Affordable new makeup for 2025: Greige Chic
If you want to refresh your makeup bag for spring and summer 2025, there’s plenty to choose from. Let’s start by looking at the greige / 90s party girl trend.
This look is more glam than the no-makeup natural looks of past seasons, and it’s a bit lived in and smudged. It’s been seen on the Gucci, D&G, Alexander McQueen, Isabel Marant and Bottega Veneta catwalks. While these versions are more chic, it also has nods to 90s alt-rock, indie sleaze and more recently brat style.
What I like about the greige trend is that it’s versatile and fun. It can be adapted to a wide range of different skin tones, and used for subtle daytime looks or big night out drama.
How to recreate Greige makeup / 90s party girl looks
The main focus is on the eyes, with shadows in various shades of cool beige, taupe, mushroom and cool browns, plus smudgy eyeliner. I’ve pulled plenty of these together for you so keep on reading.
You don’t have to stick rigidly to the main colour palette though. Mix in some neutral shades, add a pop of silver or pewter for a night out and tap into the metallic trend, or add greens, pastel pinks, lilacs, mauves or blues.
By the way, the latest Isabel Marant SS25 campaign features a certain Kate Moss as seen above. The original 90s party girl is rocking some very nice looking updated greige makeup right now. The pearly taupe shadow and beige-pink satin lipstick are more pretty than punk.
Yes, the campaign photos were clearly airbrushed a bit too much, but the makeup still looks good in more candid videos, and can clearly work on mature skin when these flattering shades are used.
THE EYES HAVE IT
For a full eye look, Revolution Beauty’s The Smokey Icon Grunge Palette (above) has everything you might need for lots of daytime and evening options, with 12 varied shades for £8.99. Find at Revolution, Superdrug, Look Fantastic and BeautyBay.
If your budget’s smaller, Collection’s New York Skyline palette has some nicely blendable matte shades, and for only £4.99 it’s great for daytime. Forget the not-great glittery shimmers though. Find at Boots, Superdrug, and most large supermarkets.
Only want / need a one-and-done single eyeshadow? I’ve got you. Lily Lolo Pressed Eyeshadow in ‘Rolling Stone’ (above) is a lovely quality talc-free mineral powder in a demi matte, grey brown shade, or you might prefer Silver Lining or Truffle. They’re £10 a pop at Lily Lolo or Amazon. Their loose mineral shadows, £8.50, are a big seller too, with lots more including taupes, cool browns and gunmetal to choose from.
Kiko Milano has several gorgeous options that punch well above their price tag. Their excellent Long Lasting Eyeshadow Sticks, £9.99, include mattes (16-taupe & 19-dark brown) and shimmers (15-golden taupe & 20-dark taupe) that look far more designer than high street. See more at KIKO UK, Amazon, or Look Fantastic.
I’ve been loving the newest shade of Rimmel Wonder’Last Shadow Stick, 001 Starshine Dream (above). Very By Terry / Chanel inspired, probably best described as a sparkly warm silver or light cool bronze. It applies smoothly, dries fast, then lasts all day/evening. It’s £8.99 at Superdrug and Boots.
Eyeliner for the greige / 90s party girl look
The signature look has slightly messy eyeliner taken along the lower waterline, and sometimes out in a cat-eye. Try black, brown, taupe, soft grey, gunmetal or cool bronze.
Some reliable budget picks for you:
- Waterline / waterproof: Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Eye Definer, 6 shades, £4.99 at Superdrug and Amazon.
- Beautiful shades & sparkle: NYX Vivid Rich Mechanical Pencil (above), 12 shades, £5.99 at Boots and Superdrug.
- Cat eye flick: Black e.l.f. H2O Proof Eyeliner Pen £7.00 at ELF UK and Amazon.
Affordable face bases for greige looks
The base is kept simple, with lighter serum foundations and concealer, or skin tints. The aim here is not perfection, just a gentle blurring effect to even out the tone a little.
The Ordinary’s serum foundation has just been relaunched (see below), all 36 shades of it, and it’s only £6.40 for 30ml. Currently only available on their UK website, according to the brand this will be making its way into stores in a few weeks.
Use a hint of nude blush or cool-toned contour to shape the face a little without drawing attention away from the eyes. Try Makeup Revolution Fast Base Blush Stick, £6.00 in Bare or Mauve, or a tiny dab of their Matte Blush Wand in Stripped Pink, £7.99.
For subtle contour/bronzer try E.L.F’s Camo Liquid Bronzer & Contour, (above) £7.00, Revolution’s new Skin Silk bronzer sticks, £6.95, or Revolution Mega Bronzer powder, £5.99.
Lipsticks, lipliners & balms for ‘quiet grunge’
Lip looks are mostly low key, and include nude lip oils, brownish lipliners paired with simple gloss, or nude satin finish lipsticks. Muted soft pinks, neutral nudes and cool-toned browns work best.
Chances are that you own something like this already, but here are some new launches plus a couple of classics:
Rimmel’s hot new launch (above) is Oh My Gloss Butter Me Up balm, £9.99, a tinted lip butter balm in six shades. It’s comfortable and moisturising without being sticky, and the clear, latte, mocha or bubblegum tints would all work with the 90s party girl look.
[It’s a more budget-friendly choice than Summer Fridays, in case you wondered what it reminded you of.]
Essence’s new The Super Peptide Glossy Lip Treatment, £3.99, is harder to find, but I love it. It’s quite similar to Rhode Peptide Lip Tint (£18) on the lips. My go-to balms are 03 Toffeetastic and 01 Clear at Just My Look or Luxplus.
Cool-toned lip liner was used on several catwalks and in recent cosmetics campaigns. Pair one with a clear, nude or brown lip oil or gloss and you’re good to go:
- Barry M cool-toned brown lip liners in Toast (above) or Chocolate are as good as any designer product, and they’re only £3.49.
- There’s also Sugar, a Barry M cool light pink, to keep those satin lipsticks in place, if you prefer.
- Rimmel Cappuccino liner, £3.99, is another reliable alternative (yes, it’s the one that went viral on TikTok, and no, I’m not proud that I know that).
If you want a matching lip kit, try the best-selling Barry M liner and peptide plumping lip oil duo from Barry M, above. This is the most popular colourway in Taupe, but there are various nudes, browns and pinks if you prefer, £10.00. Find it at Barry M.
[The lip oil contains ginger extract for a plumping effect, but the liner doesn’t, so sensitive types might prefer to buy the liner separately for £3.99 at Barry M, Superdrug or Boots.]
Want an easy-wear lipstick? The new formula Rimmel Lasting Finish Satin Lipstick in 90’s Baby (shade 370, above) is brown-ish but not too light or dark, and it’s £5.99. Find at Superdrug or Boots.
For a creamy matte-ish lip, check out Barry M’s brand new chunky Lip Precision Hi-Intensity Lip Pencils. They’re £8.99, cruelty free / vegan, and I have my eye on both Chiffon (below, muted pink) and Teddy (mid-toned chocolate).
While not new, NYX Suede Matte Lipstick (£8.00) is another affordable lipstick that lasts well. Track down Brunch Me (a dusty nude, Boots) for lighter skin tones or Cold Brew (true brown, Amazon) for darker skin tones. They also have several more experimental colours such as Moonwalk, which is grey toned, for full-on edgy looks.
I’ve been having a lot of fun trying out these looks recently, and you definitely don’t need to break the bank to recreate this sort of makeup. It isn’t necessarily all that exact either, and I especially like how you can throw-on-and-go or smudge and run.
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Hope you’ve enjoyed these ideas for translating catwalk trends into affordable high street products.
Are you going to try your own version of greige makeup, the 90s party girl look, or quiet grunge?
