Lilac Is the Y2K-Inspired Makeup Color of Summer

The crystal mesh Versace gown. The butterfly hair clips. The iridescent lilac makeup. When Olivia Rodrigo hit the red carpet at the Met Gala 2022, it was as if she  embodied the Y2K revival. On the color front, it was telling she was cast in lilac, the pale violet hue that instantly inspires flashbacks to the early aughts when it was washed across the lids of the era’s biggest stars. “Pastel makeup, and purple especially, was a huge trend in the early 2000s with Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears all sporting the look,” explains makeup artist Lilly Keys, who did Rodrigo’s makeup for the Met. “It was a huge trend during Y2K—I know because I lived it,” says fellow pro Grace Ahn, who recalls painting model gazes in the light purple hue for Baby Phat campaigns with designer Kimora Lee Simmons. (Does it get more Y2K than that?)

Between the TikTok-fueled noughties obsession and summer’s call for brighter colors, it’s high time to consider lilac as a feel-good makeup strategy. “It’s all about being fun and extra playful with makeup and not being too serious about it,” says Keys, who smoked out Rodrigo’s gaze in different shades of lilac and lavender using a combination of Glossier’s Lidstar in Lily and Monochromes in Mist. “We decided to go for a more dramatic smoky eye look for it as it was for the Met, but day to day just a hint of lilac hue on the upper lids would be perfect,” she says, recommending starting out with a thin graphic shaded liner or a sheer pop of color just above the lash line. To further brighten a lilac eye look, Ahn advises combining a soft powdery lilac, like MAC Powder Kiss Soft Matte Eyeshadow in Such a Tulle with a “true white matte,” like Colourpop Crème gel liner in Pure White or Sephora Collections Let It Snow eyeshadow for extra “brightness and dimension.”