Fruit, fun and face masks: revisiting the DIY beauty trends of the 90s

Ah, the 90s. A time when "natural beauty" wasn’t just a TikTok hashtag but a full-blown rite of passage that everyone from teens to adults took part in. Makeup was minimal and everyone wanted to look like they just rolled out of bed - perfectly dishevelled, of course. And let’s not forget the DIY beauty obsession, suggesting that all our beauty woes could be cured by some sort of fridge-based concoction.

Back then, our skincare arsenal often included mashed bananas, yogurt, honey and maybe an avocado or two. These mixtures promised glowing skin and silky hair, all while saving cash and avoiding those ominous-sounding "chemicals". As a beauty journalist - and child of the 90s - I’ve been tasked to revisit these fruity facials and pantry potions to see if they still hold up, or if they’re best left as a messy memory. Spoiler: it’s going to get sticky.

The DIY generation

DIY beauty had its heyday for a few good reasons. First, it was affordable. A jar of fancy cream might have cost you your entire year of pocket money, but a banana, well that could be acquired from the nearest fruit bowl. Second, there was the "natural is better" movement, with brands like The Body Shop championing cruelty-free formulas and sustainability. Lastly, these concoctions felt customisable and low-risk too. Oily skin? Try some cucumber. Dry hair? Drown it in olive oil. And for the most part, they were relatively harmless.

Fast forward to today, and DIY beauty is having a resurgence, thanks to TikTok trends and the 90s culture come back. Rosemary water for hair growth, coconut oil for everything and avocado on the face remain popular – is that because we were actually onto something with the less is more approach? Or should we now know better than to waste our precious weekly shop for minimal results? Let’s find out.

The good, the bad, and the slimy

A typical slumber party in the 90s wasn’t complete without some sort of gunky-looking mask. This is one I remember well and gave it another go for old time’s sake. Step one: find and mash avocado. Step two: add plain yogurt. Step three: add honey, mix and apply to the face. Step four: regretfully realise that you’re now without breakfast ingredients for the next week.

Did this DIY face mask work at all? I’d like to tell you that it rivalled my favourites from brands like Sisley, but sadly, I didn’t feel or see much of a difference at all. I wasn’t deterred though. After a particularly heavy night of revelling, I tried a classic retro eye de-puffing technique of using chilled cucumber slices on my eyes. And honestly, it wasn’t terrible; they felt soothing and though they didn’t do much for my under-eye shadows, it was nice for about five minutes before the slices slipped off my face. But if I’m honest, they just didn’t compare to Patchology’s Illuminating Eye Gels, their more modern (and effective) counterpart.

I had some luck with a DIY body scrub, created using brown sugar and olive oil which did work in a similar way to a modern body polish, and was excellent on my dry, dull wintry skin. But this joy was overshadowed by the worst of my trials: a protein-rich egg hair mask. I remember trying this as a teenager - as directed by my beloved teen magazines like Mizz and J17 - but have also seen its resurgence on social media. The method: take an egg, whisk it, and apply it to the hair as a mask, leaving for a couple of hours. My biggest fear was realised when I washed it out with too-hot water causing it to scramble in the shower - and even after I dried it, it still had a feint whiff of rotten eggs.

The science bit

I can see the logic; though they’re messy and slimy, eggs are protein- and vitamin-rich. But the issue is that the protein molecules within the egg are large, so they don’t necessarily bond to or penetrate the hair. Though some vitamins, like C and E, are proven antioxidants - the kind you’d find in many fruits for example - their natural molecules often need chemical tweaking to penetrate skin effectively. That tweaking isn’t a bad thing, and it can be more sustainable too; biomimetic ingredients are developed in a lab to mimic natural ingredients, saving the water, petrol and flights that it takes to deliver them to our supermarket shelves. The formulas used in our beauty products are created by scientists to use the right size molecules to penetrate different parts of the hair and skin, for the most effective delivery of ingredients, and end result. Frankly, I respect that.

Although there’s an allure to digging through the fridge for your beauty routine, the other danger is that when natural ingredients are exposed to the air - without the preservatives used in skincare - they can become bacteria hubs, causing irritation and even skin infections. Likewise, citrus oils and juice can cause burns to the skin and cinnamon can irritate sensitive skin too.

So is there an upside? If your skin is prone to breakouts, then the antimicrobial properties in avocado could help sooth inflamed skin - although you could just use an avocado oil based cleanser; Glow Recipe has one with added ceramides to repair the skin’s barrier.

Lemon juice was the hair bleaching choice for many 90’s teens, and although drying, it can lighten blonde hair in the sun - although anyone with dark hair should avoid it, unless traffic cone orange is the desired effect. Used, cold teabags as an eye refresher has some merit too; the caffeine molecules are small enough to penetrate straight into the skin and can help to improve circulation, in the way a caffeine-laden eye cream might too.

Would I use any of these again? The scrub is a maybe, as are the tea bags, and when I’m low on eye make-up remover, coconut oil does a decent-enough, albeit messy job. Overall though these pantry potions might be fun and nostalgic, but I’d rather trust a well-formulated beauty product to do the heavy lifting.