Beauty Lessons From A `90s Raver Girl

I remember my first rave beauty look vividly. Silver Make Up For Ever glitter, mascara, burgundy lipstick, and high pigtail ringlets fastened with those plastic-ball hair bands. It was 1996, and I'd been rocking bleached skunk stripe highlights in my brown hair—an edgy look popular at the time (now called “money pieces”). By the end of the evening (technically, early the next morning) the glitter went from eyes to everywhere, and my pigtails unraveled. But I was blissed out, having just experienced the most thrilling night of my life.    

Before the age of twenty, I attended 104 raves in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. Some memories are hazy and some clear. It was an atypical American high school experience that forced me to grow up faster, which is what I wanted at that "don't want to accept adult responsibilities but want to do adult things" crossroads. 

The super fab Lady Miss Kier

The rebellious sparkle of raves seduced me sophomore year. I was a drama kid who grew up dancing competitively. Music was a passion. And I was nuts about fashion, having a subscription to Vogue since I was 12. When a friend described an illegal after-hours party at an abandoned warehouse where DJ's mixed records and you danced with perfect strangers, I was intrigued. An underground party scene was the ideal place to release my conflicting adolescent emotions.  

A few raves in, I was talking to some kids in a Chill Room, and my airbrushed acrylic nails caught their attention under the black light bulbs. We were on acid and my nail design, something to the effect of white curves and stars, turned into a little dancing art show after I swirled them around, all of us marveling at psychedelic glamour. My skunk stripes and nail art fit right in with rave's electric aesthetic. 

My icons du jour were Lady Miss Kier from Deee-Lite and Bjork. Their experimental music and iconic styles inspired me. Raver girls also inspired me. One party promoter's signature puff pigtails made my droopy pigtails feel inferior. And there was my friend with her sometimes spiked, sometimes slicked blond pixie cut. She stood out among the waving glow sticks and bouncing bucket hats in the crowd.

I raved on and began collecting every flavor of Lip Smackers chapstick because when you're on Ecstasy anything candy tastes sooo goooood. And it tasted amazing to all my new best friends, as I generously applied it to their lips, unaware of the cootie spreading gesture. I reined in face glitter after a party where a guy shot me a mean look, saying, “Wow, someone likes glitter a little too much.” Just as well, glitter was a bitch to wash off. Where were you when I needed you Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner?  

Artwork by @missthingindahouse

My mom offered one beauty rule: always wash your face before going to sleep. You'd be surprised at how feel-good the daunting task of washing your face after an exhausting night of raving was. It was a natural upper. I had a hard time respecting my parents' rules back then, but I honored this one. 

Bindis. Rhinestone barrettes. Fake eyelashes. I eventually found my signature look. Out of the face hair was key, and I pinned a poof of curls atop my head. Think prom updo, with the occasional add of glitter spray. My small featured face benefitted from a bold brow and filling them in with brown eyeliner made me feel like Linda Evangelista. Glitter turned into shimmery MAC eye shadow, which was less maintenance when the sun came up. Lots of mascara. My lips were either Va Va Vanilla Lip Smackers gloss or an iridescent MAC Icon lipstick. A spritz of Chanel Allure and I was ready to rave. 

I looked pulled together in photos taken by disposable cameras. Photos often out of focus. It was the `90s remember? Those blurred photos are a metaphor for my life at the time, also out of focus. Whatever, I was more concerned about the DJ lineup than looking perfect in a photo. Maybe because we knew we didn't have to look perfect in photos. Nowadays everyone appears photo-perfect in their filtered selfies. What a relief the no-makeup celebrity selfies were on Instagram a couple years ago. A glimpse into unfiltered life.

Now I always wash my face before sleep. I usually air dry my hair and tend toward clean beauty products. Sorry Lip Smackers, you're packed with toxic ingredients I've ingested one too many times. I still swear by a bold brow and lip gloss. Oh, and look as my glitter nail polish sparkles as I write this. My beauty and party habits may be healthier now, but I'll never up glitter.

PLUR,

Ms. Red