We all know that trends often come back into fashion. This we have seen a return of 80’s beauty trends, with colourful eyeshadows and eyeliners making waves on the 2020 runways pre-lockdown. However there are some beauty trends we are happy to see left firmly in the past, or developed upon with a more modern twist.
80s trends have seen a resurgence in recent years due to nostalgic American TV shows such as Stranger Things and The Goldbergs. The decade was dominated by Madonna and Cyndi Lauper as they set beauty trends across the world.
The desire for soft, bouncy, Dallas inspired curls lead many young 80s women to try out a perm. Unfortunately what they weren’t expecting was the resultant tight, dry, ringlets which usually came from a home perm, or one performed without the expertise of an expensive Hollywood hair dresser. Despite this the trend persisted with both women and men as many an 80s footballer tried the trend. It even persisted into the 90s, who could forget Justin Timberlake’s hair during his NSYNC days, making him the origin of the 'ramen noodles' hair trend. For now though we have laid this trend to rest, although there may have been a small temptation to try out the perm after seeing Nancy’s perm in Stranger Things 3!
Farrah Fawcett may have been to blame for this particular trend. Her wavy, bouncy, layered fringe was the hair dreams are made of, although it clearly proved much harder to recreate at home! Since then we seem to have learnt more at home styling techniques, as more modern iterations of the feathered bangs have made appearances in the last couple of years. The ‘Shag haircut’ seen around 2018 could be seen as a more modern development of this classic 80s cut.
Perhaps inspired originally by Marilyn Monroe, 80s icon Madonna would draw on her own above-lip beauty mark, inspiring others to do the same. However by 2000 Madonna’s beauty mark had mysteriously vanished, as the trend had ended.
As new generations discover Friends and Clueless, we have seen a resurgence in 90s fashion trends. Whilst Rachel Green inspired haircuts globally, The Spice Girls and Gwen Stefani dominated magazines.
Eyebrow trends over the years have proven cyclical, so despite our mocking of this trend now, it is sure to return one day. Eyebrows were shunned in the 90s as they were plucked to death, a stark contrast to the last decade which say an eyebrow renaissance, as we obsessed over Cara Delevingne’s eyebrows in 2011, and have seen everything from rainbow brows to bejewelled brows, to halo brows.
A move on from the ringlets created by the 80s perm, crimping continued to give the texture and movement that was so desired. Whilst crimped hair still looks amazing in editorial photoshoots, and even made appearances on the 2020 runways, it can prove tricky to recreate the small tight ridges, which are most associated with this trend, at home. Hair crimping is time consuming and a lot of hairspray is needed to ensure they don’t drop before the end of the day, perhaps offering an insight as to why they went out of style.
Poker straight hair with harsh stripes was a defining trend of the 90s, with everyone from Kelly Clarkson to Jessica Simpson sporting the look. Since then we have favoured softer more natural highlights. Chunky highlights look set to become a trend in 2020, but think more Olsen twins, softer and more natural looking, giving a lift to your hair colour. Stylists suggest that chunky highlights work better on wavy or curly hair textures, where delicate highlights get lost in the texture of the hair, this avoids the harsh zebra crossing stripes of the original 90s trend.
Beauty trends are always being revived and adapted, it seems unlikely that we shall never see any of these trends again, although hopefully the next time they appear they will have been adapted in a way that suits our current beauty ideas. Who knows in another ten years we may be laughing at our current trends, with our feathered eyebrows and glittery eyeshadows from 2020.
