Studio 54 opened on April 26, 1977, according to History.com. That leaves fewer than three years of the 1970s for the decade’s most famous makeup look to take hold.
Disco gets most of the credit anyway. The natural look was there from the first year to the last, running alongside every louder trend, as hair-and-makeup-artist.com documents.
So 70s makeup looks are really natural, glam rock, disco and punk overlapping, and what ties them together is a sheer glowing base, eyes with obvious color and glossy lips.
What Defines 70s Makeup Looks?
Sheer, sun-warmed skin and shiny lips show up in nearly every version of the decade’s makeup, from 1970 to 1979. The eyes got the color, mostly blue, green and earth tones in cream and frosted finishes.
Collectif London’s overview of the era tracks the lip shift from pink and coral early on to pearly peach by the disco years.
Hippie, glam rock, disco and punk culture each pulled the same products in a different direction. That’s why the decade reads as several looks instead of one.
Glamour Daze’s period guide describes the base goal as a smooth, natural-looking complexion, a move away from the heavier makeup of the 1960s.
The dark 1960s crease didn’t vanish. Some eye looks kept it but blended it into soft depth, and hair-and-makeup-artist.com notes that no look of the decade had hard or unblended lines, punk excepted.
Cover Girl shows the shift inside a single brand. The Smithsonian’s Archives Center records that a 1970s emphasis on looking natural, plus the Clean Make-up campaign, moved the brand’s image from the refined 1960s sophisticate to the wholesome girl next door.
The Main 70s Makeup Looks, From Natural to Punk
Glam rock peaked early and punk peaked last, with disco cresting around 1977 and the natural look running underneath all of it. The table sums up the differences.
| Look | Peak years | Signature features | Icons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural and bohemian | Whole decade | Sheer skin, earth tones, soft lips | Ali MacGraw, Farrah Fawcett |
| Glam rock | Early to mid 70s | Heavy shadow, painted face designs | David Bowie |
| Disco | Mid to late 70s | Shimmer, glitter, blue and green shadow, glossy peach lips | Donna Summer, Diana Ross, Bianca Jagger |
| Punk | Late 70s | Pale skin, heavy black liner, smoky eyes | Debbie Harry, Siouxsie Sioux |
Natural and Bohemian Makeup in the 70s
Farrah Fawcett’s red swimsuit poster had sold 5 million copies by March 1977, as reported when her swimsuit and poster were donated to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in 2011.
Period-makeup site hair-and-makeup-artist.com pictures her as the soft, feminine face of the late decade.
The early version grew out of late-1960s flower power. Hippie-era makeup kept skin bare and color sheer, and Yours links part of the appeal to women who no longer wanted to feel they needed makeup for a partner.
This is the only phase that lasted the entire decade. It sat quietly next to everything louder.
Disco Makeup
Eyes carried the shimmer, glitter and metallics while the rest of the face stayed low-key, according to KIKO. Lips went pearly and peach (Collectif London). Donna Summer and Diana Ross are the usual names attached to the look, and Bianca Jagger belongs in that group too. The room was Studio 54 in New York.
Studio 54 opened on April 26, 1977, and its original run lasted until February 4, 1980, according to History.com.
Bianca Jagger celebrated her 32nd birthday at the club on May 2, 1977, and was photographed on a white horse there. She later said she climbed onto the horse inside the club rather than riding in. The makeup of the period was glittery, glossy and shimmery by design, made to be seen under club lights (hair-and-makeup-artist.com).
Glam Rock Makeup
Glam rock put theatrical face makeup on male performers.
The reference point is the Aladdin Sane album sleeve, shot in January 1973. The V&A’s record credits photographer Brian Duffy with drawing the lightning bolt on David Bowie’s face and makeup artist Pierre Laroche with filling it in.
Laroche began working with Bowie in 1972 and helped create the Ziggy Stardust look around heavily shadowed eyes and an astral mark on the forehead (Ultimate Classic Rock).
Cabaret (1972) fed the same taste for theatrical, 1920s-influenced faces, per hair-and-makeup-artist.com.
Punk and New Wave Makeup
Punk skin was unnaturally pale. KIKO describes dramatic eyes, brows and cheeks, and Yours points out that heavy black liner showed up on men and women alike.
Blondie played its first gig at CBGB in spring 1974, according to Texas Public Radio (2022). Debbie Harry’s signature remains a dark smoky eye with a pale lip, and Siouxsie Sioux pushed the look further later in the decade.
Punk also cost little. Inexpensive makeup anyone could buy suited a working-class movement better than department-store brands, hair-and-makeup-artist.com notes.
It’s the one 70s look with hard edges. Everything else got blended.
What Made 70s Eye Makeup Distinct?
Disco used blue and green shadow in a frosted or creamy finish, the natural look stuck to earth tones, and punk went for black liner and smoky shadow. Lashes were long, with extra weight on the bottom ones.
For disco, think shimmery blue, green and gold over a cream base. Natural eyes got earth tones and soft, creamy shimmer. Punk dusted black, grey or burgundy shadow across the lid.
Blue was the signature color. Woman & Home ranks shimmery deep blue at the top of the decade’s pretty looks and says it works best against an otherwise natural face.
Placement stayed soft. Glamour Daze’s guide starts with shimmery white cream shadow swept over the whole lid and socket to open the eye.
Disco eyes leaned on liquid eyeliner, a bold line instead of the smoky blend popular now (Yours). Charlotte Tilbury’s tutorial adds a V of green liner and builds depth with darker shades.
Dance-floor looks piled on loose glitter and metallics, and the method for applying glitter eyeshadow is the same today. Sticky base first, glitter pressed on top. KIKO’s tutorial calls for lid primer so the shadows last longer and blend easily.
Revlon’s guide stresses the bottom lashes, and Charlotte Tilbury layers mascara top and bottom for long, stretched lashes.
How Was the 70s Complexion Built?
Matte coverage was out. A 70s complexion started with a sheer, dewy base, got warmth from bronzer and a flush from cream blush, and picked up light from highlighter on the cheekbones and chin.
Revlon’s guide frames the dewy finish as a deliberate break from matte foundation, and Glamour Daze describes the 1960s look as the heavier one.
Warmth came from tanning culture. Woman & Home ties the sun-baked look to tanning oil and the tanning bed, but the dates matter. The first tanning salon opened in Germany in 1977, per the University of Alabama’s Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, and sources place beds in the US in 1978 or 1979.
For most of the decade, then, the tan came from sun, oil and cosmetics.
Charlotte Tilbury’s tutorial opens with bronzer and returns to it at the end to sculpt. The method for applying bronzer is simple. Sweep it across the high points of the face, where sun would hit.
Cream formulas arrived in the 1970s, led by Yardley, Aziza and Cover Girl, according to Yours. They suit this look because they blend into a sheer base without a visible edge, which is why applying cream blush with fingertips reads as a flush instead of a stripe.
Disco added shimmering cheeks (Charlotte Tilbury). Punk went the other way, with pale, flat skin instead of a glow (KIKO).
70s Lip Colors and Brow Shapes
Lips were glossy whatever the color, and brows are where the sources start arguing about which shape defined the decade.
Lip Colors and Gloss
Shine mattered more than shade. Flashbak’s survey of lipstick adverts calls gloss the dominant finish of the era, led by wet-looking bright pinks and reds.
Reds were glossier than in earlier decades, often a gloss with a red tint (Woman & Home). Nudes ran glossy and warm, and a nude gloss is the last step in Charlotte Tilbury’s disco tutorial. Brown had its champion too, since Biba founder Barbara Hulanicki wanted brown lipstick and other natural shades in her range.
Shape followed finish. Glamour Daze’s guide draws the line inside the natural lip for a smaller mouth, or just outside it for the fuller, gloss-slicked look the decade liked.
The wet finish comes from layering. The method for applying lip gloss over lipstick hasn’t changed. Color first, gloss centered on top.
Sources split on Debbie Harry. hair-and-makeup-artist.com remembers red lips, while Refinery29’s profile of her makeup artist, Miss Guy, describes her best look as a dark smoky eye with a pale lip.
The red may belong to her 1970s stage years and the pale lip to the look her team uses now. Neither source settles it.
Thin Versus Bushy Brows: What the Sources Say
Period sources don’t agree on 70s brows.
| Source | Brow shape it describes |
|---|---|
| Kryolan | Very thin and overly plucked, with a higher, sharper arch than the 1960s |
| Who What Wear (Merle Norman’s Melissa Baker) | Thin |
| Rush | Two camps, ultra-thin or naturally full |
| Charlotte Tilbury | Bushy and full, paired with the disco look |
The disagreement is sharper than the table shows. Kryolan says the arch got more stylized than in the 1960s, while LuxeBeat says the decade broke away from highly stylized brows.
Both shapes are period-accurate. It comes down to which photos you’re matching.
Clear brow gel was a staple of the natural effect, according to Woman & Home, and it still sets a brushed-up brow.
Which Products and Brands Made the Look?
The decade’s product lines brought gloss in new forms and sheer color aimed at young shoppers. They also brought the first mainstream shade ranges built for deeper skin tones.
| Brand | Known for | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|
| Max Factor | Pure Magic Super line (gloss, blusher, shadow, lashes) | Sold on self-service stands to young shoppers |
| Maybelline | Kissing Potion, Great Lash | Flavored roll-on gloss, a 70s cult classic |
| Bonne Bell | Lip Smackers | Flavored gloss for teens |
| Biba | Cosmetics range | Yellow-toned foundations, brown lipstick |
| Fashion Fair | Foundations for deeper skin | Department-store line |
Gloss left the pot. Max Factor sold a Pure Magic gloss stick, Maybelline sold flavored roll-ons and Bonne Bell sold Lip Smackers, which put several types of lip gloss on the shelves.
Bonne Bell introduced Lip Smackers in 1973. Drug Store News (2012) credits it with creating the flavored lip gloss category, while Lip Smacker’s own timeline calls it the first flavored lip balm.
Shade ranges arrived one after another, and the dates differ by market.
- Biba came first, in 1972, with a range aimed at dark skin tones after it launched foundations in yellow tones instead of pink (Lisa Eldridge).
- Fashion Fair followed in 1973, and it began after founder Eunice Johnson saw her fashion-show models mixing foundations to match their skin (Smithsonian Magazine).
- Avon Shades of Beauty launched in 1975 with makeup, skin care and hair care for Black women (Avon).
Dates alone put Biba first, but Biba sold on the British high street and Fashion Fair in American department stores. The sources don’t compare them directly.
Avon competed on price instead. Its 1978 Operation Smile campaign sold lipstick for 35 cents and moved over 20 million of them, per Avon’s company history.
Which 70s Look Fits Your Occasion and Features?
Pick by occasion first and eye shape second. Natural suits daytime, disco suits nights out, glam rock suits photos and costume, and punk makes a statement on a small budget.
The natural look needs the fewest products, and its blended edges forgive mistakes. It works at a desk or a dinner. The catch is that it reads as modern makeup unless the glow and gloss are right.
Disco is the most recognizable 70s look, and also the one with the most steps. Shimmer slides without lid primer.
Glam rock photographs boldly but needs steady hands for painted designs, and off stage it reads as costume (Bowie never wore the Aladdin Sane bolt again, per Bowie Bible).
Punk is cheap, since drugstore products cover it, and it takes few steps. Hard edges show every slip, though.
Disco is the natural pick when you’re planning makeup for a night out, because the shimmer was built for club lighting (Charlotte Tilbury).
Eye shape changes the placement. Color swept from lid to brow disappears on hooded eyes once they open, so shift it to the crease and outer corner, and read the technique for hooded eyes before copying a period photo.
Skip full disco blue as a first attempt. Start with the natural look and add one strong color.
How to Recreate a 70s Makeup Look Step by Step
Glamour Daze’s step-by-step guide allows 20 minutes for the whole routine.
Begin with prepping skin before makeup. Glamour Daze starts with moisturizer, and a smooth surface is what keeps a dewy finish from turning patchy.
- Moisturize, then press lid primer over the lids.
- Apply a sheer base and sweep bronzer across the high points of the face.
- Shape the brows, thin and arched or brushed up with clear gel.
- Sweep cream shadow over the lid, then build blue, green or earth tones with a darker shade at the outer edge.
- Add liner, which means bold liquid eyeliner for disco, soft kohl for natural and heavy black for punk.
- Coat top and bottom lashes with mascara, heavier on the bottom.
- Press cream blush onto the cheeks and set highlighter along the cheekbones.
- Finish with red, nude or brown lipstick and gloss on top.
A frosted pot shadow from the period translates to a metallic cream shadow stick today, and a roll-on gloss becomes any high-shine liquid gloss.
What Goes Wrong and How to Fix It
- When shimmer slides into the crease, go primer first, cream base second and powder last.
- If strong color overpowers the face, keep skin, cheeks and lips natural and let the eyes carry the look.
- A dewy base that turns oily only needs powder on the T-zone.
- Thin brows can go too far, so draw them on with pencil over brushed-flat natural brows, because plucked hair does not return reliably.
Lips fail differently. Lining outside the natural edge and layering gloss invites bleeding, so match the liner to the lipstick and read up on stopping lipstick from feathering before going bold.
70s Makeup Looks FAQ
Can you wear 70s makeup with hooded eyes?
Yes, with one change. Color swept across the center of the lid disappears when the eye opens, so place shadow in the crease and outer corner instead.
Keep liner thin so it doesn’t shrink the visible lid.
What 70s makeup works best for a costume party?
Disco. Shimmery blue or green shadow, a bold liquid liner and glossy peach lips read as the decade at a glance.
For a louder piece, glam rock works too, since a painted design like Bowie’s Aladdin Sane bolt photographs well.
Is 70s makeup wearable day to day?
The natural look is. A sheer base, bronzer, cream blush and gloss need no shimmer, and soft earth tones keep the eyes quiet.
Save frosted blue and glitter for evenings.
Which hairstyles go with 70s makeup?
Feathered layers in the Farrah Fawcett style suit the natural and disco looks, and Yours names her hair as the piece that completes the decade’s makeup.
Punk pairs with bleached hair and dark roots, the way Debbie Harry wore it, according to Texas Public Radio (2022).
Adding a 70s Feel to Everyday Makeup
The smallest change that gives everyday makeup a 70s feel is gloss over lipstick in red, nude or brown. One product, one step.
After that, add bronzer on the high points, and save a single shimmer shade on the lid for last.
Eye color goes last because shadow shifts a face further than gloss or bronzer does, and the first two steps stay wearable on their own.
Upkeep is the cost. Gloss wears off and transfers more readily than matte color, so it needs touching up through the day.
A full disco or punk costume reverses the order, with lid primer and eye color moving to the front. Advice verified October 2026.
A wider range of everyday makeup looks shows how the same glow-and-gloss base adapts to modern routines.
She started writing on the site after fielding the same questions from clients and friends often enough to just write the answers down: which red won't turn orange on a warm undertone, how to keep lipstick from feathering into fine lines, why a "12-hour" formula rarely survives dinner.
Every review on the site follows the same rule she uses with paying clients: wear it first, then decide if it's worth recommending.
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