That 90s Girl Type of Beauty

Hey!

Remember the 90s, y’all? It’s SO hard to believe that 1990 was 22 freakin’ years ago, I mean… wow. The funny thing is, I was born in 1990, but many of you reading this were probably teens or adults by then, so you may have a different experience or perspective than me. My most fond 90s memories consist of Barney,old school block parties, TLC runnin’ everything, the Destiny’s Child matching ensemble trio, Spice Girls lollipops, double dutch, and actually playing outside (a lost art?)… just to name a few many things. Although these are the first things that come to mind when I think back, the next thoughts take me to the ladies of the 90s, who I couldn’t wait to be like — go figure, now I’m wishing I could go back in time.

I’m specifically talking about the beauty sense of the 90s divas, near and far. Even as a little girl–who was extremely mature and always knew the words the adults spelled out in the air–I payed attention to how women presented themselves, what they wore, and how they beat their faces. When I close my eyes to flashback, as fas as beauty goes, the first thing I see is a dramatically chiseled lip, lined on purpose, and filled with a gold, brown, or other earthy shade of lipstick. My stepmom was the queen of that perfectly chiseled lip, and I thought she was the most beautiful woman ever (what daughter doesn’t think their mom is more beautiful than all the other moms?) …

Sorry for the quality of the pic, but it was like 20 years ago…hehe. But wait, yall see her perfectly lined, chiseled lips? She used to kill it back in the day–and still does, with new-age lips though 😉

But back to my point, the 90s beauty (in my eyes) was all about the natural look with a little umphh. My grandmom’s lip of choice was a gold number that she only wore for special occasions, and I’d always be amazed at how she put it on without even looking in the mirror–Skillz. Not only in my immediate feminine circle did I see this made up play on natural beauty, but the music scene was flustered with gorgeous young celebs like Aaliyah, Brandy, and TLC, who displayed the same palette.

 

 

 

Yall see the trend? Beat faces were just so calm, cool, nude, and sexy at the same damn time! I’m still baffled at how dramatically subdued the makeup trends were, compared to the colorful and bold 80s. Neither here nor there, I absolutely love the appreciation the 90s had for the natural look, even being in a full face of makeup.

All this beauty rambling brings me to the reason I wrote this post in the first place. As I thought about what I wanted day 3 of my “All IMAN Cosmetics Everything” face to be, I stumbled across my never used lip liner in cocoa, and a sexy warm mocha chocolate lip color in the Pucker Up lip kit. I had an instant flashback, and said, “Yes, let me show the 90s beauty a little love”. Instead of lining my lips boldly with the cocoa liner, I lined my lips and then shaded them in a bit with the pencil like I learned from Uncle Sam Fine’s Basics of Beauty. I also added a pop of nude gloss in the center of my bottom lip to add a little dimension. All in all, I think I did 90s beauty a lil’ justice, you be the judge…

 

I hope the 90s beauty divas approve. Here’s what I used…

* I skipped foundation and concealer (as I’m sure you can tell), bad habit… don’t try it at home.

IMAN Cosmetics:

Afterglow bronzer & blush

Perfect Mascara in black

Jet Black liner

St. Tropez kit for eyes ( shadows #2,#3,#4)

Cocoa lip liner

Pucker Up Luxury lip kit color #3

 

Did you also like the chill, laid-back 90s beauty? I’m really curious to know if I’m the only one…

 

Sincerely,

with style & beauty, Sharontina B.