Fashion

'90s Beauty Trends We Can't Forget About

by Miki Hayes

Even though it generally seems like the 1990s are back in full swing thanks to the resurgence of some trends, you might be surprised by how many '90s beauty trends you forgot about. (Or maybe after one too many times of being forced to look at photos of yourself from this decade, they're trends you tried to forget about.) We're probably all aware of the brown lipstick comeback, and I honestly hope it sticks around. Because, let's be honest, everyone looks good in a brown lip.

When it came to lipstick, the '90s knew what was up. But that wasn't always the case. As much as we might have liked the beauty trends from two decades ago, some of them are best left there. Case in point: over-plucking brows so that one straight line could fill them in. Now I'm not against the look— just the struggle of tirelessly growing those hairs back when trends change. As for some of the other major trends, I'm all for a revival. I have fond memories of crimped hair and stick-on rhinestones. You too? Then let's take a walk down memory lane of some of the best (and maybe worst) forgotten beauty trends of the 1990's.

1. Pencil-Thin Brows

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The '90s taught us to over-pluck our brows, making it that much harder to grow them out to suit the current fluffy-brow trend. Christina Aguilera had the perfect pencil-brows. That frosted lippy and heavy liner complete her fab, '90s look.

2. High Ponytails

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OK high ponytails a la Topanga in Boy Meets World were the best. I mean, hello, helicopter hair. You know you used to do it. This trend will come back once we become too lazy to pin up those high buns.

3. Frosted Lipstick

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If your lips couldn't be seen from space, you were either lacking frost or gloss. Both of these forms were acceptable for reflective lips, but the boldest would layer a gloss over a frosted lipstick. Oh, and the gloss was always sparkly, of course.

4. Face-Framers

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No matter how tightly hair was pulled back, it was absolutely necessary to pull out the front sections on either side of the face. These face-framing pieces made up for the lack of eyebrows, naturally.

5. Glitter/Rhinestones

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Glitter and rhinestones were everything. And they were acceptable anywhere on the face or body. Rhinestone belly jewelry? Check. Glitter gel to rub on shoulders and hair? Yes, please. And yeah, Gwen was totally doing the bedazzled brow thing in the '90s (plus, check the mini buns!).

6. Chunky Dye Jobs

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Blocks of black, streaks of red... there really was no limit on the big hunks of dye we'd stick in our '90s hair.

7. Barretts and Butterfly Clips

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Hair accessories were the best accessories. And the minimum was one clip on either side of the face. "Less is more" did not apply.

8. Crimped Hair

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Whether you slept in braids every night or had your very own crimper, this hairstyle was a must.

9. Blue Eyeshadow

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Because when everyone's favorite girl group rocks blue eyeshadow, you rock blue eyeshadow too.

10. Shadow Up To Your Brows

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As if the blue hue wasn't OTT enough, it had to cover the entire space from your lashes to your brow bones.

11. Hedgehog Hair

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Simply twisting up hair and clipping it so that there was a fan sitting above the head grew boring pretty quickly. Of course it was always acceptable, but the more spikes, the better. Adding knots and pins to have hair poking out in all directions was the goal.

12. The Rachel

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Need I say more?