2016 vs 2021: TikTok decides which make-up period was superior

2016 – five decades in the past in calendar time, 37,958 several years ago in psychological time when you just take into account all the activities we have lived by due to the fact then. For everyone battling to feel that considerably back again, allow me established the scene. Beyoncé has just unveiled Lemonade and we are all singing about scorching sauce in our bags. Suicide Squad is participating in in cinemas and Halloween is like Evening Of A Thousand Harley Quinns. Some un-chill political points are occurring. 

Folks on TikTok look to be feeling nostalgic for these if not less complicated, then at the very least pre-pandemic instances and are turning again the clock to compare the make-up they ended up undertaking in 2016 to the make-up they do now. Typically set to Nicki Minaj’s “Chun Swae”, the TikTokkers divide up their facial area into two halves – just one aspect for 2016 (or 2017 in some versions) and a single facet for 2021. Even though there are, of course, versions in how persons did their make-up in the course of these many years, lots of of the very same trends emerge from the films. 

On the full, 2021 make-up when compared to 2016 is additional normal, involving a lighter contact particularly when it will come to basis and eyebrows. In 2016, the Instagram aesthetic was in entire swing and foundation was matte and total protection, in comparison to today’s look, which is far more sheer and dewy. Likewise the thick layer of concealer used beneath the eyes and baked in 2016 has been changed by concealer only in specific locations to conceal blemishes.

Contour, which had not too long ago been found by the public, was becoming totally embraced in 2016 (try to remember the phrase “carve out your cheekbones”?). These days a mild dusting of bronzer is the choice though highlighter is additional golden and light-weight contact, or has largely dropped out of favour altogether. 2021 appears to be have witnessed the outcomes of both the much more organic VSCO female aesthetic influence and the affect of e-women in the sort of fake freckles and, as Abby Roberts puts it, “hella blush”. 

When it comes to the eyes, 2016’s thick, arched IG eyebrows have been replaced by a lot more organic, brushed up brows and the remarkable, precise slash creases have been dropped in favour of publish-Euphoria seems to be which are looser, additional playful, and normally involve rhinestones. Lashes have toned down the drama, with quite a few swapping a whole established for half a lash, although lips are now shiny in its place of the matte neutrals that dominated the era many thanks to goods like Kylie Jenner’s lip kits. 

See our roundup of some of the very best TikToks underneath and if you want to carry on more down memory lane, revisit 2019’s development of noughties make-overs. Cue the frosty blue eyeshadow, butterfly clips, and skinny brows.