Why 1940s Beauty Makes Modern Beauty Look Lazy

Why 1940s Beauty Makes Modern Beauty Look Lazy We’ve never had more beauty products—yet beauty has never felt more disposable. In this video essay, we revisit 1940s wartime beauty to explore what women once understood about care, effort, and longevity—and what our modern obsession with convenience may have quietly erased. During a time of rationing and scarcity, beauty wasn’t fast, effortless, or disposable. It was intentional. Maintained. Learned. And deeply personal. Today, beauty is optimized for speed: one-swipe products, single-use routines, endless launches promising instant results. But has convenience actually made beauty better—or has it made us disconnected from the process altogether? This isn’t about romanticizing hardship or shaming modern routines. It’s about questioning what we’ve traded for ease, and why effort, skill, and repetition once gave beauty meaning rather than taking it away. In this video, we explore: Why wartime beauty routines lasted longer with fewer products How scarcity fostered skill, creativity, and confidence When beauty shifted from craft to consumption What “make do and mend” can teach us about modern femininity Why beauty used to feel grounding—and why it often doesn’t anymore If you’re drawn to vintage aesthetics, cultural history, slow living, and thoughtful takes on femininity, this video is for you. Beauty didn’t used to be disposable. And maybe that’s why it mattered.