Wait, they were wearing WHAT in 2014?
Let this sink in: 2014 was ten years ago. An entire decade has passed since the Kimye wedding, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the original drop of Taylor Swift’s record-shattering album 1989, and countless other crazy pop culture moments. I am not here to talk about that, I want to delve deep into ten popular beauty trends from 2014, including the bad, the good, and the ones that make us say “WTF.”
1. ) Short Bob Haircuts
2014 was a BIG year for bob-style haircuts. Everyone was rocking this hairstyle, including Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hathaway, Alexa Chung, my mom, and countless others. You could not go far without seeing a bob.
Image Courtesy: Instagram
2.) Urban Decay “Naked” Products
Ah yes, the Urban Decay “Naked” makeup line. I was so envious of my older sister for having the Naked 2 palette. Hell, I was envious of everyone that had it. The colors were not anything special, they were just nudes. But I wanted it so bad, it was just so perfect.
3.) Lip Liner
The Kardashians and Jenners show up quite often in this list, but they were trend setters in 2014. Kim and Kylie are two of the founders of the lip liner movement.Yes, they were severely overlining their lips, even though they had lip filler already. However, their impact had a lasting effect on beauty trends then and how they evolved over the years following that.
4.) Orange Lipstick
Emerging from Spring 2014 Fashion Week, orange lipstick found its way to the red carpet events and trickled down to department stores for the public to purchase. The shades ranged from “traffic cone” to “apricot” to “red-orange”, which was the most normal of the shades.
5.) Rainbow Colored Hair
Do you remember being young and begging your mom to let you dye your hair cool rainbow colors? That desire can be traced back ten years when celebrity after celebrity was dying their hair all the colors of the rainbow.
6.) Flash Tattoos
Personally, these were not for me. When they were trending, I was 10 years old. Flash tattoos were not necessarily aimed at my demographic at the time, but even now, I do not see the appeal. They looked cute on Beyoncé, though!
Image Courtesy: Instagram
7.) Ombres
Ombres were another authentically-2014 hair trend. While most people went for a more natural look, such as brown to blonde, brown to red, or black to brown, some people bit the bullet and went BRIGHT. I am, of course, talking about Kylie Jenner and her “King Kylie” era.
Image Courtesy: Instagram
8.) #IWokeUpLikeThis
Everyone, say thank you Beyonce for the song “Flawless” and the infamous “I woke up like this” lyric that spawned countless cringey Instagram captions for wealthy women to use to showcase their “natural beauty.” Was it natural beauty? Or the work of plastic surgeons and dermatologists? You tell me.
9.) Contouring
In direct contrast to “natural beauty” was the intense contouring that swept the world thanks to celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Gigi Hadid. Contouring is still prominent today but in 2014? You had to watch out for cheekbones that were sharp enough to cut you.
10.) Accent Nails
I distinctly remember spending the night at my friend’s house and helping her pick the perfect color for her accent nail. It was almost always cyan. I shudder just thinking about it.
The beauty trends from 2014 will go down in infamy as some of the best (and worst) to emerge from the 2010s. I hope that the next decade brings just as many fun beauty trends as 2014, but we could do without orange lipstick and cyan accent nails. Gross.
Strike Out,
Kaya O’Rourke
Saint Augustine
Editors: Maya Kayyal and Jessica Giraldo
Kaya O’Rourke is a writer for Strike Magazine, Saint Augustine. She’s a big fan of film and art houses, curating the perfect Spotify playlist for every occasion, and spending time with her besties. When she’s not shelf-reading at the library, you can reach her on Instagram at @kayaorourke.
