After a full year of clean girl makeup and coquettish beauty, it’s high time for beauty to get a little dirty. Answering the moment, of course, is the ’90s grunge look currently holding the runway and my TikTok algorithm in a chokehold. But more than that, we’re seeing play in earthy, grimey tones that exemplify what MAC’s director of makeup artistry Terry Barber calls ‘Swamp Beauty.’
Picture a mermaid coming out of the marsh grasses. Picture a grunge-babe with earth-witch vibes ready to break your heart and sleep in her makeup. That’s Swamp Beauty.
What Is Swamp Beauty?
“Last year the trends were all very beautiful,” Barber explains. “And I think there’s a subculture of people who want something a little more earthy, swampy, natural…something that feels a bit grunge.”
All about challenging the existing beauty standard, you can see grunge’s influence on a concept like Swamp Beauty, which intentionally mixes the beautiful and the traditionally ugly.
Makeup artist David Birdwell, BUXOM Cosmetics’ executive director of global education and artistry explains to Allure that grunge is supposed to be fun. “Grunge should challenge the status quo” Birdwell says. “Lean into the fun of this trend and use it to express your individuality.”
Along those lines, 2024 and swamp beauty are a rejection of that buttoned-up look.
“I think we’re moving into a space where people are looking off the beaten path,” explains Cat Quinn, MAC’s executive director of trends. “I think people are just a bit bored with the idea of pretty.”
Swamp Beauty: How to
The core of this trend is color. According to makeup artist Natalie Dresher, a key feature of this trend is the repurposing of murky greens.
“As swamp beauty rises in 2024,” Dresher says. “Green will become a neutral.”
If you know anything about eye shadow, you know that green can be a particularly finicky color to formulate. So, finding an earthy green that isn’t spotty or hard to blend is a must.
“These days, MAC shadows are so well made that they are less tacky,” Barber explains. “They don’t grab the skin as much, so that you can actually layer these shadows on top of each other. You could use a deep green and overlay it with gold to get that gilded look. But if you’re layering a poorly made eye shadow on top of a poorly made eye shadow, it just becomes muddy.”
Color-wise, you really have a lot to choose from when it comes to swamp beauty.
“There are so many colors in those marshes and swampy inspirations,” Quinn says. “Terry described it to me on set as a beautiful sludge.”
If you’re hesitant to dive right in with an all-over green lid, Dresher recommends working in an olive tone alongside bronzy neutrals.
“The Tarte Smoldereyes in olive and bronze make the trend easy to achieve when doing your normal shadow routine,” Dresher explains. “You can pop a bit of this pencil shadow on the lid and you’re ready to become a swamp queen.”
Swamp Beauty Products
