This week, Selena Gomez did one thing that shouldn’t have rocked the timeline, however did: she wore a smoky eye. Well… on one aspect of her face, at the least.
On April 14, influencer Desi Perkins posted a YouTube video with the “Come & Get It” singer, the place she did one half of Gomez’s face in full 2016 glam and the opposite in a extra minimalist 2026 model.
Gomez herself appeared fairly clear on the place she stands: “Sorry, this has got to be my vibe,” she stated, pointing to the pared-back, fashionable aspect — earlier than including, “But it’s actually crazy that I don’t mind both.”
Her followers, in the meantime, have been overwhelmingly in favor of the throwback. The comment section shortly crammed with individuals asking for 2016 Selena again, saying her face is “built for this,” even joking that the smoky eye lastly put an finish to the clone allegations.
Beyond selecting sides (actually), everybody appeared to land on the identical realization: Makeup can fully change your face. It’s form of like, duh, after all — however possibly it’s not so apparent anymore, contemplating we haven’t actually been utilizing it in that approach.
For the previous 5 years or so, the main target in magnificence has been on enhancing what’s already there, with traits like “clean girl” and “male gaze” makeup dominating — each rooted, in several methods, in the concept make-up ought to improve somewhat than announce itself. Even the merchandise themselves mirror that shift — serum foundations, lip oils, and cream blushes designed to soften in and disappear.
Very little has been about remodeling, exaggerating, or — god forbid — carving out your options with make-up. Makeup began to cover its personal labor. Looking fairly (learn: easy, pure) began to take priority over trying sizzling (learn: visibly constructed). But judging by the discourse round Gomez’s decade-old glam, that might not be the case for lengthy.
If you undergo her make-up evolution, it’s simple to see what individuals are lacking. Around 2012, as Gomez moved out of her Disney Channel period and into extra mature songs and roles (hey, Spring Breakers), her make-up adopted go well with. The gloss-and-liner look gave strategy to one thing smokier and extra sultry. By 2016, that model was ubiquitous: bronzed and mattified, with prolonged shadow, dramatic wings, strip lashes, and filled-in brows — you couldn’t miss it, it was make-up that demanded to be seen.
By the time Rare Beauty launched in 2020, Gomez’s look had settled in a special path. It leaned into softer shadows, seamless mixing, and an emphasis on pores and skin — all completely in line with her model and with the place magnificence traits, basically, have been heading: simple to put on, understated, and tasteful in a approach that made something extra apparent really feel barely gauche.
To be clear, the less-is-more method to make-up isn’t a foul factor. It seems to be attractive and youthful in its personal proper. It simply displays a very totally different concept of what make-up is meant to do. Somewhere alongside the best way, we traded enjoyable, experimental glam (and lower creases) for “good” style — and in doing so, flattened every part out a bit.
That form of development shift isn’t random, although — it’s simply the reactive nature of magnificence. Every technology has its personal concept of what seems to be good, aspirational, attractive. The ’90s had that undone, messy chic thing. The 2000s have been all gloss, frost, and sparkle. The 2010s went full glam, full with outlined brows, smoky eyes, and many contour. Ours simply occurs to really feel significantly sterile — much less bombshell, extra girl-next-door. (“I woke up like this” actually was a cultural reset, to be truthful.)
The optimistic consensus behind Gomez’s smoky make-up, nevertheless, suggests Gen Z could also be rediscovering what each technology earlier than us appeared to grasp: make-up ought to appear like a selection. Not as a result of anybody truly desires a full 2016 revival, however as a result of possibly it’s higher to look again in 10 years and cringe on the lower crease than notice magnificence bought so tasteful and restrained that we missed the enjoyable totally.
