It looks like Gwen Stefani‘s handed on the baton. One look on TikTok and it’s clear that grunge glam is back on the agenda.
The “grunge” hashtag has hit 1.6 billion views alone, while #grungeaesthetic, #grungegirl and #grungemakeup have over 180 million views combined. Over on Pinterest the picture platform has seen a 22x increase in “grunge hair“, “grunge makeup” is up by 180% and “grunge nails” are up by 100%.
The edgy 90s aesthetic has also seen related searches for “E-girl”, “punk”, “goth” and “alt makeup” climb – all with the same effortlessly cool, rebellious end goal.
The vibe? Think dark matte lipstick, paler foundation shades, black nail polish, seriously smoky and smudgy eyes, messy, untamed hair and a whole load of attitude.
Here’s 8 ways to wear it…
High contrast highlights
Rogue blonde face-framing streaks have become synonymous with the trend, especially when worn a little messy with minimal styling.
Amp up your eye bags
Turns out looking like you’ve been up all night is a major lewk, according to a makeup video from Nika (aka @chimpgal) that went viral. The trick, dot red lipstick over your eye bags and blend it out to make them look more raw. “I swear this makes everyone 10x hotter,” Nika wrote.
Space buns
Space buns were a huge hit on the grunge scene in the 90s, now we’re bringing them back. The key is to keep them feeling messy, so pull sections out from the side and the front.
Ring your eyes
Stick to a subdued colour palette like greys and browns and apply the shadow around your entire eye, going heavy on the under-eye. Another tip from @poisunz? Apply black liner to your top and bottom lashes, but leave out your bottom waterline.
Sidepiece colour
Alternative highlights or colour hits through hair keep things unusual, so have a play with offbeat flashes of bleach.
Go dark nude or vampy on the lips
Deep nudes, dark berries and straight-up black work best on lips. The contrast against paler a foundation for your base keeps things grungey.
Crazy buns
Space buns, but taken up another notch.
Soft grunge
Spin-offs like soft grunge and glam grunge give a nod to the look, without fully committing. So take one element, like the smudgy eye and incorporate it into your everyday makeup.
For more from GLAMOUR’s Deputy Beauty Editor, Elle Turner follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk.