One more time
Frosted eyelids, ombré and overlined lips … the beauty markers of the 1990s are back. Tish Weinstock reports on the revival.
We’ve seen echoes of it everywhere: last spring, Kendall Jenner took to Instagram with some lapis lazuli lids – a trend made famous some three decades ago by pop stars such as Jennifer Lopez and Christina Aguilera; Hailey Bieber showcased a monochromatic study in brown on a night out in LA; and Bella Hadid shut down Paris fashion week with some Aaliyah-inspired ombré lips. Then there’s model Amelia Gray, who’s been making the case for paper-thin brows.
“There’s something really empowering about the 90s aesthetic,” says Gray, who has looked to a young Angelina Jolie as a beauty blueprint. “It represents this sort of teenage angst. The tattoos, the piercings, going against the norms.”
Nostalgic references also dominated the spring/summer ’23 runways. At Victoria Beckham, high-shine lips elevated barely there beauty; at Fendi, eyes were dusted with silver; at Chanel, mahogany lips brought the drama; at Louis Vuitton, kohl-rimmed eyes tapped into grunge; and at Dolce & Gabbana, where Kim Kardashian curated a love letter to the era in which she came of age, Pat McGrath looked back to the period’s ubiquitous nude pout.
So, what’s driving this current revivalism? Megan Bang, beauty analyst at trend forecasters WGSN, puts it down to rising climate anxiety and turbulent geopolitics: “During periods of crisis, people tend to return to a time of nostalgic comfort.” But why this decade in particular? For make-up artist Lucia Pica, the 90s holds something personal: “I guess we always revisit the things that have heavily influenced our formative years, the years in which we rebel and that we later romanticise.”
And yet, much of the 90s revival is happening among people who weren’t even born until a decade later. What’s the appeal for them?
“The 90s were about authenticity, natural beauty and playing with some glamour,” recalls supermodel Amber Valletta. “We were the antidote to the epoch’s established definition of beauty,” adds fellow super Shalom Harlow. “We brought the rebelliousness of the times from the streets to the catwalks. We were rough and raw around the edges.” Indeed, just like the 90s was a rebuff of 80s excess and abundance – perhaps its revival is a rejection of the photoshopped perfection synonymous with the Instagram age. “These days there’s a lot of inauthenticity, contrived and styled identities,” confirms make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench. “People like to connect with the sense of true self that the 90s heralded.”
But that’s not to eclipse the glamour of the period. “There was also very full-on gorgeous make-up à la Linda Evangelista,” notes makeup maven Mary Greenwell, who was responsible for some of the most iconic Vogue covers of the decade.
So how might one go about adopting this season’s hottest trend? “Don’t put all of the elements together, it will look too gimmicky,” advises Ffrench. “Work in contrasts to keep it modern: skinny brows with fresh glowing skin; bronzed cheeks with cute gems on the eyes; lip liner with bleached brows.”
“Fantastic skin – always, the most important thing is great skin,” adds Greenwell. But for Harlow, the key is far simpler: defy all rules and be yourself, as she surmises: “Rules are there to be broken.”