2000AD – 2009AD
By the new Millennium, make-up came in all sorts of varieties. The majority of make-up products aimed at teenagers were scented, glittery and brightly coloured.
Skincare:
Acne treatment skincare was heavily advertised on TV on channels that teenagers would watch, such as MTV. Other acne products were things like ‘Oxy Cleansing Pads’, which were very harsh on the skin.
As life became fast paced, products used aromatherapy scents to help people relax. Such as body washes and gel soaps, this started to replace traditional bar soaps.
Make-up:
This decade saw many fashions such as the monochrome make-up look where lips, cheeks and eye shadow were worn in the same shade, then rise of subcultures ‘emo’ and ‘scene’ towards the mid to late end of the decade.
Launched in 2005, the most famous foundation from this decade would be ‘Dream Matte Mousse’ by’ Maybelline’. It didn’t come in many shades, so the chances are it didn’t match the skin tone and would end up looking orangey.
Highlighter was used to make the skin look glowy, and then finished with bronzer, sometimes over the entire face.
Colourful eye shadow was back in, in shades such as candy-pink, purple, green and blue, extended past the lids; metallic silver was also very fashionable. Then very pale shades such as white, which would be applied heavily under the brows or in the inner eye corner. Eye liners came in every colour and could be matched to clothing and other accessories.
Mascara was applied in layers, resembling spider legs, much like the 90’s.
Eyebrows were still very thin; sometimes women would shave theirs off and draw them back on. Most people would pluck them thin and then leave them as they were without filling them in.
Blush was blended onto the apples of the cheeks into circles in bright hues such as pinks and reds.
Glossy lips were the height of fashion, especially frosted gloss. One trend popular with teenage girls would be to use concealer as ‘lipstick’ to completely hide their lips.
In the subculture of emo, they would use eyeliner or black eye shadow around their eyes, or red eyeliner. Scene kids would have very thick black eyeliner all around the eyes, or very bright colourful eye shadow, neutral lips and matte foundation.
Spray tanning had started in 1997 by Estee Lauder chemists, however in 2004; Nichola Mathews started the ‘Spray Tan Cubicle Company’, which then changed its name to ‘Sienna X’. Along with spray tans, many self-tanning products were available; the tan was in, however it did leave the skin very orange.
Some people decorated their teeth with a single crystal that was glued onto a front tooth.
Hair:
Straighteners were all the rage, and so was having poker straight hair.
Some people wore their hair half curly, half straight, the hair around their face would be straightened and the rest would be curled. Also, there was a trend to have straight hair with random curls or random crimped bits.
Styles included poufy half up dos, where the fringe would be teased and then pinned back off the face to create a quiff. Those with layered hair would flick the ends out for a Farrah Fawcett vibe.
Fringes changed a lot through the decade, with the wispy, barely there fringe, to full big fringes, then face-covering heavy side fringes. These heavier side fringes were worn mainly by emo’s and scene kids, they would then backcomb and hairspray the rest of their hair into a big style, decorating with lots of bows and clips. Emo’s would usually have their hair cut into long front fringes with short spikey hair in the back, then dyed black.
Other hair dye styles were chunky highlights and two-toned hair with highlights and lowlights in stark contrast to each other, such as bleach blonde and black.
Clip in coloured hair extensions were highly popular, making it easy to change looks.
NEXT: 2010’s
BACK: 1990’s