Here are the five makeup trends that made their beauty comeback.

Freckles

For many, a smattering of freckles sprinkled all over your face are dreaded, with some even opting for removal. At Macgraw however, they were painting them on. Just like its chocolate namesake, cutie-pie connotations come with freckles, as a certain sweetness is imbued. Bobbi Brown makeup director Alphie Sadsad freckled his girls by flicking them on with a toothbrush (smart, hey) and used a concoction of Bobbi Brown Face Mist, Brow Shaper and Gel Eyeliner.

At the folkloric We Are Kindred Show, Laura Mercier’s makeup director, Ania Milczarczyk, created flecks on a handful of models, just “a little peach flush to the cheeks, with some freckles given to some of the girls.” So step away from the foundation and embrace your freckle face.

Lip Balm

If Nigel Stanislaus says it’s back – it’s back. Whilst Lipsmackers are long gone (even though we totally miss them), lip balm was used by backstage heavyweights in a myriad of manifestations. At Maticevski, Maybelline Baby Lips was slicked across cheekbones, lids, above brows, down the centre of the nose and of course, on lips.

Whilst under the Harbour bridge, the Manning Cartell girls strutted with greasy, glossy lids. MAC’s Nicole Thompson said, “we added some gloss on-top before they go to hair – this give the make-up some time to move around into their creases.” Ever the clever creative, she even used Lipglass to resemble sweat (from those all night benders).

Glitter

We called it a while back (or Rae Morris did at VAMFF), but glitter is huge. Girls were gleaming down the runway of Australian Fashion Week, with interpretations of glitter at a myriad of shows. Over at By Johnny, Nigel Stanislaus dotted glitter all over the face to create a sparse smattering of sparkle.

Whilst at Bec & Bridge, MAC’s Kellie Stratton put “a bit of bling on the corners of the eye with some gold glitter to pick up the light”.

At Zhivago and Emma Mulholland, glitter was galactic and used theatrically, with kaleidoscopic colours and literal stars. Nigel slicked on baby lips as an adhesive for the glitter party, a schmick trick to get your razzle dazzle on. But don’t dust off your 90s glitter gel just yet, try a more mature, less editorial take on glitter and be minimalistic with it.

No-Makeup Makeup

Hooray! The no-makeup look has reared its natural head once again. The bad news? There’s still a bit of work involved, so don’t go dumping your foundation just quite yet. Maybelline, Lancome and Curtis Collection all favoured the au natural look. At Maticevski, it was all about buffing skin to glow-y perfection with a custom-Maticesvki Clarisonic, and then an effortless “makeup, but no-makeup” complexion using Dream Velvet, but only in spots the models needed it. At Aje, Victoria Curtis of Curtis Collection maintained the fuss-free mantra and skin was luminous and sheer; using both the Hydra and Skin Refining Primer and their best-selling CC Cream.

At Daniel Avakian, Lancome’s Lara Srokowski spent at least five minutes on each girls skin with skincare products Advanced Genefique and La Base Hydra Glow, to ensure skin was prepped, primed and preened for pared-down perfection.

At Ginger and Smart, MAC’s Carol Mackie used the new Studio Waterweight Foundation, “which is super light and super hydrating – so it looks like it isn’t there but it perfects the skin”.

Grungy Eyes

A smokey eye is loved by all; but the 90s grungy eye is back with a beauty vengeance. Masters of the artful application, MAC, showed us how it’s done. Victoria Baron used MAC Eye Kohl in Smudgy Charcoal to create “lived in” eyes, “that looks like it’s been applied the night before” said Baron, referencing a 90s Stella Tennant.

Makeup virtuoso, Nicole Thompson, was all about the “greasy and glossy” eyes, which she perfected for Swarovski with an exaggerated, blurred liner.

Whilst over at Manning Cartell, the girls were out all night long, with dropped, smudgy liner on the bottom only. “We are doing the next day all-nighter girl. It’s messed up, it’s lived in, it’s slept in – make-up looks awesome when it’s slept in! What we did is apply a heavy black liner on the waterline, under the eyes and blurred it down with the waterline,” said Thompson.