Ah, beauty trends. Some of them are super flattering and timeless, like a bang or a shag, while others are best left in the past where they came from. Like, is anyone still sporting the Rachel? (Love you, Jen!) While we're not wearing blue eyeshadow up to our brow bone anymore—that's a good thing!—we've gone through a makeup evolution that's worthy of reflection. Here's every beauty trend from 1955–2013.
1955: Thick Bangs
We'll get things started with heavy fringe, the kind that went across the forehead from both sides. Popularized by Bettie Page when she appeared in Playboy in 1955, this cut was a huge change from the styles of the 1940s, which were mostly neat and kept off of the face. This short, rounded fringe even differed from the "baby fringe" worn by Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.
1956: Red Lips
Seen here on Grace Kelly, the red lipstick of the 1950s is not the same as the political red lips of the 1940s, when "Victory Red" lipstick was used to encourage women that it was their civic duty to maintain their beauty routines during time of war. Now, women were embracing red lipstick as a way to stand out and be bold.
1957: Winged Eyeliner
A cat eye will never not be in fashion, but in the 1950s, it was the chicest move in both eyewear (cat-eye glasses were all the rage) and cosmetics. It's still popular to this day—celebrities like Taylor Swift and Dita Von Teese regularly rock the wings. (If you need help perfecting your own, try this stamp.)
1959: Thick Brows
The arch was almost nonexistent, but the brows were thick and bushy for days. The look was typically offset with a nice smokey eye or a matte eyeshadow. By the end of the decade, the rounded, curved eyebrow of the early 1950s was long gone, leaving a much more angular brow in its place—a trend that would last for a while.
1960: Lashes & Liner
The 1960s were known for their dramatic lash and eyeliner looks, and the simple fact is this: False eyelashes came into fashion in abundance during this time. Twiggy's iconic eyelashes in the photoshoot that catapulted her to stardom were just one of the dynamic eye looks of the era.
1961: The Flipped-Under Bob
Jackie Onassis was a style icon in every right, and while she's most known for her sartorial choices, she was no slouch in the beauty department either. Her makeup was kept clean and minimal while she was First Lady, and her flipped-under short bob haircut with the side-swept bang was a popular look for that era. Even Diana Ross and Elizabeth Montgomery were seen sporting the style.
1963: Exaggerated Eye Makeup
The winged eyeliner of the 1950s was taken to new heights—pun intended—after Elizabeth Taylor wore this OTT look in Cleopatra: The wing extended nearly to the temple, typically combined with a bright eyeshadow color (blue was favored, or a gentle lilac all the way up to the brow bone). Paired with lightly done makeup on the rest of the face, it was a look for the ages.
1964: A Light but Smokey Eye
The smokey eye of 1964 wasn't like the smokey eye of the modern era. This swinging style included a combination of grey and black shadows, with the grey going to the browbone and white in the inner corner of the eye—quite unlike the smudged brown and gold hues used today.
1965: Beehives
This sky-scraping hairstyle involves piling one's hair on top of the head and setting it in place with copious amounts of hairspray. Originated by Margaret Vinci Heldt in 1960, it peaked in popularity with the emergence of Motown, sported by singers like the Ronettes and Aretha Franklin.
1967: Pixie Cuts
Legend has it that when Mia Farrow originally cut her hair into this style for the filming of Rosemary's Baby, Frank Sinatra left her. Whether or not that story's true, the pixie cut that Farrow got for the film is legendary, even sparking a Tyra Banks tantrum on America's Next Top Model when one contestant refused the cut.
1968: Cut-Crease Eyeshadow
A cut-crease is one of the more difficult looks to achieve in beauty, but it was at its most popular during the 1960s, especially when worn by superstars like Diahann Carroll and Pat Cleveland. A cut crease is a makeup technique to make the eye look brighter by applying a lighter shade of shadow all over the lid and then adding a darker shade on top of the eyelid crease in a v-shape. The light-to-dark contrast was dynamic both in-person and on-screen.
1971: Middle-Parted Hair
Ali McGraw was a fashion icon of her era, and her legendary middle-parted long hair was a part of that iconic look. Before then, hair was either not parted at all (brushed straight back and held with A LOT of spray), or parted on the right or left side. The middle-part was so impressive and impactful it's still being rocked to this day, including by the Kardashians.
1972: Modified Shag
Liza Minnelli was known for her daring haircuts, like this shag—not quite a pixie, but not quite a bob. It falls somewhere in the in-between, and was completely different than the more traditionally feminine looks of the time. The look was made famous by Jane Fonda's infamous mug shot.
1973: Turban
Hair accessories, like scarves and flowers, were the look of disco, along with the Afros that started in the late 1960s. Stars like Donna Summer and Diana Ross perfected the accessories, which made for a night-on-the-town-worthy beauty look when paired with a dramatic eyelash and a bright lip color.
1976: "The Farrah"
The "Farrah" is one of the first named haircuts, a trend we'll see recur in "The Rachel" and "The Meg"—keep clicking! "People [were] lining up [and] down the street," according to her stylist, for this star's feathered haircut after Charlie's Angels premiered.
1986: The Original My Lips But Better
"My Lips But Better" was all the rage in the mid-2010s, but a nude lip was originally a hit in the 1980s. It wasn't just a nude shade, but a color that matched the natural skintone of the wearer, with a little bit of shine. This was the year that Clinique's Black Honey emerged in popularity, and it hasn't been left off of a most popular lipsticks list since.
1990: Minimal Makeup
Before we were trying to make no-makeup makeup a trend, it was being sported by celebs like Kate Moss and Liv Tyler. Back then, people couldn't believe they had the audacity to go out in public—gasp!—barefaced. Welp, it was a gorgeous look, and minimal makeup became the look of the decade.
1993: Rust-colored Lipstick
Brown was the lipstick shade of the decade. MAC's Spice was the rust-colored hue of everyone's dreams, sported by stars including Madonna and Drew Barrymore. It could be worn with a minimal look (like Madonna's here) or with a heavy eye look; either way was very of-the-moment.
1995: "The Rachel"
Oh, "The Rachel." A combination of highlights, choppy layers, and a curl, "The Rachel" launched Jennifer Aniston into stardom and became emblematic of a decade. Women everywhere took photos of Jen to their stylist, asking for the cut. But guess what? Aniston was never a fan of the style.
1999: "The Meg"
"The Meg" didn't have the same lifespan as "The Rachel," but the short shag cut was extremely popular for a moment. Not quite a bob, the look certainly had a lasting impact—Ryan wrote an essay about her "famous hair" for InStyle.
2004: Colorful Eyeshadow and Fanned-Out Lashes
The following year, celebs took their eyeshadow looks a step further with brighter, bolder colors. Smokey eyes were still a thing, but blue and purple tones were incorporated more into makeup looks. What's a colorful eye without dramatic lashes? Falsies took over this year.
2005: Arched Brows and Bronzed Skin
I know you remember “Pon De Replay,” which is Rihanna’s first ever single. But do you also remember those super-shaped, arched brows she was rocking? Skinny brows were still a thing, but in 2005 celebs started to fill them in with brow pencils and pomades for a defined look. And bronzed, sun-kissed skin was everywhere.
2008: Contouring
Although contouring has been around since the early days of drag queen makeup, Kim Kardashian created a craze around her heavily-contoured skin. This sculpted look became the talk of beauty, and everyone was trying to learn how to replicate the look, which was once puzzling (since this was before every brand made contouring products).
2010: Rainbow-Colored Hair
More and more wigs were worn on the red carpet in eye-catching colors at the beginning of this new decade. Katy Perry—who blew up in 2010—was known for switching her hair to a fun-colored wig every appearance. Distinctly bright hair colors started sweeping the carpets in an array of shades as a form of self-expression.
2013: Ombré Hair
This is the year the gradual blend of one hue to the next, also known as 0mbré hair coloring technique, took over. This beachy, effortless style, worn by stars like Kylie Jenner, Ciara, and Chrissy Teigen became a phenomenon.
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