The 16 Worst Beauty Mistakes Everyone Made in the '70s
Giant hair, muttonchops, and tanning oil. Yikes!
The Seventies: a time full of disco music, Charlie's Angels, and plenty of mustachioed hunks — but unfortunately, it also saw a lot of pretty terrible makeup and hair trends. Take a look back and prepare to cringe...
Round, Teased Hair
Looking like an extra in Mars Attacks! doesn't seem like a great idea anymore, but Marisa Berenson and other actresses at the time helped popularize this heavily hair-sprayed style.
Tanning Oil
Slathering on lots of oil to enhance your "glow" is now a thing of the past, but at one point, women flocked to the beach covered in this greasy stuff. Not only did it turn you orange, it could also seriously damage your skin if you went sans SPF.
Heavily Defined Makeup
You know how you're always told to play up either your eyes or your lips? It's okay to do both sometimes, but not every part of your face needs to be accentuated with a hefty dose of makeup. Well, in the '70s, you played up your lips, eyes, cheeks, eyebrows…
Feathered Bangs
A little bit of shagginess to your hair can look great, but feathered bangs is one trend from the '70s and '80s we really, really won't miss.
Crocheted Beanies
Sorry folks, but no matter how you wear these, they just make you look like a little kid at summer camp.
Muttonchops
Yes, men rocked ridiculous sideburns like it was the 19th century all over again. Lots of guys donned cool facial hair (shoutout to Tom Selleck and his epic mustache!), but muttonchops have never been, and will never be, a flattering trend.
Tiny High Ponytail
We love a good high ponytail, but something about this teensy tiny 'do looks more like it belongs on a maltese pup in a dog show than on a person.
Huge Spiky Hair
The 1970s gave birth to the punk movement, but with it came some of the most absurd (and time-consuming!) hairstyles in history.
Flower Clips
Unless you are a child in a wedding or an actual fairy, please do not put flowers directly front and center at the top of your head like Goldie Hawn did.
Long Bowl Cuts
Popularized by '70s punk legends The Ramones, the long bowl cut (slightly more edgy than the tightly trimmed Beatles' version) saw men wearing totally smooth styles that curled just a teensy bit at the end, making their heads look like hair-colored mushrooms.
Dark Lipliner With Light Lipstick
Oversized lashes with dramatic lips can look great for the occasional wild night out, but if you're going to draw dark liner around the edges of your lips, it's important to blend the color a bit so it's more seamless.
Tadpole Brows
Neither thin nor thick, this crazy brow shape flattered no one — not even Madonna.
The Mullet
Has the mullet ever been flattering on literally anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Mullet-Shag
A longer (yet equally awkward) rendition of the mullet, this style plagued the 1970s with its feathered shagginess.
Chalky Blue Shadow
This is one trend that's been coming back, but we sure hope nobody tries this type of thick, dusty formula.
Sam's enthusiasm for makeup is only rivaled by their love of all things relating to cats. In their spare time, they enjoy watching scary movies, putting avocado on everything, and seeing how many shades of the rainbow they can dye their hair before 30.
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