Retro Style Inspiration: Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn style was elegantly simple and sophisticated. There are three important things you must remember when emulating Audrey Hepburn's look: bold brows, defined lashes, and a neutral palette.

Audrey without make up

You must of course begin with a good foundation. Make sure to use a light touch and don't cover your face in a heavy, cakey foundation. This will only highlight imperfections. Choose a light foundation that will provide even coverage. You want to use a moisturizer to achieve a healthy glow rather than just a matte finish.  Use a sheer blush to add a natural tint to your cheeks, making sure that it doesn't over power your face. Using a large brush, begin at the apples of the cheek and brush upwards using light, circular strokes and blend well.

The focal point of Audrey's look were her eyes. Her personal make-up artist Wally Westmore was known to separate each one of Audrey’s eyelashes with a sewing pin to perfect her wide, doe-eyed look for the camera. You don't have to go those extremes to achieve the same look. Start by applying a soft beige eyeshadow to your entire eyelids as a base. Next blend a light brown eyeshadow into your eyelid crease, then blend a darker brown to the outer edge of your eye using a circular motion. You can also dab a shimmery white shadow to the inner corner of your eyelid to "open" the eye. Line the top lash line with a dark brown liner and wing the line out. The goal is to create an understated cat eye. Define the lower lash line by lightly tracing it. Use individual false lashes on the outer corners of your lash lines, to open and elongate the eye, extending the cat eye effect.  Then apply a mascara that lengthens and separates the lashes.


Another key part to the look are defined eyebrows. Audrey had naturally thick eyebrows that were impeccably groomed. Do not attempt to recreate her eyebrows by applying a heavy amount of eyebrow pencil or by darkening naturally light brows. It will look completely fail and unnatural. Instead groom and define what you have, following the natural shape. Use a taupe liner to then lightly pencil in any sparse areas of your eyebrows.

For lips, use a classic creamy red lipstick in a shade that compliments your complexion.

And remember...“Make-up can only make you look pretty on the outside but it doesn’t help if your ugly on the inside. Unless you eat the make-up.” -Audrey Hepburn