With Yardley of London reaching its groovy heyday in the late 1960s/early 70s, it’s easy to forget that it’s an old company. A very old company! Established in 1770, it was a major producer of soaps and perfumes. English Lavender soap, anyone? Since Yardley’s soaps and cosmetics were so popular with the Victorians and Edwardians,… Read more »
Posts Tagged: vintage cosmetics
The Boho Folkloric Yardley of 1971
Yardley of London always seemed to be spot-on with trends in the late ’60s and into the early ’70s. Their late ’60s advertising tended to be either London Mod or Ethereal Romantic, and featured gorgeous ‘Yardley Girl’ models Jean Shrimpton, Olivia Hussey, and Patsy Sullivan. By the early ’70s, Yardley took on a more Folklorical… Read more »
The Cool Scents of 1973: Charlie, Sweet Earth, and Musk Oil
Admittedly, 1973 was a pivotal year for me. It was the year I turned 18, graduated from high school, got my first part-time job, and started college. So things from that year particularly stand out, especially poignant fragrances. Perfumes took an original, more natural turn that year. Gone were the scents that your mother wore,… Read more »
There Were Colorful Nails in 1973 Too!
With all the wildly different nail polish colors of today, it’s easy to think that it is only a current thing. But this Max Factor Nail Confections ad from 1973 tells a different story; that all the nail polish colors of the rainbow were available then. Even black! Which I thought came about during the… Read more »
Ali MacGraw for Chanel No. 5 and Johnson’s Baby Oil – 1971
The 1970 movie, Love Story, starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali Mac Graw was another movie that was etched in the zeitgeist of my teenaged years. Ali MacGraw, with her dark smoldering beauty, was just impossibly cool. And she, like Olivia Hussey (Juliet) before her, parlayed her beauty into a modeling career. I found these two… Read more »
Liberty Leading the People for Yardley of London, 1970
This Yardley of London ad from May 1970 really caught my eye, as it seems quite a deviation from their other ads of the time. I think it was trying to be a more ‘women’s lib’ (as it was termed in 1970) approach. The Freedom For Your Skin ad is for Yardley’s Next to Nothing… Read more »
I'm Marilyn, and I'm obsessed with vintage clothing, thrift stores, clotheslines, and Chanel. Welcome to my down-to-earth world!