Pounds of contour. Boxy brows. Cut creases. Whether you love it or hate it, the “more is better” makeup from YouTube’s tutorial era had us in a chokehold in 2016.
With everyone talking about 2016 nostalgia right now, TikTok currently has the hashtag #2016makeup reaching over 65,000 videos of creators reviving the makeup trends YouTubers like Aaliyah Jay and Jackie Aina ruled 10 years ago.
It was a year of cosmetic excess. Sephora hauls were bigger than ever and it showed through eyebrow-touching lash extensions, dramatic contour mapping, and glitter eyeshadow juxtaposing full-coverage matte foundation. It was kitschy, maximal, and most of the time, inconvenient in that it was a time-consuming, detailed look to achieve (hence why YouTube tutorials were so in style). But, that’s the whole point. It was makeup artistry and people wanted to learn. Around that time, we saw Kylie Jenner and Pat McGrath launch makeup lines, MAC’s “Ruby Woo” and “Velvet Teddy” matte lipsticks were everywhere, and stars like Rihanna, Zendaya, and Beyoncé (in her Lemonade era) showed just how good 2016 makeup could get.
Now, 10 years later, the kids who were too young to wear makeup in 2016, but grew up watching their older sisters do theirs, are romanticizing the makeup looks they were once bystanders to. Gen Alpha and young Gen-Z are having FOMO about it all, growing up in the skincare-heavy 2020s where makeup feels exclusively skinimal.
Although 2016 did see a surge in makeup-free selfies (which was a bit of a looking glass into the 2020s), it was an act of defiance to the dominance of cosmetic maximalism. While cosmetic waste isn’t something we should want to go back to (or can even afford to), the maximal looks we saw 10 years ago can still be achieved with much less in 2026.
Are vamp lips, statement wings, and heavy contour reviving the beauty looks (and #BlackGirlMagic) we thought were buried in the past? Below, we look back at some of the makeup era’s most iconic celebrity beauty moments.
Rihanna
Jackie Aina
Zendaya
Beyoncé
Lil’ Kim
Solange
Aaliyah Jay
