Supermodel-mania is in full swing. ‘90s beauty has been building momentum all on its own over on social media as a whole new generation has tapped into the references our mum’s grew up with. Frosted eyeshadow is back in, nude lipstick never left and voluminous, bouncy blow-outs are big news after a couple of decades devoted to beach waves.
But, this month, the nostalgia is kicking up a notch as Apple TV releases a documentary – aptly named The Super Models – following the lives and careers of the original supers, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington. Fashion month is in full swing with New York, London, Milan and Paris showcasing its collections (which no doubt will include a few ’90s references and cameos). Meanwhile Victoria’s Secret is bringing back its fashion show with “The Tour 23” featuring legacy models like Naomi and actresses like Brooke Shields, alongside new-gen muses like Gigi Hadid, Hailey Bieber and Doja Cat.
But since our fascination with ‘90s glam shows no chance of slowing down, we tapped up the top makeup artists and hair stylist behind some of the most iconic images and looks the ’90s had to offer. So, if you’ve ever wondered just how Cindy’s hair had that much oomph, or the magic recipe for supermodel skin, we’ve got you…
It’s been 30 years, why do you think the ‘90s is a decade we just can’t seem to get over?
“It was a real departure from the normal glamour – it was glamorous without being overdone,” legendary makeup artist and brand founder (of her eponymous line and Jones Road Beauty), Bobbi Brown, tells GLAMOUR. “The supermodels really owned everything from the runway to the magazines. The makeup was the first time that nudes became very popular, so I think there was just a cool-girl vibe that everyone keeps going back to,” she explains.
Iconic hair stylist, Sam McKnight, who counts the original supers, Kate Moss and Princess Diana among his many clients reckons “it’s a generational thing. It’s probably the generation who wasn’t around in the nineties who look at it and see it in a new way. I think the nineties resonates with people because it was the first time that high fashion became mainstream. Before that it was closed off and much more exclusive, but the nineties saw TV embrace what we were doing. Beauty editors’ started coming backstage and getting the story from us. And then the girls, don’t forget the girls: Linda, Christie, Naomi, Cindy, Tatjana [Patitz], they were the original five. Then later: Claudia [Schiffer], Helena [Christensen], Yasmeen [Ghauri] and obviously Kate [Moss]. They all had their own look, but they also were encouraged to have their own identity on and off the runway. Sometimes they were done up to the nines with hair and makeup, but they also looked amazing off-duty with no hair and makeup, in their gazelle [trainers], or ghost dresses. I think women could see themselves in them. Lots of my friends and lots of women my age really relate to those women. They almost grew up with them as icons. And here they are still looking amazing and relevant 30-odd years on.”
What epitomises the ‘90s supermodel look to you?
“The ‘80s, supermodel look was much more about full on makeup, but by the ’90s when Kate Moss rocked up, it became much more natural,” explains Chanel Makeup Artist and legendary makeup artist, Mary Greenwell, who worked closely with the Supers on numerous makeup looks.
Sam agrees. “The eighties was all about big hair, but in the nineties it became a lot more personal. Each girl had their own look and it all became a bit more pared-down. It continued with the glamour, but it was a much more accessible, much more real glamour,” he says.
To Bobbi, you can’t have ’90s makeup without “a strong brow. A nude, lined, filled-in matte lip. Very clean skin, not a lot of blush, and very neutral eyes – whether it’s brown shadows or just mascara. There wasn’t a lot of colour on the face,” she explains. “It was really about nude. So I think the supermodel look was very much a sporty, relaxed, cool-girl and a new kind of glamour,” she says.
What were the biggest tricks you used for your ‘90s supermodel looks?
“Hot rollers and Velcro rollers were the name of the game. And volume mousse and hairspray. Those were the tools,” Sam tells GLAMOUR. “The trick if you were using Velcro rollers or hot rollers, was to leave them in for as long as you could and let them cool down for 10 minutes. That’s what’s gonna set your hair, give it the gloss and give it the volume. And know which roller you’re using,” he says. “A Velcro roller is not gonna give you a curl. Velcro rollers will give you some finish and maybe a little bend. If you want a curl, use hot rollers and leave them until they’re cold. If you are using Velcro rollers, I always used to have (and still have) in my kit, a plastic hood that goes over the end of your hair dryer. You can buy them on Amazon for a fiver. It goes over the end of your hair dryer and blows up and turns into one of those things that your granny used to sit under at and old fashioned hairdressers,” Sam says.
“Brows were always easy for me. I could do a very nice, strong brow,” says Bobbi. “I could always find foundation that matched the skin exactly, or I would know how to make the foundation match, because back then there was not a lot of foundation that actually worked. There was also not a lot of nude lipstick at the time. There was definitely a lot of mixology happening, more to fix things because you couldn’t really get the nude look by going to a department store and buying it. It might look nude in the lipstick case, but when you put it on, it didn’t. And I do believe that’s when I kind of had my heyday – I kind of figured out how to make nude lipstick work and not be orange or washed out or beige,” she says.
“We were only about five makeup artists at the time. We all just worked really hard and made the
Supermodels who they are today,” says Mary, who reckons luck and natural beauty trumped hacks. “They were so young and so beautiful. It really was not hard work to make these girls look amazing. It was about me being blessed to be in the right place at the right time, for sure,” she says.
How was beauty different in the ‘90s?
“It was more natural makeup. What hadn’t happened yet was all this contour that happened in 2010 when a lot more makeup applied to the skin,” says Mary. “But before that it was much more about beautiful skin. A very smoky eye, loads of mascara and even a red mouth. We were still much more natural because the most important thing about natural makeup is the skin. We were all doing shows and every designer had a different look to their shows. But it wasn’t, this kind of what I call ‘camouflage makeup’ that you get now or even the graphic makeup that young makeup artists do, which I think is brilliant, but I wouldn’t even know how to start doing that because it’s not my style at all,” she adds.
“I think the difference between now and the nineties is we didn’t have the dreaded filters. It was enhancing everyone’s natural beauty,” agrees Sam. “It wasn’t relying on fakery. We didn’t really have the internet for a lot of the ’90s,” he muses. “Then again, the internet is so full of amazing people doing amazing tutorials and giving helpful hints. There’s a wealth of information. I think it’s fantastic that people are experimenting with hair again. I absolutely love it because we had quite a few years of really raw, almost extremely undone hair and I think the pendulum is swinging again,” he says.
As for the makeup available, “back then makeup was mainly from the traditional department store brands,” says Bobbi. “But because makeup artists were becoming well-known (people didn’t really know their names in the ‘80s), makeup artist lines started emerging,” says Bobbi. “And professional makeup artists lines (the ones where professional artists would pick up their pigments for TV or film or shoots) became popular with regular women,” she says.
What were your favourite products to use in the ‘90s?
“In the nineties I used a lot of dry shampoo, which was very difficult to get hold of. There were only a couple of brands who made it so I ran around every shop in New York buying as much as I could,” Sam tells GLAMOUR. “And I would use mousse and hairspray to get texture in the hair and I’d make my own salt water in a spray bottle to get texture as well. So I was doing all of this mixing and matching because the hairsprays were really heavy. You had to be careful of how much you used. Nowadays hair products are so entwined with haircare. It’s important to keep the hair feeling and looking like hair and not like plastic,” he says.
“We used to use MAC Face & Body with a Chanel lip. Chanel does the best reds of all tones, they are divine. Nowadays everything’s lip and cheek and multi-use. We used to use products for their intended use and what they are supposed to do. Rather than saying you know – ‘this one can do everything’,” says Mary.
“The line that I really miss the most, that really helped me ideate what I wanted my line to be, was Calvin Klein, when it was designed by Way Bandy,” reveals Bobbi. “It had the most amazing dense, smooth, matte eye pigments and beautiful creamy matte lip colours. That is the one thing I miss. And if I could ever find who did it and where the vault is, I would do anything to open it up,” she says.
What products are around now that you wish you’d had to create the supermodel looks in the ‘90s?
“I use my [Hair By Sam McKnight] Modern Hairspray for everything. I can use it to slick hair down. I can use it to backcomb. I can use it for a volume. I can use it to set or to straighten. So for me, hairspray is important because it’s really easy to use and it’s such a versatile product. And mine brushes out once you’re done, so you’re not committed,” says Sam. “Plus, our dry shampoo is invisible. You couldn’t get that then. It was all white then, you know. Also, straightening irons were unheard of in the eighties. It was only in the late eighties, early nineties that the straightening iron became a thing. They were these huge, big, clunky things that you could only buy in Italy. They had wooden handles,” says Sam.
“The quality of products have gotten so much better and you now have more choice to choose products from. Before, there were very few makeup lines. Armani, didn’t exist,” says Mary.
What was your favourite ‘90s supermodel look you created?
“I have a lovely British Vogue cover with Linda where her hair is sort of Marilyn-esque and bleached blonde with the blue sky in the background,” says Sam. “I suppose that’s kind of iconic nineties for me. It was one of those days where we were shooting with Patrick [Demarchelier] in the studio and he said, ‘oh, you know what, why don’t we just go up on the roof?’ It was a really beautiful day outside, so we went up on the roof and he shot a few rolls of Linda with the blonde hair and the bright blue black background and it just became such an iconic cover. We did another one in Mexico with Christie. We were at the end of the day and we were sitting down on the loungers at the hotel having a drink and Patrick said, ‘don’t move, don’t move’ and she kind of just looked around and he took a snap of her, and that ended up on the cover. It wasn’t so rigid as it is today.” he adds.
“I’ve had so many great supermodel looks that I’ve loved. I love when the lighting is beautiful and there’s incredible makeup on the face that just makes the girl look gorgeous,” says Bobbi. “Probably one of my personal favourite spreads was one that I did for American Vogue with Wayne Maser as the photographer. It was on the model. Tatjana [Patitz]. Andrea Robinson was the beauty editor who hired me and it was like a 10-page full-face beauty spread – they don’t do that anymore. I was able to show this one beautiful face in different looks. And that put me on the map for sure,” Bobbi reveals.
What’s one of your best glam squad memories from the ‘90s?
“I love them [the supers and the glam squad] all so much and loved being with them. We were such a team, we were such a family,” says Mary. “Since the mid ‘90s there have been no supermodels. People come and go, but [the supers] are the originals and they’re still here because they’re so beautiful, but that’s not all they had. They were all smart and inquisitive people. The person I watched develop most I suppose, was Linda Evangelista. I think she went through the most changes to become the supermodel she is today. She was more up for change than anybody else,” Mary adds.
“Do you know what the overriding feeling is? We had so much fun in those years,” agrees Sam. “W ”We were constantly churning out incredible images, but we did not stop laughing! We became almost like family because you’re working the same people. The industry was very small, so you saw the same people all the time. We were all making it up as we went along. I hadn’t seen her in a while but I actually worked with Christie the other day and we laughed so much the photographer had to tell us off – like school kids! And now there’s a whole new generation. I’m working with their daughters, but I draw the line at grandchildren,” laughs Sam.
“Anytime I was lucky enough to work with people like Sam McKnight, Didier Malige, beautiful stylists like Brana Wolf, or Carlyne Cerf and so many of the editors that worked for Vogue at the time, that was always my amazing glam squad memories,” nods Bobbi.
What one tip would you impart to all your girls?
“The most important thing is to keep the skin looking as good as possible. If you have dark circles under your eyes, that’s always gonna make you look tired and if you lift that area under the eyes, it lifts the face,” says Mary.
Did you ever pick up any tips in return from them, if so, who?
“I was there when Naomi tripped over on her shoe in the Vivienne Westwood show,” Mary reveals. “At that age she didn’t hurt herself, she just tumbled over and got up and walked on. But it was a wonderful lesson, you know. I mean, when you’re 19, you trip up, big deal. You just gotta stand up again,” she says.
“I always let the girls look in the mirror and see what their makeup looked like,” says Bobbi. “Often they’d take a brush or a pencil and changed some of it – whether they’d outline the lip a certain way, define the brow a different way – and I learned a lot by watching them. Particularly people like Yasmeen Ghauri, I would watch her and she loved things really glamorous,” Bobbi adds.
’90s beauty and ‘90s references are back massively but what do you think is different about it this time around?
“The nineties is definitely back. The eyebrows are not as strong, thank goodness – they look a little bit more natural but reminiscent,” says Bobbi. “And the lipstick is not as totally matte and the faces aren’t as totally matte. It’s a combination of seeing the skin shine through more now, but still having a nice – I don’t want to call it matte, I think a better word for it is flat – more of a flat finish on the face. Kind of like you’d get from our [Jones Road] powder bronzer or gel bronzer or brow gel, and soon to be our new lip pencils,” she adds.
“We didn’t have retouching before, which is a really important thing to understand. We did make up to perfection because no one was going to be touching it up afterwards,” says Mary. “Now everyone expects you to do eight pictures in a day. Before we would have all morning to do hair and makeup and we would have breakfast. We literally had all morning to do it and then take two pictures in the afternoon. There was a lot more care taken and it was playful because there was more time to have fun. We had more time to just to enjoy the morning being together. There is no time to enjoy anything any longer, it’s so rushed.” Mary.
For more from GLAMOUR’s Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk
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