The Makeup Trends and Culture of the Year

Gathering up its glamorous-glitzy glitter dust — as if stars in a constellation — the Gen-Z is ready to shine through. Younger the generation, the bigger the craze. The 2020 beauty look is a combination of experimental tones of drag-inspired make-up and the sparkly, techno crosscurrent of makeup trends triggered by HBO’s ‘Euphoria’. This has created a sweeping fascination with eccentric beauty looks in the popular culture. With a face enveloped in a sheen of dewy makeup, lips smudged with tinted balms, and eyes popped up with graphic and colourful eyeliners, the year further lined up will make you glint and dazzle.

From audacious red lips to negative space liner and face gems, the new beauty looks of the generation reminisce of classic rock and glitzy disco balls. The trending make-up looks have borrowed from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s lifestyles. The rock and roll culture of the ‘60s was replete with cool tones of eye shadows, soft peachy blushes and bold, heavily coated lashes. The hippie counterculture of the ‘70s raged with shimmer eyeshadows, blunt bangs and vinyl red lips. The materialism induced ‘Logomania’ in the ‘80s. Then came the ‘90s of bold red lipsticks, nude make-up and defined eyebrows. The confluence of these looks forms the eventual beauty look of the 21st-century people.

The millennials are the biggest consumers of the current experimental makeup trend owing to the departing decade of Instagram mania. The preceding years bowed down to a roar of Instagram dominated style sheets and trends; hence the influencer culture. Come 2021, you are sure to see a gush of a number of beauty trends predicted here.

Balmy Lips

On lips, on lids, on cheeks, on the skin — gloss is the trend your beauty looks need. Spring 2020 runway by CHANEL highlighted the beauty looks that accentuate a healthy glow all over your skin, including lips. Hence, translucent lip balms to the rescue. A glass-like glow to face is end result to be attained. Many think that this fashion trend is new in the fashion scenario, which is not the case.

On the contrary, balmy-tinted lips have been the ‘go-to’ beauty look for many women in the ‘70s and ‘80s. And then in the ‘90s shiny nude or red lips were in vogue. Remember Monica Geller (Courteney Cox) and Rachel Green’s (Jennifer Aniston) beauty looks from the ‘90s popular (and still popular) sitcom ‘Friends’? Don’t you think that those fashion and beauty looks are trending again? Monica’s audacious bold lips in crimson and maroon, and Rachel’s nude lips accentuated by glossy lip balm. This is exactly how you need to dress your lips for the upcoming and current fashion season.

Experimental Colours And Graphics

Be it colour blocked eyeshadow, neon eyeliner or cheek tints reaching up to the temples, pastel colours forming watercolour hues have been spotted at most of the runways this season. These colours lend a fresh, dewy and delicate effect to the face. Seeing the exaggerated blush look — the one colouring the cheeks as well as temples — one is immediately reminded of Ziggy Stardust (glam alter ego of David Bowie). The high-voltage rock-and-roll drama would be exhibited by everything Ziggy Stardust could be. His beauty looks were nothing less.

A lightning bolt, a teardrop, or exaggerated tints on the face — he would paint his face to express the new aspects of his personality. This kind of graphic makeup has ruled the season as well. Rita Ora walked the red carpet of the British Fashion Awards 2019 with dramatic blue swirls around her eyes. Christian Siriano’s Ready-To-Wear Spring 2020 runway featured watercolour eyes, Anna Sui’s runways in 2019 featured holographic and watercolour makeup by Pat McGrath, and Spring Summer 2020 runway by Oscar de la Renta featured coloured neon eyes, among many other extraordinary makeup-based runways.