by Lexi Inks
Close your eyes and picture this: You’re standing in a loud, crowded living room at the local frat house. You are sipping on some lukewarm and suspicious “hunch punch” that you scooped into a solo cup from an unmarked cooler in the backyard. Your glitter cut crease and winged eyeliner are sharp enough to kill a man. “Closer” by The Chainsmokers (featuring Halsey) is bumping on the speakers inside the barely furnished, dilapidated house. The neighbors are furious and already called the cops.
If you’re a true blue millennial like myself, that probably transports your mind straight back to 2016. In that era, I was still in college, life was good, and the makeup was even better. Every day of class was another day for me to show up and show out, and boy did I ever. Wearing a full beat to my 9am remedial algebra course seems like an insane move nowadays, but back then I wouldn’t be caught dead without Too Faced’s Born This Way foundation caked on my face with a Beauty Blender, my Becca Champagne Pop highlighter, and — of course — a smokey eye courtesy of the Urban Decay Naked palette.
I would say things were “simpler” in 2016 (and in many ways they were), but the makeup world certainly wasn’t. Still, I can’t help but get a pang of nostalgia every time I pull out my Modern Renaissance eyeshadow palette or use one of the Anastasia Liquid Lipsticks. To this end, I would like to make this a love letter: I still love 2016 makeup looks, and I will never be ashamed about it.
First things first: there is no denying that, if you were a makeup-user between the years of 2016 and 2018, you spent an exorbitant amount of money at Sephora and an equally ridiculous amount of time watching YouTube makeup tutorials from your favorite beauty gurus (shoutout to Jackie Aina and Jaclyn Hill, for real). We all bought in — both financially and emotionally — to the crazy looks featuring contrasting colors, glitter pigment, and even straight-up black lipstick.
King Kylie reigned supreme, and her Kylie Lip Kits dried both the skin on our lips and the money in our wallets right up. Wearing full-on Lily Lashes to a retail job may seem crazy today, but back in the true golden age of makeup, they were essentially mandatory.
While I understand that today, going all in and using every single type of makeup product you own in one look only to wash it off at the end of the day is crazy, I still stand behind the fact that the 2016 makeup era featured only the most creative, skillful, and artistic looks to date. We really didn’t know that we were making history every time we used 1/4 of our entire Anastasia Dip Brow Pomade on one eyebrow. If we had, maybe we would have appreciated it more — and maybe that era would have lasted a little longer.
Do I slap on a full face to run to the grocery store now that I’m in my 30s? No. Do I even wear makeup more than once or twice a month? Also no. But some days, in my mind, I #TBT all the way back to those sweaty summer nights drinking the most heinously cheap beer at a packed house party while my glazed donut-esque highlight glistened in the poorly hung string lights outside. I’ll never forget those nights, or the absolute lewks we served on them. 2016 makeup forever.
