Nostalgia is the real winner of 2025 as discontinued beauty products make a comeback

Singer Lily Allen is on the radio, Stranger Things is about to hit our screens, and Kylie Jenner is selling matte black and brown lip kits again as she stars in a music video to promote a new product drop on Kylie Cosmetics.

No, you haven’t woken up ten years in the past – instead trends both in and out of beauty are bringing back the mid-2010s as a wave of nostalgia-core hits consumers.

Beauty brands such as Kylie Cosmetics, Kayali, The Ordinary and Lancôme are reviving products from the archive, and even launching entire collections dedicated to trends from the 2010s, as consumers hold on to memories through make-up, scents and more.

But is living in the past going to work in the long run, and could this trend be indicative of a shared desire for something deeper?

Beauty from beyond the grave

While formulas and ingredients are undoubtedly leaps and bounds ahead of this time last decade, the trends and looks driving them can sometimes bring a sense of déjà-vu.

“Beauty, like fashion, is cyclical,” explains Cris Gordon, Head of MMC beauty and Marine Maher Communications. 

“Just like bell bottoms or platform sandals always find their way back, beauty has its own renaissance moments. 

“Right now, we are seeing a revival of 1990s pop and Y2K energy with the dark lip liner and the nude lip – these trends make people remember a time when life felt lighter.”

When it comes to getting it right, Lucy Robertson, Head of Global Brand Marketing at marketing agency Buttermilk, believes that “the difference lies in intention, and in credibility”. 

Robertson adds: “Nostalgia only lands if there is something real to remember – a heritage brand revisiting an iconic formula or visual aesthetic is reconnecting with lived memory; a newly-launched brand borrowing retro aesthetics without context risks feeling like cosplay.”