Joyce McKenzie – Take Two

This is a 1954 Lydia Lane article where actress Joyce McKenzie talks about applying lipstick and other beauty stuff. Enjoy!

Joyce McKenzie is one of the prettiest girls in Hollywood though her beauty is not so widely publicized. And it is refreshing to find that cooking lists high among her accomplishments. Hearing that one of the soldiers in the iron lung ward of a local Veteran’s Hospital had a desire for a pecan pie, Joyce baked a beauty and came with me to deliver it in person last week end. On our way out to the hospital I asked Joyce which, of all the glamour tricks she had learned from working in pictures, she felt was most useful for daily life. “Almost every girl wears lipstick, and I think it’s very important to know how to make up your mouth,” Joyce said.

“If you like the shape you have then there is no problem other than to choose a becoming shade and make a neat outline. Btu when you make your lips fuller as I do, it’s much more effective if you apply your lipstick so that it is not evident where your true lip ends and your lipstick begins.” As we were stopped by a red light I leaned over to examine Joyce’s lips in the noon sun. “I’d never know that you had altered the shape of your mouth,” I exclaimed. “That’s the idea,” Joyce said with a smile. “What’s the secret?” I persisted.

“The trick is to use a very dark lipstick for your outline. Brush this on where you want your lip to be and fill in with your regular shade bu blend it carefully so that the dark, shade is well covered. “And once you have a perfect mouth it’s a good idea to preserve it,” Joyce continued. “I put my lipstick on quite heavy, let it set for half a minute, and then blot off the excess with a tissue. Sometimes I put on a second coat and blot again. Then I am ready to cover my mouth with a liquid which makes the lipstick stay in place. You can buy it in any cosmetic department.” “Don’t you find this drying?” I asked.

“Not at all,” Joyce remarked, “because it really doesn’t touch your lips as it is applied to the lipstick.” “That’s very interesting,” I commented, asking if Joyce had any other motion picture beauty tricks that could be used in public, “At the studio I learned that white vinegar mixed with cleansing oil makes a wonderful mixture for removing make-up,” she confided. “What proportions of each do you use?” I asked. “And what does this formula do for your skin?” Mix one part of white vinegar with nine parts of any god cleansing oil” Joyce explained. “Put the fluid in some container and shake it well each time before using makes the skin soft and smooth, You’ll find that this combination and it does a good job in cleansing, too.”