Olivia Hussey, star of the Franco Zeffirelli production of Romeo and Juliet, was also a Yardley of London model in 1969. Her flawless English Rose beauty was a perfect fit for Yardley to advertise all the fab mod makeup products that they were producing at the time. It was an excellent opportunity to parlay her beautiful Juliet performance into the advertising world. Now that I think about it, she went from actress to model. Now it’s the other way around; that models want to be actresses.
This ad is for Next to Nothing Makeup, which was touted as an ‘invisible’ makeup by Yardley. So fine and sheer, all he ever sees is your own pretty face, looking flawless. I don’t know about you, but my teenage skin was far from flawless. More like covered in acne, which is why I never used an ‘invisible’ makeup. In fact Olivia Hussey, with her perfect skin, was probably the only person who could wear this makeup and look good. I doubt she spent any time using Phisohex and Clearasil like I did. The Next to Nothing makeup set is cool though – fantastic Biba-esque graphics and a fluffy powder puff – but a bit too unrealistic for a normal teenager like me.
~Marilyn
I'm Marilyn, and I'm obsessed with vintage clothing, thrift stores, clotheslines, and Chanel. Welcome to my down-to-earth world!
I’ve been trying to buy Yardley makeup collectinbles off ebay but the asking price is so much!! I just love the packaging, but your description of the actual makeup made me giggle. It does look like it just doesn’t work that well? I noticed a lot of the Yardley foundations came in about 4 colors as well. Oops! Wonder what the consistency of that was like.
I used the Next to Nothing foundation when I was in my teens and it was wonderful. Loved it! I wish they were still making it and the Oh! de London cologne.
Remember Slicker? Loved it too!