Any girl who has born in the 90s and lived their teens years in the 00s know that back then, beauty was totally different. Thanks to YouTube, the kids of today have so many online tutorials that they’re highlighted and contoured to perfection. Meanwhile, us millennials had to navigate the mind-boggling world of beauty ourselves, figuring out what works and what doesn’t (we’re looking at you, Barry M Dazzle Dust).
Here’s a trip down memory lane at some of the biggest beauty trends that, looking back, were huge mistakes.
Overplucked eyebrows
Possibly the biggest beauty regret many of us have was overplucking our brows. In fact, so many of us are still living with the aftermath. It’s easy to look back and wonder why, but eyebrows plucked to the thickness of one hair really were all the rage.
Image: Pinterest
Side ponytail
The ultimate school disco hairstyle that made you feel like a popstar: the side ponytail. To really nail the look, ensure hair is super slicked to the head and the pony is brushed as high as you can possibly get it. Brownie points if you can get it all tied up without the help of bobby pins.
Image: Pinterest
Concealer as lipstick
Nowadays, we’re all about defining our pouts as much as possible to give the illusion of fuller lips. Back in day, things couldn’t have been more different. Not only did we not draw as much attention to our lips, we completely blanked them out by applying concealer as lipstick.
Image: @feistykitten666
Dream Matte Mousse
Every girl’s favourite foundation. Super thick, extremely cakey and somehow always orange, yet we just couldn’t get enough. Remember how satisfying a fresh pot of Dream Matte Mousse was, though?
Image: Pinterest
A lot of mascara
We still love a long, full lash, but before we had access to tutorials showing us how to effortlessly apply falsies we had to fake the look ourselves. Our secret? Mascara, and lots of it. It was probably Maybelline Great Lash.
Image: Twitter
Chunky DIY highlights
Between our overplucked brows and chunky highlights, it seems that salon appointments weren’t as common as they are now. Applying large stripes of blonde box dye through your hair was a sufficient way to achieve those Britney-esque blonde locks.
Image: Pinterest
Glitter. Everywhere.
Back in the early 00s, glitter was in. It may be making a comeback now, but luckily we have much more advanced formulas to play with. Back then, it was Barry M Dazzle Dust on the eyes, body glitter rolled across the chest and arms, and glitter mascara combed through the hair to sparkle from head to toe.
Image: Pinterest
Going OTT on the bronzer
Getting that sunkissed look was super important; it’s just a shame that the bronzers at the time weren’t really up to scratch. Instead of a natural finish, we ended up with a bit of an orange-toned mess. Our heavy-handed bronzer skills might have also played a part.
Image: Pinterest
High shine lip gloss
If you weren’t rocking the concealer lip look, they were probably covered in an ultra high-shine lipgloss. A small amount just didn’t cut it; they had to be ultra shiny and shimmery with lots of reapplications when it really wasn’t required. You just had to be prepared to be removing hair from your lips all day long.
Image: Pinterest
Not-so-subtle blusher
We hadn’t quite mastered the correct usage or application of blusher but it had to be important, right? Our attempt of adding a subtle flush of colour to the cheeks was to draw bold circles of Bourjois Pot Blush directly on the apples of the cheeks.
Image: Pinterest
To all the 90s girls out there; thankfully we made it out of the other side. What’s your biggest beauty fail of the past?
Header image: Glamour
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