Paying homage to the world's most iconic make-up looks and the women that created them

My my, how far we’ve come Victoria! From the cast-iron grip of MAC Spice Lip Liner - traced just outside the lips with all the subtlety of Wonderbra - and the over-exerted sculpted eye, Victoria Beckham has finally weaned herself. Evolved. Moved on. It’s what we all do. If I had stayed loyal to the make-up I wore ten years ago, I still have spindly, pencilled black brows and half a Juicy Tubes all over my mouth.

She is no longer a spice girl (shame), but Victoria has experienced the sort of stylistic metamorphosis that makes her more enthralling, more noteworthy than ever before. From pop star to fashion entrepreneur, Iceland to Waitrose, boho disc belts to cashmere cocoon coats: it’s not your classic quite rags to ritches story (Victoria’s upbringing  was charmingly middle class), but she’s worked hard and done well, and Britain adores her for it.

And, as the years blipped by, Victoria also silently revolutionised her own beauty aesthetic. The sticky over glossed lip, the frenzied winged eye, the comic lip liner have all fallen away, and all that remains is gloriously buffed and glowing skin, groomed brows and a lick of mascara. 

"In her Posh Spice guise, it appears as though she unknowingly exaggerated the accepted tomes of female beauty"

In her Posh Spice guise, it appears as though she unknowingly exaggerated the accepted tomes of female beauty: puckered, full lips, large almond eyes, stiletto-sharp cheekbones and generously defined brows (VB’s were surely the precursor to the Scouse brow). Her infamous consta-pout (and accompanying consta-frown) served only to shield her from prying eyes, casting a glittering veil over what is actually an indisputably beautiful face. No one saw her finely-balanced bone structure, nor the endearing, vulnerably strength in her eyes. We just saw the entire No7 counter, swept across her face.

Is it ripe for revival? No. I might be the straightened hair (I’m still not ready to go back there) but quite frankly, I detest this look. I look like a low-level figure skater from the mid-West. It’s too pastiche to feel remotely attractive and so far removed from my usual make-up persuasions (in a nutshell: never any eyeshadow, ever) that I feel almost benign, obstinate.

It feels wrong. Of course it does, it’s the complete antithesis of modern make-up; that is, shouldn’t feel forced, heavy-handed gauche, overtly considered. It should feel as though make-up just fell onto the face, a dusting from the sky. It should feel organic, natural – and, this is vital – fast. A quick swipe of lipstick in the back of a cab, a few seconds to pat in some kohl around the eyes before heading out of the door, modern beauty reflects the modern woman; she hasn’t the time to sit and perfect her contours, sculpt her eyes or outline her lips 47 times. And clearly, neither does Victoria. And she looks all the better for it.

1. MAC Brow Set in Show-off, £13
2. Sisley Phyto-Ombre Eclat Eyeshadow in Linen, £28 at Selfridges
3. Clarins Mineral Mono Eyeshadow in Dark Chocolate, £17 at Selfridges
4. Lancôme Crayon Khôl in Brun, £16

Photography: Hugo Yanguela