexion products into place by lightly tapping AIRbrush Flawless Finish onto the face with my Powder & Sculpt Brush.

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In the 70s, brows were kept bushy and bold. To get the 70s brow look, use my Brow Cheat eyebrow pencil to groom your brows and create the thicker, fluffier shape that was popular during this era. With the spoolie end of Brow Cheat, brush your brow hairs upwards to maximise their shape, then use the pencil end to make short strokes that travel upwards and outwards to unlock that bushy brow effect. Once you’ve perfected your brow shape, use my Legendary Brows tinted brow gel to give them a fluffy, feathered appearance that’s so 70s.

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70s eye makeup is known for its dazzling disco aesthetic. Popular eye trends of the time included enigmatic colourful eyeshadows, larger-than-life eyelashes and plenty of glitter to give the eyes a mesmeric disco ball effect. To create a glamorous, green, 70s-inspired smokey eye, reach for my Eye Colour Magic Liner Duo in Green Lights to map out a flattering winged shape. With the matte, forest-green shade, glide along the lower lash line and through the crease to create a wing that points upwards and outwards from the outer corner of your eye, using the Eye Smudger Brush to blend out any harsh lines.

Gold shimmer will give your eye makeup an instant 70s disco feel. Take my Beauty Light Wand in Goldgasm and dot glimmering liquid highlighter onto the centre of your lids, then use the Eye Blender Brush to blend the twinkling, molten-gold shade across the lid.

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Add extra shimmer to your 70s eyeshadow look with The Rebel Luxury Palette – it’s a grungy green eyeshadow quad that’s perfect for creating a modernised disco look. Take the khaki-green ENHANCE shade on the Eye Blender Brush and gently sweep it through the crease to build dimension, then tap the golden PRIME shade onto the lid and watch the pigments glimmer in the light.

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With the same PRIME shade from The Rebel Luxury Palette, highlight the brow bone and inner corners to create glowing, golden highlights that help the eyes appear bigger and brighter. Highlighting below the most arched part of the brows will accentuate their shape and placing highlighter around the tear duct will create an illuminating effect that pops in every type of light.

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Take a cream eyeshadow like Colour Chameleon in Smokey Emerald to define and contour the look of your eyes. This vibrant green shade glides effortlessly along the lash line and can be easily blended through the crease, delivering sparkling, jewel-toned pigment that elegantly builds dimension at the outer corners and below the waterline.

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To recreate the mega-volume lashes that defined the decade, apply lashings and lashings of Pillow Talk Push Up Lashes! mascara to stretch the look of lashes and give them a vertical lift effect. Slowly build your lash look, steadily applying mascara to the top and bottom lashes and coating them root to tip to create sensational, jet-black lashes with 70s flair.

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The 70s saw a rise in nude lipstick – some even matched their lipstick with their foundation to create a barely there look. In the daytime, lips were kept subtle with a soft slick of lipstick, before being dialled up for the evening with gorgeous, glossy shades. To create a 70s-inspired lipstick look, reach for my Lip Cheat lip liner in Foxy Brown to outline and fill in your pout, then apply Nude Romance K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipstick as a peachy-nude kiss of satin lip colour. Dial up your look with Collagen Lip Bath lip gloss in Refresh Rose to transform your lipstick look with disco-ready, mirror-shine gloss.

Tilbury Tip: For fair skin tones, I recommend using my Lip Cheat lip liner in Iconic Nude to complement the natural beige tones in your lips.

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Bronzed skin was very popular in the 70s, so bronzers and illuminators were applied liberally to create that beautiful, beach-bronzed look. You can give your complexion a sun-kissed look with my AIRbrush Bronzer – a modern matte bronzer that acts as a bronzing veil for the skin with a blurring, airbrush effect. Sweep matte bronzer everywhere you’ve applied my Beautiful Skin Sun-Kissed Glow Bronzer including the cheekbones and forehead, using the Bronzer & Blusher Brush to get a seamless blend.

Tilbury Tip: You can lightly contour the look of your nose using bronzer – use the Eye Blender Brush to glide bronzer along the bridge and underneath the tip of your nose to create the illusion of a more chiselled nose shape.

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Once you’ve applied your bronzer, take my Beauty Light Wand in Goldgasm and dot it onto the tops of the cheeks – this will create glowing highlights that play with the light to make cheekbones appear sharper and more prominent. Use the flat end of my Hollywood Complexion Brush to mesh your highlighter with your bronzer, creating a seamless gradient that enhances the look of your cheekbones. Then, dot and blend liquid highlighter onto the tip of the nose, into the inner corners, and anywhere else that you want to turn up your disco glow!

Tilbury Tip: Fair skin tones may prefer to use my Beauty Light Wand in Spotlight – it’s a champagne gold that mimics the glow of shining spotlights on the skin.

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Darlings, it’s time to put the finishing touches on your 70s makeup look! Top up your lipstick and perfect your pout with gloss, then add a spritz of Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray to lock in your 70s makeup for a night of carefree disco dancing! Complete your 70s look with big, blown-out hair, sparkly sequins, and a pair of fabulous, flared pants for full-force disco fever!

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