Vintage Beauty Standards

Today is Spa Day at Gateway Gallery!

Heather and Wheezer having a steam bath

Even I am enjoying my beauty treatment

I can tell you sitting in the Grecian steam bath did not make me feel more relaxed, but perhaps its all in the mind.

Honestly we have some pretty neat vintage exercise equipment in our September 3rd auction. Like this gem, anyone remember these? 

This got me thinking about vintage exercise and beauty products, which by the way are very hot in the antique world right now. With the reinsurance of pin up culture (although some would argue that it never went away), we are seeing an increasing interest in vintage beauty items. Some of the beauty standards seem strange and even offensive to us now, but who knows in 30 years what will we think of the Bumpit? 

I often find myself fawning over old curling irons and wondering just how women used them without burning themselves or worse, burning the house down. A quick Google search will give you hundreds of vintage beauty tips to give yourself that old Hollywood glow. Many of the old "beauty treatments" contained poisonous chemicals such as mercury. Pain is beauty right? If you want to see some more arcane antique beauty products I encourage you to read the article on Collectors Weekly called Bizarro Beauty Products 1889-Now  . If you want to know more about the vintage beauty and exercise items we have in our Labor Day Auction please head over to our website!