Is It 2016 Again? The Resurrected Beauty Trends Music’s It Girls Can’t Stop Wearing in 2025
In early August, I found myself back in Chicago on the trampled-grass lawn of Grant Park at the Midwest music spectacle that is Lollapalooza. The festival that I saved my pennies for nearly 10 years ago suddenly looked eerily similar to my first years as a concert-goer—and I’m not talking about the place itself.
With the crowds growing unbearably larger each go-around (seriously—I was almost trampled leaving Chappell Roan’s record-breaking show last year), a lot has changed on the lakefront scene. The stars are bigger and the brand activations more extravagant, but the one thing that felt familiar was the undeniable return of 2016 makeup trends worn proudly on Chicago’s biggest stages.
Before you call me crazy, hear me out. The first strike was Marina Diamandis’ matte pink pout blown up on the big screen, sculpted in the pillowy, perfect way that Kylie Jenner’s was in the “King Kylie” era. (Just days before, Jenner posted a TikTok video trying on her old, and dare I say iconic, electric blue Skylie Lip Kit.) The next offender was Doechii—her brow bone dusted in a slew of blinding highlight that threw the summer sun like a mirror. Last came Sabrina Carpenter’s eye makeup: a cross between graphic liner and a modernized cut crease. What do all of these things have in common? They’re all classic calling cards of makeup circa 2016.
Why are 2016 makeup techniques trending nearly 10 years later?
A few things likely come to mind when you imagine the beauty landscape in 2016. (Mental images of Coachella-inspired flower crowns, block brows, and Kylie Lip Kits may ring a few bells.) But while the exact trends that marked this era might not be making repeat appearances, C-suite members of mega beauty retailers and celebrity makeup artists have backed up my budding theories.
Kaitlin Rinehart, Vice President of Merchandising at Ulta Beauty, has noticed a shift (or rather a boomerang) in the shopping habits of the modern consumer. “While the way our guests engage with beauty continues to evolve, some trends from 2016 are resurfacing in exciting ways,” says Rinehart. “Back then, bold, brushed-up brows, matte lips, contoured faces, and richly pigmented eye shadow dominated social feeds and runways. Today, guests are revisiting these iconic looks, but with a modern twist—think softer edges, blurred lips, and multidimensional eye looks.”
The summer of 2025 alone has informed the beauty megacorp that the beauty tides are surely shifting—with shoppers swapping glassy, glowing complexions for soft matte finishes and reinvesting in no-budge lip products. “While tinted balms and glossy textures are leading sales, guests are layering them with lip liners and stains for depth and dimension, echoing the 2016 era of defined lips,” Rinehart states, calling out the editor-loved Sacheu lip liner stain and Milk Makeup’s Jelly Tints as some sales-based standouts.
Celebrity makeup artists, too, tell me their in-the-know clientele are requesting modernized versions of dated looks. “I've seen so many creators true cool-tone contouring again,” says celeb MUA Kasey Spickard, a stark deviation from the no-makeup makeup and “toasty” glam that swept the scene over the past few years. Think: Gabbriette and Jenna Ortega’s edgy, cool-girl makeup or Julia Fox’s alt-nude concealer lips. “This type of contouring really personified a lot of the 2016 aesthetic,” he adds, reminding me of the cultural phenomenon that was the Kat Von D Shade & Light Palette. Sigh, better days.
