Brown Liner, Frosted Lids and Matte Skin: A Field Guide to 90s Makeup

Brown Liner, Frosted Lids and Matte Skin: A Field Guide to 90s Makeup

Brown lips, thin brows, frosted shadow and matte skin: 90s makeup is back, and it is easier to wear than you remember. Here are the lipsticks and liners, the shadow sticks and glitter, and the bronzers that bring the decade to your face.

Ask a makeup artist what defined 90s makeup and you will get a short list: brown lips, thin eyebrows, frosted eyeshadow, grunge liner and matte skin. Harper's Bazaar ties the revival to the supermodels, Christy, Kate, Cindy, Linda and Naomi, and Vogue UK points to dark, often brown lip liner as a defining look, worn by Naomi Campbell and Pamela Anderson. The liner was often paired with a slick of gloss over otherwise bare lips, and I think that pairing is the easiest way into the decade.

So I would begin with the mouth. Make Up For Ever's Artist Color Pencil is the liner, a long-lasting pencil you can line just outside the natural edge and fill in for a defined shape. Valentino's Spike Buttery Matte Lipstick is a buttery matte, and Charlotte Tilbury's Matte Revolution is the hydrating matte for anyone who thinks matte means dry.

For something less severe, Clinique's Almost Lipstick in Black Honey and Pink Honey is a sheer, glossy color that suits the softer end of the decade. Merit's Signature Lip is a lightweight lipstick for a quieter look, and Anastasia Beverly Hills' Full-Pigment Velvet Lipstick comes in matte and satin finishes for the fuller, more dramatic mouth.

Brows were part of it too. Makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin shaped them, and Kate Moss recalled him plucking out her eyebrows and turning skinny brows into high fashion. I would not go that thin, but a neat, slightly narrower arch does frame the lip well.

Line the lips, fill them, blot once, and add gloss in the middle if you like.

Collage of matte lipsticks and a lip liner pencil, cream shadow sticks and glitter, and powder bronzers, and a mood photo of a 90s inspired face with a brown lip and smoky eyes.
Brown-leaning lipsticks, easy shadow sticks and matte bronzers for a nineties face.

Lipsticks and lip liners for a 90s lip

Frosted lids without the fuss

Frosted eyeshadow is the part of the nineties that people are most nervous about, and I understand why. Done badly it looks chalky. Done well it is a soft, cool shimmer that catches the light, and shadow sticks make it very easy to get right.

Urban Decay's 24/7 Moondust is the glitter, a shimmering shadow that you press on with a fingertip over a cream base, and the effect is cool and slightly icy. Kaja's Wink Dazzle is a dual-ended stick, so you get two shades in one, and it is the one I toss in a bag for a night out.

For a quieter lid, Rare Beauty's All of the Above is a weightless stick that goes on in seconds. ILIA's Eye Stylus Shadow Stick is a long-lasting cream, and Anastasia Beverly Hills' Glidr is a smudge-proof stick with 12-hour wear, which is exactly what you want for a smoky, slightly messy line along the lash. Kulfi's Zari Eyes is a crease-proof cream with a metallic finish, and it is the one for a bolder lid.

The trick with any cream stick is to swipe it on, then tap it in with a finger before it dries, and leave it alone afterwards. If you want the grunge effect, smudge a dark pencil along the lower lashes and do not fuss with the edges.

Keep the lip simple when the eyes are frosted. One or the other should lead, and the rest of the face should stay quiet enough to let it.

Easy eyeshadows for a 90s lid

Warm, matte and lightly sculpted

Nineties skin was matte and quietly warm, with a soft sweep of bronzer across the cheekbones and a slightly darker hollow. It was not the glowing, wet skin we are used to seeing now, and I find it a relief.

Benefit's Hoola Matte Powder Bronzer is the one most people know, a matte that goes on without any shimmer. NARS Laguna is a talc-free bronzer powder, and I like it on the temples and the tops of the cheeks. Fenty Beauty's Sun Stalk'r is an instant warmth powder bronzer, and Gucci's Sun-Kissed Glow is the one to try for a softer, sun-kissed cheek.

If you prefer cream, Rare Beauty's Soft Pinch Liquid Contour is a liquid you dot and blend with a fingertip or a sponge, and it gives a more natural shadow. Makeup by Mario's SoftSculpt is a skin enhancer, and it is the one I use when I want a little warmth without a full contour.

What I would skip: a heavy, orange contour across the whole face. The decade was about a little warmth, not stripes. Also skip a shimmery bronzer if you are going for matte skin, and always blend at the edge with a clean brush so there is no line at the jaw. Put bronzer where the sun would hit, on the forehead, cheekbones and bridge of the nose, and stop there.

Bronzers and contour for a 90s face

A nineties face in ten minutes

A nineties face takes about ten minutes. Start with a matte base, or a tinted moisturizer with powder on top, then a dab of cream shadow on the lid and a smudge of pencil under the lower lashes.

Add a light touch of bronzer, then finish with the lip. Line it, fill it, and put a little gloss in the center if you want it to look like the pages of an old magazine.

The point is not to copy a photograph. Pick one detail, the brown lip or the frosted lid, and wear it with the rest of your face as it is. That is how the decade looks best on real people, in real light, on a normal weekday. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together The 90s Lip Is Back and Morphe Lip Liner and the Lip Liners Makeup Artists Reach For.