Glowing skincare by Fondazione Cirulli

It softens the effects of time, rejuvenates, everyone wants it: we are not talking about the philosopher’s stone but the perfect beauty routine, the care of the skin of the face and body through a series of steps that ensure health, hydration, and firmness.

Skin therapist, skincare expert, make-up artist, beauty blogger… there are more and more professionals today who take care of the skin of the face and body. Equally numerous are the beauty lines dedicated to this, which continue to emerge, respecting the latest trends: bio, vegan, cruelty-free and, ça va sans dire, dermatologically tested. Very popular in the entertainment world is the launch of beauty lines for face, body, and hair by artists, singers, and actors from the big screen. Polished pages on Instagram outline their benefits, with dozens, hundreds, thousands of new followers following their advice.

If the world of aesthetics seems so important today, we should not think it is an exclusively contemporary phenomenon. It is known that since the times of the ancient Egyptians, the use of makeup and cosmetic products was in vogue, for reasons not always purely aesthetic.

Over the centuries, the beauty routine has accompanied generations of women with ingenious, sometimes daring solutions, but in line with the needs of the time and social role, and in step with the transformation of the female figure, her aesthetics, and her position within society and the family unit.

The 1950s of the last century are marked by strong cultural and social revolutions. One of the main ones is certainly the birth of television, a moment that marks a turning point in the cosmetics industry, affecting the sales of makeup and beauty products, which suddenly experience a dizzying surge. During the 1950s, women return to the walls of the home, seemingly embodying the figure of the perfect wife and mother. Perfection not only in conduct but also in physical appearance. The categorical imperative is the uniformity of the complexion, white in winter and golden in summer. For this reason, using moisturizers and smoothing balms is part of daily life.

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The hydration of the skin is essential to keep it healthy; moreover, given the extensive use of makeup products, cream also serves to protect the skin from aggressive and atmospheric agents as well as to gently prepare the complexion for the application of makeup, which during these years of the economic boom begins to be sold door to door (one of the first companies to inaugurate this type of sale was the American Avon, for which Peggy Boogs, played by Dianne Wiest, works as a sales agent in the famous Edward Scissorhands by Tim Burton).

We are in a moment when the world of cinema continues to establish beauty as the main factor of charm, as also affirmed by the numerous magazines of the time which multiply the confessions of stars about the art of makeup, the secret to being beautiful, and still pages of advertisements for products that promise long and thick lashes, a hairless body, well-cared-for skin, a magical gaze, shiny hair or soft, shiny, silky hair.

If today it is Instagram that influences generations of women with ever-new beauty lines launched by celebrities with millions of followers (just think of Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kyle Jenner, Pharrell Williams), seventy years ago the communication medium par excellence was television, an absolute novelty that also changed the rules of beauty in the female world.

The influencers of that time? Marilyn Monroe, Dorothy Dandridge, Greta Garbo, Anna May Wong and the Italians Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Claudia Cardinale, Monica Vitti, undisputed stars of that cinema that plays with the body, light, the screen, and the senses of the viewer, raising the expectations and desires of the era.

In those years, in addition to television, posters, displayed on the streets and printed in women’s magazines, advertised beauty products for women’s body care. 

Very popular in the second half were the products of the brand Lux, a company founded in 1889, now based in Singapore, which started with laundry soap production and then launched its first bath soap in 1924. Lux is also distinguished for being one of the first brands to be advertised by celebrities from the entertainment world, becoming known as the “soap of the stars.” In these posters preserved in Fondazione Cirulli, the face of the influencer prominently features alongside the brief and direct advertisement with the typical advertising language of the time: the use of the imperative makes the message appear as a statement without any possibility of doubt or discussion; note also the use of the definite article, which has an elevative value: a product becomes the product par excellence.

Also Leocrema, at the time a Chlorodont product, chooses a brief and highly communicative advertising message, with the brand name prominently displayed. The female figure featured in the poster is characterized by a fine and elegant beauty, a beauty that the advertised product seems to promise: a well-groomed hand gently applies moisturizing cream to a flawless complexion, true visual bait aimed at provoking emotions and desiring the advertised product.

The poster Leocrema is a balm for the skin, preserved in Fondazione, is the work of the creative Gian Rossetti, a student of Gino Boccasile, whose activity was very vibrant in the Fifties, especially as a poster artist for commercial signs created for major companies including Pavesi, Marzotto, Galbani, and Barilla.

Like many other categories, just think of the world of food, automotive, and fashion, the beauty sector also began, from the early decades of the last century, to entrust its communication and marketing strategy to some of the most established creatives and artists of the time, with significant advertising campaigns that are still studied today, decades later (and it is known that for the world of marketing and advertising, this is a very long time) for their modernity and communicative effectiveness.