My mum randomly gave me a copy of Woman & Home from 1981 (she was going to throw it out), so I decided to share some of the health and beauty ads here as I thought they were SO interesting!
Check out the vintage beauty ads from 1981 below:
Some things that I found interesting about this magazine and the beauty ads within it:
- This magazine cost 50p – no idea what that’s equivalent to now, but I bought some magazines recently and they were anywhere from £3.99 to £10.99
- There are a lot of brands in there like L’Oreal, Crest, Boots, Clarins, Johnson & Johnson, Scholl and Wella that still exist now, some of which are still recognisable in their current format
- Long form copy in ads was definitely way more popular than it is now
- A lot of the “problems” that the beauty industry were trying to solve in 1981 haven’t really changed in 2025
- The lack of diversity in imagery and content is REAL
- Some of the headlines seem more creative
- Perfume ads were just as abstract in 1981 as they are today
- It was definitely the big brands who had the budget for colour ads
- The ad fonts look a LOT like the ads I see now for new brands
- One beauty editorial (about hair removal) in the magazine with a lot of product reccs
- Advertorials are in there and are harder to spot against the articles and long form ads
- A couple of short stories in there (including a bit of a raunchy one)
- There’s an entire page filled with tickboxes of the ads in the magazine whereby if you want more information on any of the ads, you tick the relevant box, send it off and receive info in the post (how’s that for tracking and attribution?)
Unfortunately she doesn’t have any more stashed away, but I’m going to keep a lookout for any other vintage beauty ads I come across on my travels.
Looking for content ideas in 2025 and beyond? Here are some resources you can use: Where Can You Get Content Ideas From?