Vintage-inspired makeup is such a huge trend (see our fave vintage makeup looks here) and for those of you, like me, that want to be as authentic as possible it’s hard sometimes to find the right products.
Enter THE MOST PERFECT vintage makeup brand, ever, Besame Cosmetics.
I first heard about Besame Cosmetics through Hayley Atwell. She plays Agent Peggy Carter in the Captain America series and on the television show Agent Carter (above). She posted the lipstick that Peggy wears and I was immediately hooked. (The color is this one, in Red Velvet 1946, by the way. It’s gorgeous!)
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About Besame Cosmetics
Besame was founded by Gabriela Hernandez, who grew up loving her grandmother’s beauty routine. She received a fine art degree from Art Center in Pasadena, California and wrote a book titled “Classic Beauty: The History of Makeup“. Besame grew from the book’s success.
The brand was founded in 2004 and focuses on creating new versions of classic makeup pieces from the 1920s to the 1970s. All of the packaging for the makeup is a replica of how it came during that decade.
My Favorite Besame Cosmetics Products
Below, I’ll give you my full Besame Cosmetics review, listing my favorite products from the brand.
One of my favorite products for the face is the rouge. The Raspberry Delicate Rouge is my favorite shade. I love the subtlety of the color; it really gives your cheeks a natural flush.
There is also a brightening powder that comes in the most gorgeous, classic box. It is a translucent, color correcting powder that takes care of any yellow or red tones in your skin. It leaves a soft, matte finish as well.
Moving on to lips, I obviously had to add my favorite Red Velvet 1946 shade. My favorite thing about this product, and any of their lipsticks, is that Besame finds real colors from the specific time period and replicates each shade as close to the original as possible.
Another one of my favorite shades is Portrait Pink 1963. I just love the color: It’s so dreamy to look at and practically screams ’60s mod. I’m in love!
One of the coolest things, I think, is the cream mascara based on a product from the 1940s. The mascara comes in a squeeze tube and a all you have to do is squeeze the desired amount onto the brush and voila: you have your mascara ready.
The last thing I want to show you guys is the fragrance set. You can buy a fragrance from each decade separately, but I love this mini set of fragrances from the 1910s to the 1960s. Each scent is so particular to each decade and I love that one smell can immediately transport you to a time period you’ve never experienced firsthand.
Finally Besame even has a little something for us Disney lovers — they have a line of makeup inspired by Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was designed for the film’s 80th anniversary. There’s lipstick, blush, a travel kit and some powder too. I definitely recommend checking it out!
Have you heard of Besame before?
Do you use Besame? If you do use Besame’s products, let me know what you use and what you think. You can even DM us a picture on Instagram @collegefashion!
I’ve loved Besame for years, but now that their customer service doesn’t exist anymore along with the skyrocketing prices is disappointing me. Once a cherished niche business, they’ve changed and now want to be a “household name”. So all the prettiness has been streamlined, and they do Disney collaborates when their customer are begging them to just bring back Merlot lipstick. I missed out on these 32 (!) dollar fragrances, in cut glass crystal, now a few short years later, 34 for a rollerball amount in white plastic.
The most recent , limited edition, but still, compact goes for two hundred and twenty five dollars, see? 225.00! For cream powder.
I have 100% heard of Besame before due to them partaking in shady business practices and screwing over friends of mine who are influencers. The quality of their products is also pretty mediocre. There’s plenty of other brands out there with better products and better behavior.