“You can get a man with face powder, but it takes baking powder to keep him” means that beauty (“face powder”) attracts a man to a woman, but good cooking (“baking powder”) keeps him. “Talcum powder may catch a man, but it takes baking powder to hold him” has been cited in print since January 1923. “Face powder may get a man, but it takes baking powder to keep him” has been cited in print since March 1923.
 
The saying was popular advice given to flappers and brides in the roaring 1920s, but is rarely used today.
 
 
29 June 1916, Muskegon (MI) Chronicle, “Household Hintlets,” pg. 4, col. 3:
Don’t think you can make beautiful bread, by using face powder instead of baking powder.
   
4 January 1923, Daily Democrat-Times (Greenville, MS), pg. 1, col. 2:
Is It True?
“Talcum powder may catch a man, but it takes baking powder to hold him.”
 
21 March 1923, Rockford (IL) Morning Star, “Sport Squints,” pg. 9, col. 6:
FACE POWDER MAY GET A MAN, BUT IT TAKES BAKING POWDER TO KEEP HIM.
 
19 September 1926, Sunday Oregonian, pg. 6, col. 6:
The man who says girls may catch men with face powder but that it takes baking powder to hold them is the same chap who twenty years from now will be bragging that he taught his wife how to cook.
 
29 December 1926, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “Pen Points,” pg. A4:
A good many husbands are caught by face powder and held by baking powder.
 
25 March 1927, Lowell (MA) Sun, pg. 9, col. 1 ad:
(Fairburn’s—ed.)
When Elsie Mansur, Saleslady at our Bakery Department, Was Asked If Face Powder Would Catch a Friend, She Answered: “Yes, But It Takes Baking Powder to Hold Him!”
 
Google News Archive
7 April 1927, St. Maurice Valley Chronicle (Three Rivers, Quebec), ‘Sunday Morning Breakfast,” pg. 15, col. 5:
The Flapper Explains Why It’s Much Easier to Catch a Man With Face Powder Than Baking Powder
(...)
“We do pay a lot of attention to is the best bait to hook the biggest sucker in the sucker in the social creek (sic). It takes face powder to catch them, even if it does need baking powder to hold them.
   
2 June 1931, Lewiston (ID) Morning Tribune, Prairie Chaff, pg. 2, col. 3:
ADVICE TO—
Brides:
Face powder may catch a man but it takes baking powder to hold him.
 
Google News Archive
14 October 1951, Sunday Star (Wilmington, DE), “It Happened Last Night” by Earl Wilson, Screen-Radio-Television, pg. 11, col. 2:
TODAY’S BEST LAUGH: Face powder can catch a man, but it generally baking powder to keep him — Charley Jones.
 
Google News Archive
22 June 1953, Milwaukee (WI) Sentinel, pt. 1, pg. 7, col. 2:
SAGE ADVICE By Dorothy Dix
Face Powder Attracts,
Baking Powder Holds
 
Google News Archive
19 February 1954, Milwaukee (WI) Journal, Green Sheet, pg. 1, col. 1 banner:
Phil Says, “Face Powder May Attract a Man but It Takes Baking Powder to Hold Him”
   
MovieQuotes
Bonnie and Clyde - 1967 Movie Quotes
You know what they say, it’s the face powder that gets a man interested, but it’s the baking powder that keeps him at home.
 
Google News Archive
22 June 1972, The Daily News (Kingsport, TN), “Poor Pete’s Almanac,” pg. 1 (masthead):
Remember girls, face powder may help catch a man, but it takes baking powder to keep him.
   
New York (NY) Times
Soft Serve | Ikea’s Prefab Housing, Balenciaga In Space, Uniqlo Vending Machines …
Design, Men’s Fashion, Travel
By ADAM P. SCHNEIDER
February 1, 2008, 5:07 pm
Have you lost your manners? Consult the University of Chicago Press’s new re-printing of the 1930’s Oxford etiquette manuals, How to be a Good Husband and How to be a Good Wife. Here’s a pearl from the reference book for women: “Don’t forget that… while face powder may catch a man, baking powder is the stuff to hold him.”