The decade has finally come to a close and we’ve already seen trends in makeup pop up and go away. In this day and age of the internet and social media, everything seems to be moving at a faster pace than ever before. Trends seemingly popping out of nowhere before disappearing, only to be forgotten. Originality has become so much harder to achieve with the pace at which influences and inspirations come and go. 

Let’s dive into the past decade to see some of the most defining trends that have led to the current era of cosmetic makeup.

The start of the last decade gave us the movement of fake tans for a perfect beach body. Consider ourselves lucky that this came and went like a speeding bullet; fake tanning makes your skin age faster and makes you more susceptible to skin cancer. 

We should consider ourselves lucky that the oncoming trends weren’t linked to a hazardous need for beauty. After this, we were introduced to one of the most desired looks in the past decade, although still in its infancy. According to Harper’s Bazaar, the “lit from within” looks started taking over from the year of our Lord 2011. We would see a resurgence albeit a more chiseled version of this trend emerge and stay popular, unlike the ones that die out. 

Down the road, we see the start of smokey eye shadows and thick eye-liners at the start of the decade which would eventually morph into more intricate and artsy eye makeup by the time the decade wrapped up. With celebrities like Lily Collins, we would see the trend of thin, trimmed and shaped eyebrows move out and give way to big, bold brows. 

By 2018 this bold eyebrow style seemed to be perfected, with influencers like Manny MUA and James Charles popularising this trend on platforms like Youtube and Instagram. 

By the midpoint of the decade, we would see the two of the defining movements come together, the rise of social media trends and contouring. First popularised in 2014 when Kim Kardashian West posted a selfie showcasing a before-and-after effect of the contouring technique centuries after its origin. This technique became more technical and complex when two extra steps were added, the strobing and baking techniques which added highlights to various points of the face, like the cheekbones and nose. 

As we move past the midpoint we see another shift in lipstick trends when Jefree Star and Kylie Jenner launched their liquid lipsticks in 2015, the matte lip look would take off the following year. This trend still runs strong today as people just simply cannot grow tired of the lipstick formula which provides bold pigments that last for hours. 

At the twilight of the decade, eye makeup would progress further, complemented by social media beauty moguls who had a hand in popularising artsy, technical and glamourous looks. 

Makeup artist Doniella Davy brought the style of editorial makeup into the spotlight with HBOs show “Euphoria” which seemed to inspire the masses to take up the look themselves. Along with this, we would see the rising popularity of the no-makeup-makeup, ditching the flashy and colorful makeup of the past to give way to a more natural look that would complement the flaws and beauty of the human anatomy.

Though the decade has gone by in a flash we are left over with many trends, some of which are still relevant today, which is a testament to expressing how one feels about themselves. Whether it be improving on past successes or coming up with new techniques, originality has no bounds and no limits.