Cosmetics Usage in Nazi Germany

I think when it comes to fashion and beauty in Nazi Germany this is the hottest topic of them all. Why is that though? Didn't all German women have that blonde hair and tanned skin while staying clear of cosmetics? Didn't German women follow Nazi policies in beauty and health? Well the truth of it is that when it comes to cosmetics and beauty in the Third Reich it is rich with contradiction! Which for a reenactor makes things really complicated especially if one is trying to achieve an authentic look and be accurate. Before we dive in, lets have a look at the desired look and what Nazi Germany called the goal for women to achieve.

The ideal German women did not use cosmetics as it was considered unhealthy, deceptive, and masking her natural beauty according to 1940s Fashion: The Definitive Source Book (see pages 10 and 11). For a regime wanting to promote the earthy peasant woman who embraced natural beauty, cosmetics went against Nazi ideology in a nut shell. One of the main aims of natural beauty was that it promoted German health  and  anti Semitism because healthy German women could produce German children and thus a healthy Germany eventually  free of Jews (See 1940s Fashion: The Definitive Sourcebook, page 10 and 11). A great deal about German health, beauty and cosmetics usage revolves around anti Semitism, promoting a healthy image that was a fertile woman and promoting the ideal German woman at its base . . . and now that we have the ideology out of the way we can look at the reality.

 In reality, cosmetics were used and for a variety of purposes too. In fact, According to 1940s Fashion: The Definitive Sourcebook, make up sales did not even decrease in the 1930s (check out page 11). If make up sales did not decrease, what does that say about a regime that promoted natural beauty and the women in it? To me that says the regime was falling on some rather deaf ears and women still desired to look rather fashionable according to typical beauty standards. Even in magazines and some of my pattern magazines there are some make up ads. Even the illustrated models are depicted with rouged lips and cheeks.  A question of course is how available were these products and to what and how many women.

According to scholar Irene Guenther, it was not natural beauty that was a goal, but artificial natural beauty and many German women made use of beauty products until the very end if they could (see pages 113 - 116 in "Fashioning Women in the Third Reich" in Lisa Pines edited work Life and Times in Nazi Germany. Some of the cosmetics used in Nazi Germany included hair dye, lipstick, mascara, bronzer, etc. Much of the use of cosmetics was used for the goal of achieving the ideal look which included blonde hair and tanned skin. Although the war did make acquiring make up rather difficult and many hair and beauty salons closed . . some remained open until he bitter end for the wealthy (see page 115 in Guenther's article in Lisa Pine's larger work). I find it really interesting that scholar Irene Guenther mentions this immense effort of German women to maintain such standards and it would be really interesting to know how many women did this aside from the obviously well to do. For the average woman how often did she use lipstick and mascara? In magazines there are lots of ads and images promoting the use of such goods. Of course, we have to wonder how available were these goods?  . . .

Cosmetic use was even advertised in the Frauen Warte, a leading magazine for Nazi women. In the pages of this magazine, there were ads for face creams, bronzers, and many other goods meant to give the look of perfect beauty. It may seem highly unusual for a leading magazine geared towards women in this regime to advertise cosmetics and beauty aids, but really it is not considering the fact that women wanted to look good and maintain a look of perfect beauty that was supported by the regime. Also lets not forget that we are talking about women. . . Real life women who wanted to maintain their image just like any other women. Honestly, sometimes I think we forget that women even in Nazi Germany wanted to look good by typical 1930s and 40s standards . ..


The pressures of war threatened to remove any unnecessary production of goods that were deemed unessential such as cosmetics. When Hitler almost shut down a cosmetic factory, his girlfriend, Eva Braun, persuaded him to keep it open, and he did for as long as he could (See Nazi Chic? Fashioning Women in the Third Reich by Irene Guenther pg. 106-107). The use of cosmetics then, although not encouraged by ideology, was accepted but in the pursuit to achieve the look of natural beauty (see page 115 in Guenther's article in Lisa Pine's larger work once again).  
Beauty salons were considered unessential and even a burden but some remained open for the duration of the war (see page 115 in Guenther's article in Lisa Pine's larger work) . This keeping open of some beauty salons was an effort to maintain a sense of normalcy and to give the illusion that Nazi Germany was still prospering. Of course, we all the know the reality. Another reason why these salons remained opened was possibly for morale reasons. Keeping a salon open does boost the spirits does it not? . The next question to be asked was how functional were these salons? I would argue that these salons clinging to life operated on minimal means given the rationing, shortages, and the war.

So did the average woman living in Nazi Germany use and wear cosmetics? To answer this question we can look at photographs and read diary entries but that would only give us access to a small amount of women. But that brings in another interesting debate about the survival rate of some primary sources from the war years . . . . For now, I do have in my personal collection two German photo albums filled with many great images of real life women. Looking closely at these women its really hard to tell if they are actually wearing lipstick or mascara but for sure I can see some well dressed and curled hair. So with that said, referring to photo graphic references is a little tricky so then we have to fall back on the written word about make up usage and that is assuming if a subject like this was deemed important enough to write about.

Aside from the photos in my private collection, some of you have been kind enough to share with me family photos from the particular era complete with family stories and dates. One collection that was shared with me (sorry, the owner asked I not share them with the internet - I can't blame him) was of a rather well to do family and one of the women was wearing lipstick. The photo was dated to 1941. Seeing photos like this helps build evidence to answer the question "did women wear make up in wartime or Nazi Germany???". I think the short answer is yes, women in the early years of the regime were sporting makeup but as the war dragged on, makeup usage was limited to the elite or the special occasion.  I think that is what causes some debate in this topic - not all women were equal and some women took the policies of the Nazis more seriously than others. There were some women who took the Nazi policies very seriously and stayed clear of all rouge and powder while some women still chose to wear that lipstick despite the propaganda. Then as the war continued, some women had more access than others for these luxury goods. 

Sources and Further Reading

Dirix, Emmanuelle and Charlotte Fiell. 1940s Fashion: The Definitive Sourcebook. London: Goodman Fiell, 2013.

Guenther, Irene. Nazi Chic?: Fashioning Women in the Third Reich. New York: Berg, 2004.

Guenther, Irene. “Fashioning Women in the Third Reich”, in Life and Times in Nazi Germany edited by Lisa Pine. New York: Bloomsbury, 2016.

** This post was originally published on The Ugly Dame and has been transferred here**