Unlike today's teens, who look like they have just stepped down from the Inglot MUA's chair, we are from the era of foundation covered lips and self applied French manicures.
Perhaps it's down to the mass of YouTube tutorials and Instagram inspiration that wasn't available to us back in the day, but today's teens fail to fall into the (foundation coated) makeup traps we did in secondary school.
Here are a few of the top nostalgic makeup techniques we used back in the day:
1. Foundation lips
Foundation coated lips were the basis of an excellent makeup look in secondary school.
While voluptuous, lined and highlighted lips may be all the rage now, when we were 15, the look du jour was to pretend you didn't have any lips at all.
2. Foundation types
If it wasn't Dream Matte Mousse or pan stick, we didn't want it.
There was something about the mousses' air whipped formula that we found perfect for school, and the shiny, tanned, glamorous sheen awarded to our visages by pan stick was too good for us to resist.
The problem was the liberal nature in which we applied these products, rather than the products themselves. Less is more wasn't our mantra back in the day.
3. Spidery lashes
Again with the opposition to less is more, layering mascara onto our lashes until they resembled a terrifying mass of brambles was the way to go.
Bonus points is the mascara started flaking off and left gorge little black specks under your eyes.
Fake eyelashes from the €2 Shop were also an option for discos, which were to be bought alongside your tube of glowsticks and disposable camera.
4. Brushes? What brushes?
If an eye shadow palette came with a little sponge applicator, that was what was used for liberally layering the pastel shades.
The term brush roll sounded more like a baking term to us in our teens.
Applying foundation with your fingers was also an acceptable activity, whereas todays' teens wouldn't be caught dead without their beauty blender.
5. Orange foundation
There is something about being uber-tanned that seems like an absolute accolade when you are in your teenage years.
But like, who could be arsed tanning your whole body or splashing the cash for spray tans?
The natural remedy to our pasty skin was layers on tan in the spots of skin people could see, like our necks and forearms, and a nice coating of 'deep tan' foundation on our faces.
6. Foundation mask
Speaking of the aforementioned foundation, it was left in a flat, featureless mask on our faces, with the likes of highligher and contouring distant gifts from the future which had yet to be awarded to us via Kim Kardashian (who wasn't even a thing at this stage of our lives).
You may have occasionally opted for two delightful stripes of bronzer along your cheekbones or a splash of bright pink blush, but telling someone to get their 'highlight on fleek' back in 2008 would have been a completely foreign concept.
7. Raccoon eyes
Whether you were simply experimenting with a new look or had a deep, passionate relationship with The Pretty Reckless or Panic! at the Disco, raccoon eyeliner was the territory of emo kids at secondary schools the country over.
The look was accompanied by a matte black a swathe of eye shadow across the upper lid, symbolic of the deep and dark nature of the tormented soul of the wearer.
8. A severe lack of blending
Blending our makeup was something that we never did as teens.
After all, what was the point of wearing makeup if it didn't look like you were wearing makeup?
From that attractive orange jaw line to eye shadow that went all the way up to your brows, blending was far from the essential technique that it is seen as by the kids these days.
