Every decade has had beauty trends, but since the information age started makeup looks have increased at an unprecedented rate.
If you look at makeup trends over the decades — since the time when women were allowed to actually wear makeup around the 1910’s or 1920’s — you can see the styles change over time. Now that we have the internet and social media, beauty bloggers are spreading ideas at a faster rate than ever before in history. This has caused the number of looks to diversify.
Makeup Trends by Decade
In the 20’s it became socially acceptable for more women to wear makeup outside. In this vintage ad by Maybelline, we can see women wore their hair cut scandalously short. They plucked their eyebrows thin with high arches. Rouge was applied to the cheeks in circles to make them rounder. Lips were painted red in a cupids bow shape that was smaller than the mouth.
During the Great Depression makeup had to be kept simple, and women made use of stuff they had around the house. Lips were still painted in a cupid’s bow but with a wide shape. The eyebrows were plucked thin to accent the shape. Hair was worn in rag curls or bobby pin curls.
During WWII a lot of resources were not available for beauty routines. Eyebrows were defined with an eye pencil. Pastel eyeshadow was applied to the lids and mascara was applied to the top eyelashes only. Lipstick was crimson. Hair was shoulder length and worn in soft curls.
In the 50’s women were supposed to be perfect housewives. The pointy bra was the style of choice for boobs. Lipstick was still red and the nails were painted to match. Black eyeliner added extra emphasis to eyeshadow. Hair could be worn short, in curls or tied up with a headscarf.
During the cultural movements of the 60’s, makeup was all about heavy eyes and nude lips. The eyes were outlined in heavy black eyeliner and mascara was used to make the bottom lashes look thicker. They used white eyeliner on the inside lids to give eyes a larger appearance. Sometimes they added false lashes to the bottom corners. Skin was matte. Lips were nude or pink.
In the 1970’s they had a sexual revolution and a feminist movement. Hair was parted down the middle and worn straight or in face framing waves. Brightly colored eyeshadow such as blue or green was applied on the lids all the way up to the eyebrows. This flattered the rosy pink blush that was used on the cheekbones. Lipstick was usually pink or nude, but sometimes red.
During the 80’s hair got really big, and could have been crimped or permed. They would tease it with combs to look larger and fuller. Brightly colored eyeshadow in many colors was worn with heavy blush on the cheekbones. Eyebrows were more natural for the first time in decades. Even male rock bands were teasing their hair and wearing makeup, which is called glam metal.
In the amazing 90’s everyone got super depressed and went grunge. Brown lipstick was a thing, and burgundy was another popular choice. Eyeshadow was smokey and a neutral shade of brown with natural looking brows. Hair was chopped into layers, and worn shoulder length or longer.
In the 2000’s makeup trends began to spread and multiply, but social media wasn’t a part of everyone’s life yet. Eyeshadow was frosty and usually a cool tone or brown, and cheeks were peachy. Eyebrows looked groomed but natural. Shiny lipgloss was a popular trend at the time. Hair was blow dried, straightened and curled into many shapes using better beauty tools.
Beauty Bloggers and MUA’s
The internet became available to the general public in the 90’s, another reason why they were so great. Facebook launched in 2004, followed by YouTube in 2005 and Instagram in 2010. Around the same time in 2010 Pinterest launched, and women mysteriously loved it. In 2018 there are over two billion Facebook users, one billion Instagram users and 1.8 billion YouTube viewers.
In the 2010’s beauty bloggers started going viral on YouTube, and getting mad follows on Instagram. They were making money off of beauty endorsement deals, starting their own beauty lines and getting featured in magazines like Cosmopolitan, Elle and Vogue. This inspired a wave of makeup artists (MUA’s) who began sharing their own looks on social media.
Now beauty tutorials are one of the most popular searches on the internet. The practice is to record oneself applying makeup, and then speed up the video to fit into a smaller length of time. This is very satisfying to watch for some reason. And it spreads makeup inspiration around the world overnight. A MUA in Nebraska could inspire one in Kenya, and so on.
MUA’s have to be ahead of the trends if they want to stand out on social media. They also need to know the latest music because they sync it up with the beauty tutorial videos. A “lip slut” is a beauty blogger that always posts super up close photos of their lips, oftentimes with a tube of lip gloss that looks like a phallic object in frame, or dripping goo on their mouth.
Statement makeup gets bolder as women and men compete to get more views of their makeup tutorials online. MUA’s use stage makeup and contouring to transform themselves into magical characters and well known celebrities. Face jewels and body glitter are a thing now. There is liquid eyeliner in bright colors. Eyeshadow comes in every color imaginable. People are glueing flowers to themselves, getting face tattoos and showing up close pics of acne.
Beauty blogging is not only spreading beauty trends at an exponential rate. It also gives women a creative outlet and teaches them a skill they can use to find work. It encourages financial independence when a beauty blogger starts a successful company that makes millions. And it creates more jobs for women, who have a harder time finding employment.
Women no longer have to rely on magazines and movie stars to teach them the latest trends. Beauty blogging has increased the number of makeup looks. It’s a good thing.