These Are the 17 Best Beauty Trends That Ruled in 2015

While the chatter around contouring, hailed as Kim Kardashian's makeup secret, first began at the end of last year, 2015 was truly its time to shine. And shine it did! Contouring may have been the top buzzword of the year, thanks to news headlines, Instagrams of half-contoured faces, the accidental rise of clown contouring, and, of course, tutorials. It's pretty much impossible to have made it this far without trying out the shadowing method for yourself, but if you've somehow escaped the movement, Kandee Johnson shows you how it's done.

Grunge makeup may be '90s-inspired, but this year brought a nostalgic renaissance. It included the modernized vampy style seen on celebrities like Kylie Jenner and Lorde. This more contemporary variation allows for a wider range of customization, including "glam grunge," "quick and easy grunge," and everything in between. Vloggers went HAM creating tutorials for all of these fierce styles.

As much as we love our couture beauty products, it's nice to have options that don't require dipping quite as far into our bank account. So you can imagine how excited we were when one of the hottest beauty trends of this year emerged: drugstore-only beauty. This tutorial from KathleenLights is just one of many that prove it's not only possible but easy to achieve a high-quality look without going all high-end. She demonstrates how to get stunningly "sexy yet soft" makeup with brands like NYX, Sonia Kashuk, Rimmel, Maybelline, and E.l.f.

This video from My Pale Skin was one of the most revealing and honest we saw all year. It sparked a movement for vloggers to empower women to not be ashamed of their skin — or of their choice to use cover-up makeup. We were so pleased to see the overwhelmingly supportive response to this video and how she helped break the stigma surrounding acne.

The term "strobing" was virtually off the map until this year when the beauty splotlight hit it (thanks, Kim Kardashian!). Think of it as contouring's sister technique: instead of shadowing, you highlight and illuminate your features. And since it's a bit easier than contouring, makeup-lovers have turned to the method to make cheekbones, eyes, and lips pop. This tutorial from Carli Bybel shows us how to use this technique to get a glowing, dewy, and fresh complexion.

As any beauty maven knows, the way to our hearts is through our Beautyblender. Though the product did not launch in 2015, vloggers like Kandee Johnson brought us new tips and tricks on how to use it properly. This video focuses on ways to clean the product, what sets it apart from the competition, and how to create a flawless finish with it.

While the name of this trend may seem a bit ironic, the technique itself is fairly straightforward. It involves wearing makeup that looks natural and enhancing your features without appearing overtly done up. We saw tutorials for this simple, everyday style, like this one from MakeUpByCamila2, everywhere this year. We're not complaining — we love the fact that more people are embracing a low-maintenance look.

The vampy makeup trend draws on a few different individual components, including a smoky eye, dark lip, and heavy liner. It's an edgy, sexy, and high-fashion look that works on a variety of eye colors and shapes. If you want to give it a go, try this night-out take from MakeupAndArtFreak, which features a bold purple lip paired with a deep smoky eye. For those hesitant to go this dark, she also offers an easy tip for lightening: simply change the lip color.

Though color correction is far from a new technique, it enjoyed a surge in popularity as well as newly released products in 2015. This tutorial from Alexisjayda uses the City Color Color Correction pack with another product from our top trends: the Beautyblender. She demos how to use the various colors to counteract dark spots on your face as well as highlight and lift your complexion.

While we believe all methods of makeup application fall into the category of "art," this trend takes this concept to a new level. The precision and attention to detail necessary for creating these eyelid illustrations are mind blowing, and the finished products are nothing less than jaw-dropping and gallery-worthy. This video from goldiestarling gives us a glimpse into the intricate process behind creating one of these masterpieces.

While we can't exactly pinpoint where the term "on fleek" originated, there's no piece of slang that better speaks to 2015 — and to this year's beauty trends. This year saw this description used for pretty much everything, though it is popularly used to describe brows that are sleek, groomed, and the embodiment of perfection. For those concerned with getting arches "on fleek" (or what that even means), rely on Queenii Rozenblad's video. In it, she explains how to use pencil, concealer, brow gel, and foundation to step up your arch game.

This year, we saw more and more men embracing makeup — and completely nailing their techniques. Besides encouraging other males to take a dive into the world of foundation, powder, bronzer, and more, these beauty boys contribute a unique set of application methods and styles. Erick Hanson's contouring for men tutorial offers a stunning, functional, and #flawless way for men to embrace this trend.

For the beauty world, Kylie Jenner is more than just an enigma — she's an icon. Between her bold brows, plump lips, and skilled contouring, it's no surprise that beauty vloggers everywhere have tried to pinpoint exactly what goes into Jenner's now-iconic makeup. In this video, we see NikkieTutorials tranform from her premakeup self into a finished face that could earn her a spot on Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

If there's one Halloween costume that screamed "Halloween 2015," it's the Snapchat lens rainbow. If you were out and about on this Oct. 31, there was more than a good chance you saw a Snapchat rainbow IRL. While there are a ton of video tutorials up on YouTube showing different variations of this trend, this one from MakeupbyMandy24 was one of the first — and one of the best.