10 Ways Beauty Has Changed Decade By Decade

Beauty, just like fashion, is something that is ever-changing and evolving. Something that may be super popular in the beauty world one minute may be completely out of fashion the next. Here’s ten ways that beauty has changed, decade by decade.

1. Eyeshadow

Eyeshadow is arguably one of the ways beauty has changed the most through the decades. In the 1950s, very little eyeshadow was worn, with just a hint of colour used to accentuate the eyes as mascara and eyeliner were seen as more important. This all changed int the 1960s, however, as exprimental makeup became more popular, bright colours were used all over the lids and under the eyes to create a dramtic look. This continued in the 1970s through those who shunned the hippy/natural look and instead often combined a range of shades to create rainbow eye looks.

This colourful way of wearing eyemake was made even bigger in the 80s, where people would often wear one shade right up to their browbone, and around the eyes. However, this was then toned down in the 90s as people turned to more natural shades and shapes, with browns becoming more popular. This being said,  blue shades were still popular, although not in the way they were in the 80s. These same looks were popular in the early 2000s, and shimmery, frosted shadows became really popular. This then gave way to the more natural, smokey looks we see nowadays.

2. Blusher

Blusher has always been popular for giving the wearer a little bit of colour and giving them a rosy glow. In the 1950s, blusher was an absolute must to create a healthy, natural look. Cream blusher was applied to the cheekbones in order to accentuate them, and powder blusher was applied after powder to the nose, cheeks and jawline.

This natural-looking technique was kept the same throughout the 60s and mid-70s, when blusher became a more prominent part of the makeup look, and started to get more dramatic. When the 1980’s hit, blusher was used in a similar way to how contour and highlighter is used today. Dark pink or blusher was used to carve out the cheekbones and accentuate them dramatically, a look David Bowie was famous for. This died down in the 90s, when natural blusher became popular again, and this natural look has been used throughout the 2000s and 2010s, too. This is one of the many ways beauty has changed.

3. Bronzer

Tanned skin has always been popular, and a great way to look tanned without trying is to use bronzer. In the 1970s, when bronzer became popular, it was used to supplement the glow achieved by sunbathing or using tanning beds (yikes!) as being tanned was the height of fashion. Obviously, this was before it became clear that tanning beds were very bad for you. In the 1980s, heavy bronzer was used to accentuate the cheekbones – just like it is used in contouring nowadays, but it would unblended and dramatic. This then took a backseat as bronzer once again became used to give the wearer a sunkissed glow in the 90s, and then when the 2000s hit, shimmery bronzer that really gave you a glow came into fashion. Now, bronzer is used to give the wearer a subtle glow, and to contour the face, which is not so far off from how it has been used in the past. This really contributed to the ways beauty has changed.

4. False Eyelashes

False lashes are one the best-loved beauty products because the amazing enlargening effect they have on the eyes, they have really impacted the ways beauty has changed. In the 1950s, false eyelashes were very popular with Hollywood starlets, and lashes were made more accessible to people owing to the fact the plastic strip lash was invented – now normal people could have the look of the rich and famous, too. In the 60s false lashes became even popular and even more outrageous as ‘bigger is better’ became the mantra for manufacturers after the model Twiggy made having huge, doll-like eyes fashionable. By the 1970s however false lashes were out of fashion as colourful mascaras took centre stage. This continued through the 1980s with only a few pop stars like Cher opting to wear falsies. However, by the 1990s, thanks to models like Pamela Anderson, false lashes were back with a bang and it’s been the same way ever since.

5. Eyebrows

Nowadays, Instagram brows are coveted by millions of people, bold, bushy brows were not always popular. In the 1950s, a delicate, arched brow was the height of fashion, and eyebrow pencil was used to fill the eyebrows in and make them look just so. By the 60s,it was an era of experimental beauty, and some women would either colour their brows in with bright colours, or remove them completely. Natural, although shaped brows like Audrey Hepuburn’s were also in fashion at this time – a style not dissimilar to the ‘Instagram brow’ of today, showing the ways beauty has changed.

This experimental beauty dissapeared by the 1970s, when women embraced their natural brow colour and shape, and tried to stick to being as natural as possible with their eyebrows. This continued into the 1980s, where brows were ideally groomed, but not too groomed – more of a your-brows-but-better kind of look. By the 1990s, this simple grooming was completely out of fashion, and women started plucking and waxing their eybrows to create shorter, thinner brows. This trend continued into early 2000s, but with the introduction of models like Cara Delevingne, by the 2010s fully grown in, bold brows were the most fashionable brow to have.

6. Highlighter

Highlighter is something that is unique to 2010s makeup, not only in the shimmer form, but also in the way that it is used in cream/powder contouring as until this point, full contouring and highlighting was done only in stage makeup. Although emphasizing the cheekbones with makeup like bronzer or blusher has been popular at various points throughout history, it was only from around 2012 onwards that highlighting truly became a thing.

7. Lipstick

Lipstick is something that women have always loved throughout the ages for giving them a perfect, kissable pout. In the 1950s, blushier shades and pinks were the most popular, as the fresh-faced, youthful look was in style at the time. However, in the 1960s, as all attention was supposed to be on the eyes, women opted to wear completely skin-matching lipstick – some even wore foundation on their lips to blend them in completely. White-pink lipstick was also popular.

This changed by the 1970s, though, as a nostalgia for the 40s brought bright red lipstick back into fashion, and the ‘natural makeup’ craze meant that more women were opting to embrace their natural shade of their lips and forgoing lipstick altogether. Ultra glossy, frosty looks were also made popular by the disco craze, and black lipstick was also made popular by punks. By the 1980s, super bright colours like yellow, green and blue were all the rage, as were darker reds and pinks. In the 90s, shimmery shades and glosses took over, as did more nude colours. This trend continued into the 2000s, where frosty pink glosses reigned supreme. Nowadays, the most popular lip trend is a good nude your-lips-but-better lip, but that’s not to say people don’t experiment with all the other lip looks from other decades.

8. Eyeliner

Eyeliner has always been a beauty favourite, and probably always will be as it has been a part of the ways beauty has changed.  The cat eye method of doing eyeliner has always been popular since its introduction in the 1950’s when an ‘uptick’ was used to elongate the crease of the eye and therefore make the eyes look bigger. Whilst graphic eyeliner may be considered to be something very modern, the 60s invented the graphic eyeliner look – a solid matte eyeshadow would be used as a base, and the eyelid crease would be lined in eyeliner that would be taken out into a flick at the end – something that wouldn’t look out of place on a modern-day catwalk.

Bigger, bolder cat eyes were in fashion too, with the wings extending up ad put towards the end of the brows. The 1970s changed all this, and introduced the concept of ‘natural’ liner – liner was to be used in a far softer way, in a more natural colour. Brown eyeliner became very popular as it was seen as a must-have for creating this look. Intense black eyeliner was also in fashion in punk circles. In the 1980s, however, this changed completely and bold, colourful eyeliners were used create outrageous eye looks a la David Bowie. White eyeliner then became popular in the 1990s, as the goal was to make eyes look bigger and brighter. This was soon replaced in the 2000s by smudgy, smokey eyeliner that gave the wearer a cooler edge. Now, in the 2010s, basically all these eyeliner looks are loved and used.

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9. Lipliner

In the 1950s, lipliner was used to taper the lip from the peak of the cupid’s bow to the outer corner, creating what was know as the ‘smile effect’ – very popular for the first generation not faced with a world war. By the 1960s, however, lipstick and therefore lipliner was completely out of fashion, with many women choosing not to define their lips at all. In the 1970s, this trend continued as women opted for a more natural look, but the rise of the punk movement caused more people to start using black eyeliner pencils as lipliner, and colouring their lips in with them.

During the 1980s, using darker lipliner with a lighter lipstick was the newest trend to make lips look fuller, something that continued on until the 1990s, where using dark lipliner with nude, glossy lipstick was the height of fashion. This trend evolved into contouring the lips by more heavily using lipliner and blending it in towards the lips in the 2000s. Now, lipliner is used to overdraw the lips and create the illusion of the perfect, full pout.

10. Hairstyles

Hair is something that’s seen as very personal, but hairstyles and hair colours go easily in and out of fashion, just as makeup trends do. In the 1950s, platinum blonde became very popular thanks to icon Marylin Monroe, and the most popular hairstyle of the decade was perfectly coiffed, curled hair as hairspray became massively popular. These coiffed looks gave way to the bouffant, beehives and pixie cuts of the 1960s, as highlighted hair became more popular, too.

Afros also became more popular within the black community, as the civil rights movement also fueled the ‘Black is Beautiful’ movement and black men and women embraced their natural hair, and groups like The Supremes brought the afro into the mainstream. Highlights then evolved into ‘frosting’ in the 70s, where the tips of the hair were highlighted to make the hair look more natural. The most popular hairstyles were very different within this era – there was feathered layers that gave the hair a lot of bounce and volume, completely sleek and straightened hair popularized by Cher, and androgynous-looking ‘boy-style’ haircuts. Afros were also still popular, and bigger was even better when it came to these natural hairstyles.

The idea of hair volume was snapped up by the 80s as outrageous perms, backcombing and huge hair accessories became the latest style. Afros went out of fashion, but natural curls were still in, although they were more loose-textured. Unusual colours like red, blue and yellow were also experimented with during this era. This was toned down in the 90s, where chunky highlights and the ‘The Rachel’ – a shoulder-length sleek haircut with layers that framed the face – were made super popular by the TV show ‘Friends’. Instead of natural curls, straightened hair and box braids came back into fashion, popularized by Janet Jackson. Other popular hairstyles also included spiky updos, crimping and feathered fringes. These crazy hairstyles gave way to the beachy waves of the 2000s – a no-fuss, California-cool look coveted by millions.

The Ombré trend also became popular as it made the hair look naturally sunkissed. During the 2000s, there was also a natural hair revolution, with cornrows braided into intricate patterns becoming popular, especially with celebrities like Alisha Keys. Nowadays both ombré hair and multicoloured styles (like unicorn or mermaid hair) are popular, along with long, layered hair or cute, above-the-shoulders cuts. The natural hair revolution has continued, with a massive drop in demand for chemical relaxers.

Which decade do you think was best for beauty? What are some other ways beauty has changed? Let us know in the comments!

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