Gray Eyeshadow Is The ’90s Makeup Trend That Dominated Fashion Month

Every fashion month has that one beauty detail that keeps popping up show after show until it’s impossible to ignore. This season, designers made a strong case for the return of eyeshadow — specifically, lids washed in gray.

If gray eyeshadow sounds a little glum on paper, the runways proved otherwise. From metallic slate to matte pewter, pigment kept landing in that cool-toned zone that’s been trending lately. But it’s a funny comeback when you think about it — gray eyeshadow has baggage.

As millennials know all too well, gray was the color of the year back in 2016. Gray hair, gray lipstick, gray cut creases — if it could be tinted slate, there was a YouTube tutorial for it. The version showing up now, though, feels less like a return to that era and more like a reset back to the late ’90s and early 2000s, when smoky eyes were flatter and intentionally imperfect.

Either way, one thing is clear: bronze Instagram glam isn’t coming back anytime soon. (Sorry, KarJenners.) Ahead, everything to know about fashion month’s coolest eye trend, plus how to wear it.

Gray Eyeshadow Is Everywhere

Between over-plucked brows and frosted lips, gray eyeshadow is just one part of late ’90s and early 2000s beauty revival — which Terry Barber, the global director of makeup artistry for MAC Cosmetics, previously told Bustle is “grunge in spirit but more polished because the products [today] are just better.”

That balance is exactly what made the shade work this season. The mood felt like a throwback, but the execution was way easier to wear. In London, Tolu Coker let a matte slate shadow do the talking, paired with otherwise minimal makeup. Meanwhile, Richard Quinn took it a step further, adding shimmer atop a soft gunmetal pigment that got diffused all around the eye. Finished with a rosy pink blush, the gray shadow felt equal parts polished and playful.

Paris also had its fair share of gray makeup moments. Issey Miyake opened the show with a wash of silver across models’ lids, set against a gray tailored dress that gave office-core made fun. Tom Ford took a darker turn, mixing charcoal shadow with a metallic sheen in the middle for a striped smoky eye. In New York, Carolina Herrera proved that gray can be a daytime shade with a dark pewter shadow.

Off the runway, TikTok is having its own fun with the color palette. Thanks to the bebot makeup trend, which borrows from the early 2000s Filipina baddie beauty aesthetic, creators are rocking gray-silver lids with frosty pink lipstick. Another look that’s been circulating? Grungier matte shadows paired with a nude concealer lip.

Whether you decide to go Y2K mallrat energy or Gabriette-core, the takeaway stays the same: eyeshadow is back, and this time around, it’s cool-toned.

How To Try It

Unlike the cut creases of 2016, today’s aesthetic tends to rely on just a single shade swept across the lid and diffused at the edges. The result should look slightly lived-in, making it perfect for even eyeshadow novices to recreate.

From there, the specific shade you choose sets the tone. Frosty silver leans straight into early-2000s mall glam territory. Then there’s blue-gray slate, á la Tolu Coker and Carolina Herrera, which feels cooler (literally) and more grown-up. On the other hand, deeper charcoal or gunmetal hues create that classic smoky eye effect without the harshness of black, giving the whole look a moodier, more ’90s edge.

For the full Y2K effect, pair gray lids with a frosty pink lip. (L’Oréal’s viral Ballerina Shoes shade fits the brief perfectly.) Or if you’d rather lean into the ’90s side of things, swap the gloss for a nude lip and greige liner — like MAC’s Stone shade, which gives the ultimate grungy, cool-girl vibe.

Whatever you pair it with, the formula is simple: one gray eyeshadow, smudged in, and you’re runway-ready.