We’re finally saying no to that Instagram look – ’90s make-up is making a comeback after years of glamorous, filtered looks
- After years of filters, heavy contouring, foundation, highlighter and more, a dressed-down, ‘anti-pretty’ look like that of the 1990s is rising in popularity
- Beauty insiders point to Gen Z, who are ‘embracing who they are and enhancing that‘, and the ‘present overwhelming poly-crisis era’ as reasons for the comeback
Over the past year, a resistance against physical perfection and an overload in beauty content – think TikTok’s “clean girl” and “no-make-up make-up” routines – has been brewing.
“Both scary-good and scary-scary in its potential to further deteriorate our fraying relationships with our own faces,” Heather Schwedel of Slate magazine writes of the filter, which has already been used by 18 million people and creates a more dramatic transformation of faces it interprets as female.
Too often, trying to take a nice photo triggers deep insecurities, the aspiration to meet unattainable beauty standards and full facial reconstruction by way of the filter du jour. People have had enough.
In response, a beauty look reminiscent of the 1990s is making a comeback. Just as the ’90s grunge scene was a response to the glamour and excess of the 1980s, fashion week shows this spring saw runway models in minimal foundation and deconstructed eye make-up, adding fuel to an “anti-pretty” aesthetic.
It is all cyclical, Lisa Eldridge, the London-based make-up artist behind some of the most iconic editorial looks of the ’90s, explains.
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Since 2020, Eldridge has sensed the rise of a more rebellious mood in beauty. “I think people have become generally fatigued with the idea of reconstructing your features and entire face to achieve conventional ‘prettiness’ using heavy contouring, skin masking foundation and highlighting techniques,” she says.
Part of it comes down to the growing influence of Gen Z. “The younger generation are more into embracing who they are and enhancing that with a more creative, artistic and minimal approach to make-up,” says Eldrige.
Megan Bang, a beauty analyst at trend forecasting firm WGSN, confirms the trend’s growing popularity.
“The ’90s grunge aesthetics have been seen all over the autumn/winter 2023-24 runways,” she says, highlighting a strong focus on barely there “lazy” skin, “post-cry, smudged eyeliner”, and black lipstick on the catwalks.
The ’90s comeback is more than skin deep. It reflects the zeitgeist, says Bang, who describes the look as “a raw emotional energy that speaks to the anti-wellness sentiments of the present overwhelming poly-crisis era”.
Experimenting and rebelling through beauty looks is just one way to release that pent-up angst; Bang also notes the current revival of rave culture and expressive social and aesthetic outlets.
The typical ’90s fashion editorial depicted couture-clad supermodels in abandoned factories or against derelict backdrops. Eldridge cites the work of photographer Corinne Day as the ultimate inspiration for the era, pointing in particular to her March 1993 British Vogue cover, featuring a fresh-faced Kate Moss.
While a redux can be interpreted as a rebellion against today’s overconsumption and unrealistic standards, the beauty industry has changed a lot since lo-fi looks were popular the first time around.
“Information and education on beauty [weren’t] as readily or universally available as now, meaning that the application at the time was often raw and imperfect – which only added to the edgy, ‘I don’t care’ glamour,” says Eldridge. “The look was all about cultivating an unstudied look.”
The result is lived in, effortless, and importantly, the antithesis of trying too hard. Its ease is another reason the ’90s trend is taking off.
Forget multi-shade contouring, meticulous winged eyeliner and expertly blended smoky eyes: embracing the duality of stripped-back minimalism and glamour is key.
Those ’90s looks are also famed for their browns, mauve browns, deep berry and wine-coloured pouts. For fair tones, Eldridge recommends going for earthy soft caramel shades like Velvet Affair, while those with medium tones suit a dusky clay with a hint of mauve, like Velvet Sorcery; for anyone with deep tones, she suggests a more chocolate shade of brown with blue and red undertones, such as Velvet Decade.
One of the more controversial beauty looks of the decade was the skinny brow. Eldridge warns: “Thin eyebrows completely change your face, and not everyone suits them. On top of that, they don’t always grow back.”
Where trends come and go, do not be pressured to be “on trend”, she says. “What’s fashionable today probably won’t be within a year or two.”
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“Brows are now taking an even deeper, more alienesque approach through bleached and shaved applications that have gone from subversive to the mainstream,” she says.
After years of technically perfected beauty looks dominating social media, embracing the grunge attitude, if not the look, will surely provide some relief – just put the tweezers down.
