We have seen beauty trends come and go over the last decade. Some things make us nostalgic in positive ways, while other trends might make us cringe.
The beauty industry has been through a whirlwind of changes these past 10 years, I mean, Rihanna was at the brink of global success as an artist back then – today, she has practically re-invented the beauty game.
We’re particularly nostalgic now that the year is coming to an end. So enjoy and reminisce from this list of the most popular trends from the last ten years.

photo via The Place
2008
Remember when all the celebrities were sporting a retro-inspired look? Rihanna, Lilly Allen, Duffy and Amy Winehouse were all dressed in 60’s and 80’s inspired outfits.

photo via Getty
2009
Year of the black eyeliner. From top to bottom, you can guarantee we all made the most of that pencil.

photo via Getty
2010
Side partings (and the occasional fringe) was the hair trend of the year. “Very black” lashes were also super trendy so makeup brands started releasing several lines of the most extra everything mascaras.

photo via Andrew Evans
2011
Soft pastels were taking over from the dark smokey makeup, creating a fresher and brighter look. And messy top buns could be spotted everywhere.

photo by RD / Xavier Collin / Retna Digit/© Corbis
2012
The years between 2011 and 2014 were the years of ombre and bock-coloured hair. Celebrities were dyeing tips of their hair pastel pink or blonde, all the while Snapchat was taking our social media usage by storm.

photo via Glamour
2013
2013 was the year of Vine, Harlem Shake and regretting you plucked out all your eyebrows during the first half of the 00’s. Cara Delevigne and her bushy brows appeared just about every billboard.

photo via Instagram
2014
This year shiny metallic faux tattoos replaced jewellery, covering the body in pretty patterns was a glamorous twist on the stick on tattoos.

photo via Huda Beauty
2015
Contouring was the most significant trend to hit 2015. Youtube makeup tutorials were trending, and getting fillers + over lining your lips was super hot.

2016
This is a little more related to fashion than beauty… but in 2016, the choker was trending. In fact, google searches for chokers jumped 233 percent from 2015 to 2016!

Photo via Stylenanda
2017
This is the year skincare became all the rage, with glass skin, sheet masks and k-beauty taking over. 2017 was also the year celebrities started spamming our feeds with their latest makeup brand releases.

Photo via DIY Mag
2018
Last but not least: 2018. A lot has been going down this year. Similar to 2017, skincare and celebrity makeup lines have reigned supreme. Words like glossy and glowy have been trending, and the makeup looks are slowly moving away from the “beat face” into something a little more artistic and experimental.