Perhaps it is the rose-colored, butterfly-shaped, rhinestone-studded glasses by which we view nostalgia, however girlhood within the Y2K period simply hit otherwise. The magic of a sleepover with finest associates in 1999 is a sense I discover myself chasing continually, nevertheless it’s been robust to re-create. That’s when bonds have been solid, consolation films found, and make-up abilities have been born. Armed with a sponge-tipped eye shadow applicator and a dream, we didn’t have detailed video tutorials to comply with. We regarded to methods handed on to us by cool older sisters and within the pages of YM to information us.
Make-up felt enjoyable, experimental, and nearly revolutionary to my 11-year-old self. It was underneath the cover of glow-in-the-dark stars on a good friend’s ceiling that I used to be launched to make-up as a inventive medium. I discovered tips on how to apply eyeliner and smudge it out for that Xtina smoky eye, met for the primary time the standing image that was MAC’s Prrr Lipglass, and found the facility {that a} swipe of Bathtub & Physique Works Artwork Stuff roll-on physique glitter held. “The early 2000s have been such a enjoyable, playful time for make-up,” says Nikki Deroest, a Los Angeles-based make-up artist. “They have been shiny, frosty, a bit of undone.”
Whereas Y2K appears to be like actually borrowed components from the ’90s, there was a definite distinction between the 2 eras. “Nineties make-up was the supermodel look—assume Tyra, Naomi, Cindy—with matte pores and skin, brown or nude lips, and impartial tones that advanced from the polished glamour of the ’50s,” says Renée Loiz, a Los Angeles-based make-up artist. “Y2K flipped that with frosted shadows, metallic gloss, and shine pulled from ’70s disco. It went from minimal and modern to playful and looking out towards the longer term.”
Sooner or later, we turned adults, swapping our MAC Lipglass for matte, liquid lipsticks, and the manufacturers we grew up with adopted go well with. Even City Decay, which launched in 1996 with a number of the coolest, edgiest shades, like Acid Rain and Exhaust, veered towards neutrals with the launch of its Bare Palette in 2010 (which can have contributed to the rise in wearable earth tones of the time).
Nonetheless, outdated habits die laborious, and like Kylie Minogue’s 2001 hit single, there are specific belongings you simply can’t get out of your head. Props to that 20-year development cycle, as a result of Y2K aesthetics are again, and the inspiration is in all places in make-up.
