In the early ’90s, and probably up until the Spice Girls came along and told us to spice up our lives, flannel shirts, burgundy lips, and smudged liner ruled supreme. To rebel against the over-coiffed ’80s (or perhaps because everyone was hungover from that party), the low-key grunge aesthetic with its acid-washed jeans, sunflower prints, and denim overalls, replaced the shoulder pads of the previous decade, and there was a certain smell of Teen Spirit wafting in the air. Nineties day was another of my favorites, and was one of the most low-maintenance days I had all week. Instead of waking up early to tease and spray my hair into oblivion, I fell asleep with it wet, and wound a few strands around an Amika Curling Wand ($105) to create a loose wave, and left it at that. It took 10 minutes tops, but if you want to be authentic, you can part your hair down the middle in whatever state it happens to be, and call it a day.
The makeup was just as easy. After a layer of tinted moisturizer, I put on Maybelline's Eye Studio Leather Shadow in Creamy Beige ($7) and applied it up to my crease, then smudged BareMinerals' Long Wearing Eyeliner in Black ($16) around my upper and lower lash lines to get my Courtney Love eye on. Just before practicing my best “I’m so totally over Jordan Catalano” stare into the camera, I applied another layer of Temptu's Color True Lipstick in Jet Rouge ($24) to ensure the color was super-opaque.
