Makeup trends seem to have come full circle
If you could take a step back in time and live a makeup look from the past what era would you pick?
Would you yearn for the wide doeeyed, big lashes look of the 60s made so popular by Twiggy?
Or would you dig out your best New Romantic gear and dive into the vibrant rainbow eye colour that so epitomised the 80s?
For me it would have to be the timeless, elegant, flatteringly sexy look of the flirty 50s.
I’ve always loved the style and makeup from that era and it remains my firm favourite.
That’s not to say most of the other decades didn’t have something to offer.
And, like most things when it comes to trends and fashion, we seem to have come full circle.
After the restrained classic beauty of the 50s, the 60s and 70 ushered in looks that were much more fun and whimsical.
I have still have to ask myself where some of the looks from the 80s came from, while I found the 90s a bit dull when it came to makeup – kind of like a decade of rest while we were waiting for a new generation of fashionistas to explode onto the scene.
So now in the 2000s we seem to have version of looks from the past, except we have taken it to the next level.
Make up should enhance your features, not mask or swamp them and I feel that current eye makeup trends run the risk of swamping the wearer.
It can be beautifully applied but I’m not sure it always flatters.
The ‘look’ of today has everything going on at once and when it’s teamed with heavy contouring, strobing and overdrawn lips it can just be too much.
The other thing I have noticed is the similarity between the 1980s style and our current look.
At first glance you will probably think I’m mad, but if you look closely you may start to see what I’m talking about.
The strong arched brow – Yes, it was poorly applied in the 80s but the style is the same. Back then it was usually much darker than required and heavily drawn with a strong arch.
Use of strong colour – The 80s colours seem to clash but in actual fact it’s just poor blending. The use of several colours together is actually the look of today, it’s just that nowadays it’s blended to perfection.
Heavy contour – The heavy, dark outer corners are the same with heavily lined eyes. The liner was drawn all around the eyes and often colour is selected, not just neutral dark tones.
The 80s would have a very sharp contour but in a shade of pink or an orangey tone. The application would be sharp, like our present day contour.
Present day contouring is in a more neutral tone but equally as sharp and probably teamed with an equally heavy highlight above it.
We didn’t have contour palettes in the 80s! I doubt very much we had eye contour brushes either. We couldn’t get great deals on the internet! Make up Artists were few and far between and usually worked in film and TV.
There was no inspiration taken from Instagram, instead we looked to pop magazines and Top of the Pops.
Make up trends will always change and our current trends will no doubt be admired in decades to come.
I love looking at the history of makeup trends and Lisa Eldridge has a fabulous book called Face Paint- The Story of Makeup. Definitely worth a look if you fancy taking a step back in time. If you would like out more to find about Laura’s the services work, she an provides, book appointment,have your products her test or answer a make-up query, go to www.lauradawsonmakeup. comorcontactheron laura@ lauradawsonmakeup.com