90s Makeup: 7 Iconic Looks and How to Wear Them

H1: 90s Makeup: 7 Iconic Looks and How to Wear Them

90s makeup was matte skin, a brown lip lined a shade darker, smudged liner that looked slept in on purpose, a defined brow and frost on the lids. Nothing about it was fussy, which is exactly why the decade keeps coming back around.

The versions worth wearing now are not costume versions. Here are seven looks from the era, what makes each one read as 90s and the Revlon products that get you there.

What Defined 90s Makeup

Five things separate a 90s face from any other decade.

1. Matte skin. Powder finish, no highlighter, no glow.

2. The brown lip. Lined darker than the lipstick, blotted flat.

3. Defined brows. Groomed and shaped rather than fluffy.

4. Smudged liner. Soft, dark, deliberately imperfect.

5. Frost. Shimmer on the lid and a shine on the lip, both a little metallic.

Pick one or two of the five and you have a 90s look. Take all five at once and you have a costume, which is a distinction worth holding onto as you read.

1. The Brown Lip

No look defines the decade more completely. The 90s brown lip was matte, precise and always lined, with the liner reading a touch deeper than the lipstick so the edge stayed sharp as the color wore down.

ColorStay Suede Ink Lipstick is the closest thing to the original finish, a no-transfer matte with a built-in primer and up to 8HRS of wear, conditioned with Vitamin E so a flat matte still feels comfortable. Three shades carry the look:

• Pure Talent, a warm true-brown nude that reads rich on deep skin tones

• Gut Instinct, a peachy brown nude for fair skin with warm undertones

• Want It All, a cool-toned mocha for blue-based skin

Line first, fill in, then blot with a tissue and reapply once. Blotting is what takes it from modern matte to 90s matte. If you have never worked with a liner, start with How to Apply Lip Liner (Even If You’re a Beginner).

2. Smudged Grunge Liner

Grunge eye makeup was never neat. The whole point was liner that looked like it had been on since yesterday, soft at the edges and darker in the outer corner.

Work with ColorStay Eyeliner in black or a deep brown. Draw a line along the upper lash line and a second one along the lower, then take a small smudge brush and push both outward while the liner is still soft. Do not tidy the edges. Finish with So Fierce! Big Bad Lash Mascara on top and bottom lashes.

Keep the rest of the face bare. Smudged liner plus a bold lip reads as evening, smudged liner alone reads as 1994. For a cleaner version of the same blending, our guide to How to Do a Smokey Eye covers the technique.

3. Supermodel Skin

90s skin was matte and skin-like at the same time, which is a harder combination than it sounds. Coverage sat where it was needed and nowhere else, the finish was powdered flat, and blush went high on the cheekbone rather than on the apple.

Build it with ColorStay Longwear Makeup applied thinly and pressed in with the fingers, then set with ColorStay Blot Setting Powder across the whole face rather than the T-zone alone. Add a warm neutral Powder Blush swept back toward the temple.

Skip highlighter entirely. Leaving the glow out is the single change that dates the look correctly.

4. The Glossy Nude Lip

Running alongside the brown lip was its opposite, a sheer glossy nude worn with almost nothing else. Softer, easier and the version most people reach for on a weekday.

Super Lustrous The Lip Gloss gives the sheer, high-shine finish the look depends on. Wear it over a nude liner one shade deeper than your lip for definition, or on bare lips for the softest version.

Choosing a nude is the part people find fiddly, and undertone does most of the work. Our guide to How to Pick the Right Nude Lipstick walks through it.

5. Frosted + Glitter Shadow

Frost and glitter were two separate 90s finishes. Frost was the everyday one, a cool pearlized shimmer swept across the whole lid. Glitter came out at night and went on thick.

For both, So Fierce! Prismatic Eye Shadow Palette gives the metallic finish the era ran on. Apply frost with a flat brush and press it onto the lid rather than sweeping, which keeps the shimmer dense and even. For the glitter version, lay a cream shadow down first so the sparkle has something to hold to, then press the shimmer on top.

Keep everything else quiet when the lid is doing this much. A sheer lip and bare skin is the whole rest of the face.

6. Bright Pop Color

Not every 90s look was muted. The pop end of the decade ran on saturated blues, purples and greens worn with obvious enthusiasm and no blending anxiety.

ColorStay Day to Night Eyeshadow Quad builds from soft to bold with up to 24HR of wear, so you can keep the color contained on the lid for daytime and take it up into the crease at night. Place the brightest shade on the center of the lid and blend outward, leaving the crease clean.

If bright color is what brought you here, the early 2000s took it further. See Y2K Makeup Trends Making a Comeback.

7. Thin, Defined Brows (The Modern Version)

Thin brows are the most recognizable 90s signature and the one nobody wants back in its original form. The modern read is not thinner, it is cleaner, a defined shape with a crisp edge and a visible arch rather than a soft fluffy brow.

Get there with ColorStay Micro Brow Pencil to draw the shape and sharpen the tail, then PhotoReady Lifting Brow Gel to hold the hairs in one direction rather than brushed up. Keeping the top edge tidy and the arch defined gives you the 90s reference without touching a pair of tweezers.

For more on the shape question, see Thin vs Bushy Brows: How to Refresh Your Brow Shape With Lifting Gel.

How to Wear 90s Makeup Now

Three rules keep the look wearable rather than referential.

• Pick one signature. A brown lip with modern skin reads as style. A brown lip plus smudged liner plus frost plus thin brows reads as a themed party.

• Update the skin. Matte is the point, but you can get there with a lighter hand than the decade used. Coverage where you need it, powder everywhere, nothing more.

• Leave out what never worked. Over-plucked brows and a heavily lined bare lip were of their moment. The shape and the shade were the good parts, so keep those.

90s Makeup FAQ

What kind of makeup was popular in the 1990s?

Matte skin, brown and nude lips lined a shade deeper, thin defined brows, smudged dark eyeliner and frosted or glittery eyeshadow. Glossy nude lips and bright pop-color shadow ran alongside the muted looks.

How do you do a 90s makeup look?

Start with matte skin and no highlighter, add a brown or nude lip with liner one shade deeper, then pick one eye signature, either smudged liner or frosted shadow. Keep brows defined rather than fluffy.

What lipstick colors were popular in the 90s?

Brown was the defining family, running from warm caramel through cocoa to a cool mocha, worn matte and lined. Sheer glossy nudes and deep berry shades were the other two staples.

How do you make 90s makeup look modern?

Wear one signature rather than all of them, keep the skin lighter than the decade did and leave the brows their natural width. The shade and the shape are what read as 90s, not the quantity.

Pick Your Signature

Nearly every look on this list starts at the mouth, which makes the lip the easiest place to begin. Find the brown, nude or berry that feels like you, shop Revlon lips to get started.