Millennials and Gen Z Agree: These Nostalgic Y2K Beauty Products Are Still Elite

If you pulled one of these lip glosses out of your Cath Kidston tote bag at school, I just know you were that girl. Lancôme Juicy Tubes launched in 2000 in an array of flavours (my personal favourite? Marshmallow Electro—I can still remember the smell and taste). Truly, these lip glosses walked so Summer Fridays Lip Butters and Hourglass Phantom Glossy Balms could run. But 2025, they're having a comeback. Lancôme has gathered 2000s icons such as Gossip Girl's Chuck Bass (played by Ed Westwick) and Paris Hilton to bring back this nostalgic lip gloss. If you grew up collecting Lip Smackers like I did, these felt like the more grown-up, elevated version to coat your lips with. A true Y2K icon.

When I asked my fellow Who What Wear UK editors about their favourite nostalgic beauty products, we shared memories spent browsing department store beauty halls—and shopping Benefit's beauty counters was a collective core memory. With its retro-inspired packaging and tongue-in-cheek product names, Benefit always delivered when you wanted to treat yourself without compromising on fun. Amongst our editors, it was the Benefit's mascaras, powder bronzers and blushers that conjure the most nostalgia, and they're just as good now as they were then. "I always used Hoola; then I remember signing up on a literal waitlist for Dallas, too" says Who What Wear UK deputy editor, Maxine Eggenberger. "I think I have the Hoola bronzer in my makeup bag from 2014 that I'm still yet to hit pan on," says SEO writer, Ava Gilchrist. The cult matte bronzer stood out in a sea of glittery bronzers from the time, and it now comes in an additional four shades, including the original, which give the skin a veil of sun-kissed colour.

YSL's Touche Éclat is a true hall of fame-level beauty product and was years ahead of its time with its formulation. Although it launched in 1992, it was the highlighting concealer to own in the 2000s and still has a permanence in makeup bags today. "YSL Touche Éclat is such a throwback," says social media editor, Megan Storey. And I have to agree. Created by legendary makeup artist Terry de Gunzburg, the concealer-highlighter hybrid, encased in its iconic gold click-pen, was designed to illuminate the skin and disguise dark circles and was marketed as 'eight hours of sleep' in a pen. If you're like me, you might have used in wrong for years. It was never designed to be a heavy-duty concealer to cover blemishes or even the skin tone, but rather to deliver a gentle, soft-focused glow which you could use as a highlighter and to bring radiance to dull skin or sculpt cheekbones and the cupid's bow. It originally came in just the one shade, but now is available in 12 shades to suit all complexions.

Scent is perhaps one of the most powerful of all the senses for unlocking memories and DKNY's Be Delicious perfumes is one of the most nostalgic perfumes from the 2000s. I still remember the advert with Lara Stone taking a bite out of a dewy green apple, and its exactly how this perfume smells. It was one of the first perfumes I've ever owned and I distinctly remember the scent of bright green, crisps apples. It was the fruity perfume to own at the time and the original soon had flanking scents in the form of Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Be Delicious Fresh Blossom. Many of the original scents are still available now and at the time, this felt like a level-up from the Charlie and Impulse body sprays that clouded P.E. changing rooms.

If you were a teenager in the 2010s, it's highly likely you owned at least a couple of Real Techniques makeup brushes. Launching in 2011, Real Techniques brushes were created by beauty YouTubers Sam and Nic Chapman (otherwise known as Pixiwoo) and were synonymous with the YouTube era throughout the decade. "I remember thinking as a teenager watching Zoe Sugg and Tanya Burr's makeup tutorials that owning a set was peak sophistication," says Gilchrist. "At the time I thought they were so expensive and such a 'big girl' investment that I'd stalk my local pharmacy to try and work out a way I could justify spending that much money on makeup tools that I had no clue how to use!" They remain highly regarded amongst beauty lovers for their high-quality performance on a drugstore budget.

Almost everyone has a nostalgic memory of Clinique. For me, it was the brand my mum brought her skincare and makeup from and sometimes, if I was lucky, she would let me have the coveted gift with purchase. That was where I discovered Clinique's Almost Lipstick in Black Honey, which remains a beauty counter icon. It looks intimidating in the tube, but it bestows lips with a soft berry stain and has the incredible power of suiting everyone. It's so sheer (yet buildable) that you can easily swipe it on without a mirror. It's now being appreciated by an entire new generation too, with Gen Z singing its praises too. You'll now find it in a lip oil with the same flattering hue as well as a newer Pink Honey version that delivers a sheer wash of pink to the lips.

As moisturisers go, Bobbi Brown was (and remains) one of the best to prep your makeup. "I am actually desperate to go back to my Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base Moisturiser—I remember stealing that from my mum when it came out when I was like 12. I used it again a couple of years ago, looking back, my skin was at its peak then—maybe this product had something to do with it," says Eggenberger. You'll often spot at least one glass pot in any makeup artists kitbag. Why? It has the ability to moisturise, plump and prep the skin with its creamy yet non-greasy consistency, and has garnered a loyal following because of it. Early on in my beauty career, I remember attending a Bobbi Brown masterclass where they showed just how much of a difference this moisturiser makes to foundation application. On one hand, the makeup artist applied foundation without it and it quickly oxidised and turned orange-toned. On the other hand she prepped with the Vitamin Enriched Face Base and the foundation stayed true to tone, while looking smoother, glowier and even more flawless.

We cannot talk about nostalgic beauty products without mentioning MAC lipsticks. They're really in a league of their own and are arguably the best lipsticks out there. "Some of my favourite nostalgic beauty products are MAC Lipsticks—I still wear Ruby Woo and Velvet Teddy," says junior branded content editor, Humaa Hussain. Whether you were a Whirl girl, religiously wore Russian Red or counted Diva as your signature lip colour, there was a shade to suit everyone and even to this day, they're just as iconic. The Macximal Silky Matte Lipsticks in particular are a favourite among editors with its comfortable matte finish that won't dry out your lips. Back then we loved the bright and bold colours, but nowadays, we're wearing them in the more neutral hues or as part of a lip combo (ideally paired with MAC's iconic lip pencils).

I lost count of how many tubs of The Body Shop's Body Butters I've been through over the years. They're one of the brand's most iconic products and I'm so pleased that The Body Shop is currently making a comeback again. Ask any beauty editor and they'll likely agree that there was no other body care brand more iconic during the early 2000s, and its Body Butters remain unrivalled. Enriched with shea butter and coming in an array of scents (my favourite? Coconut, hands down. I owned the entire line in the scent) they leave your skin intensely nourished, moisturised and lightly scented.

For fellow millennials, this palette requires no introduction. I distinctly remember the hype around Urban Decay's original Naked palette launch in 2010. It was furiously circled in my Boot's catalogue and top of my Christmas wish list. What set it apart from other eyeshadow palettes was the array of neutral, wearable shades that had the ability to suit all skin tones. The pigments were buttery soft and easy to blend, while the colours themselves went together harmoniously—you could apply two or three and they'd go together seamlessly. I credit Urban Decay for teaching me how to apply eyeshadow. From everyday neutral mattes to shimmering gold ( I quickly hit pan on "Darkhorse") this palette had everything you could need for day or night looks and variations of the palette launched alongside it. Much to the sadness of its fans, it was discontinued in 2018 and was briefly brought back in 2024 as a limited edition palette, but for now, it's available as this Naked Reloaded palette with similar shades.

If you were anything like me, you will have memories of heading to your local Boots or Superdrug at the weekends and spending your pocket-money on Barry M's Nail Paints. While I favour milky manicures and sheer nail polishes as an adult, as a tween, it was the brighter the better. From cobalt blue and mint green to shimmering pink and glitter, if you wanted a specific colour of nail polish, you could guarantee Barry M would have it, and it would probably be on 3-for-2. Barry M is currently going through a rebrand and I expect a whole new generation will come to appreciate its cheap and cheerful nail polishes too.

If you grew up during the 2000s or 2010s, the chances are you once owned a pot of bareMinerals's iconic powder foundation. With its natural mineral formula, you tapped a little into the lid and used a fluffy brush to pick up the product before buffing it into the skin, resulting in a matte yet luminous finish that offered impressive and buildable coverage. The "so pure, you can sleep in it" tagline for the bareMinerals makeup most definitely appealed to those of us who 'forgot' to take their makeup off at the end of the day, too. While in recent years we've been favouring dewy formulas by way of skin tints, this powder foundation remains well-loved, particularly amongst those with oily or acne-prone skin and is well tolerated by even those with very sensitive skin and rosacea.

As hair straighteners go, none are more iconic than GHD hair straighteners. Launched in 2001, over two decades on and they are still regarded as some of the best hair straighteners out there, and you'll find them in many of the best hair salons and in the kitbags of celebrity hairstylists who still recommend them to their clients. No other hair straightener worked as well as GHD's, delivering smooth and straight styles with ease with the optimum temperature of 185°C to prevent unnecessary damage across hair types. The brand has since developed the technology and launched more sophisticated and more expensive models, but the Original Hair Straightener remains brilliant at getting the job done to this day.