When the “Me in 2016” trend popped off at the top of this year, I had a few theories as to why (beyond the obvious “decades make for convenient milestones”). Among them: The aesthetics of 2016 were just really fun. Alexander McQueen skull scarves, Valencia filters, sky-high platforms — we were having a time. And that really applied to the makeup. The sculpted, matte skin was often paired with bold lips and intricate, colorful eye makeup… not unlike the vibrant halo eye Zendaya just wore on the May 2026 cover of Vogue Brasil.
Admittedly, the overall look of the shoot is very, very far from 2016-core; the fringed and feathered ensembles, styled by Law Roach, are much more “glamorous Folies Bergère showgirl in a tropical locale.” But on one of the three covers, makeup artist Ernesto Casillas gave the Euphoria star a shimmering blue-green halo eye that would have been the envy of every OG YouTuber. (Though they’d have been much more heavy-handed with the lashes.)
Of course, trends don’t exist in a vacuum, and much of what was popular in the 2010s took inspiration from the high-glam makeup of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Indeed, the beauty the actor wears throughout most of the shoot — bright, draped blush, pigmented lips, and long red nails (courtesy of Kim Truong) — appears to draw much more from that joyful era of fashion and style.
And believe it or not, the inspo time machine doesn’t stop there. On Instagram, hairstylist Coree Moreno cited the Jazz Age, noting that, to style Zendaya’s bob, he “revived a vintage technique, using wave clamps and pin curls, to bring this 20s vibe to life.”
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