In 2000, Kylie Minogue released Spinning Around, the song that would relaunch her career, become a cultural moment, and make 16-year-old me desperately covet those gold hot pants, her honeyed skin, and that glossy, glossy pout.
I failed wildly on the first two, fake tanning until I stank and looked orange, and wearing shorter than short skirts which looked faintly ridiculous and possibly obscene. But the lipgloss bit I nailed, thanks to Lancôme’s Juicy Tubes Lip Gloss.
Also released that very same year as Kylie’s seminal song, it was inconceivable that anyone who wore make-up wouldn’t own one of the tubes of sweet, ultra-glossy gloss. In fact, they were so ubiquitous, that nobody ever mentioned the Lancôme bit — you merely had to say ‘Juicy Tubes’ and everyone would know precisely to what you were referring.
I had one in my handbag at all times and would apply what I considered to be the perfect amount (I wanted my lips to look completely and utterly soaked in gloss) approximately every hour — more, if I was standing awkwardly in the corner of a bar hoping some boy would be drawn in by my insanely shiny lips glinting across invitingly at them.
Gloss didn’t remain at that zenith. It declined around three years later, giving way to concealer lips (another fun episode I took to with gusto). Next, it was lip tints. Then matte lips. After that the internet exploded with beauty videos and Instagram ideas on how to do make-up and things became a little insane for a bit (and brands accordingly responded with foils and glitters and ombres and kits galore), before the age of anything goes kicked in.
Now, look, we all know that trends are still happening, but they aren’t dictums in quite the way they used to be. You don’t have to do strawberry or tomato girl (who comes up with these names?!) make-up to fit in. Nobody cares if you want ultra dewy or perfectly matte skin. Fake tan isn’t mandatory if you’re pale (phew). It is not essential to fry your hair with straighteners to achieve two lank curtains of hair with which to frame your face. Etc.
That said, this beauty nostalgia thing is going nowhere; with brands — and people — facing increasingly trying times we are all finding that, to paraphrase Kylie, borrowing a little joy from back in the day works. Or it has for me, anyway: when the newly rereleased (they were discontinued in 2018, at the height of the matte lips trend) Juicy Tubes first landed on my desk, everything about them from the familiar plastic squeeze tube with that triangular nib to the sweet-smelling, ultra-shiny (but remarkably not sticky) gloss made me happy, momentarily reminded me of a time before Covid and Brexit.
If you fancy partaking, Lancôme has launched ten options, ranging from the crystal clear Pure to the shocking pink Miracle. They cost £25 each.
