Nostalgia, MAC-styleBack to the 2010s with Cindy Kimberly
Missing old-school makeup culture? So are we – and along with OG makeup guru Cindy Kimberly, MAC are taking us back to the #throwback internet era, one lip combo at a time.
By Cameron Cook
3 December 2025 · 6 min read
If you’re into makeup and grew up in the 2010s, chances are you’ve spent quite a bit of time trying to look like Cindy Kimberly. The 26-year-old, Dutch-born Spanish model went stratospheric in 2016, when her viral Instagram page introduced a whole generation of makeup obsessives to her fun, sexy, and uncomplicated takes on beauty culture. A die-hard MAC girlie, Cindy swears by her lip combos, and uses them in her daily routine, both as a surefire trademark, and an easy way to switch up her looks. An expert on 2010s culture, here are her musings on modern beauty, what MAC products work best for her, and why we’re all just looking for a little bit of fun.
Gloss it up
Which MAC lip combo speaks to you the most at the moment?
So, this is actually a well-kept secret of the internet. Everyone wants to know what my MAC lip pencil is and they always get it wrong. Everyone thinks it’s ‘Whirl’ – which I also love – but it’s actually ‘Plum’ and a clear gloss. I also really like ‘Chestnut’, and I love ‘Soar’. ‘Soar’ is for when I'm feeling like a cutie-pie, but ‘Plum’ is for when I want to feel sexy.
If you had to create a 2010s-inspired MAC lip combo what would it be?
I did a MAC lip combo collab a while back, and it was actually very 2010s. It was pink and glossy – back in the 2010s the tones were very nude, not as contrasted and editorial like we do nowadays. It was a very everyday type of nude, but the gloss made it very contemporary. The colours were ‘Soar’ lip pencil and ‘Brickthrough’ lipstick. Wow, look at me, MAC Ambassador!
You’re known as the OG online beauty guru – what got you into makeup originally?
I guess I always watched my mum put on her makeup and I was always so curious. Sometimes before class, I would secretly go and steal my mum’s makeup and put it on. But the true beginning of me getting into makeup was watching makeup tutorials on YouTube.
Were there any early YouTubers who really inspired you?
I was really big on Michelle Phan from back in the day. But actually the first YouTube tutorial I remember doing was a hair tutorial, to get Lana Del Rey’s hair from her Born to Die era. That was when I realised that I could just look up something on YouTube, and that it would teach me. Also, I think when Vogue came out with their “Beauty Secrets” videos, it was a big moment.
Do you remember the first time you encountered a MAC product? What were your favourite MAC products at the time?
Well, when I was younger, MAC products were probably my wishlist, which is so funny to think about because nowadays I’m so big on MAC lip products. I only use MAC lip liners. But I actually think my first MAC product was an eyeshadow palette collab with Rihanna. I think I was big on MAC because I was part of the Navy and really into Rihanna’s twitter!
Is there anything from that era of internet beauty culture that you feel particularly nostalgic for?
Well, everything eventually comes back. All of us are so interconnected, I feel like as soon as you start getting nostalgic about something, other people are getting nostalgic about the same thing. Within a year of me being like, ‘Oh, I really miss this thing,’ it’s a trend on the internet. So I feel like I don't really miss anything as much anymore.
We’re seeing playful beauty looks come back into style, after a few years of ‘clean girl’ aesthetic taking over social media. Which one do you personally prefer?
I think it varies from day to day – I like a juxtaposition. I like to do either a super clean face and really bold lip, a lot of crazy eye makeup and then bare everywhere else. But I think that’s the fun thing about makeup, you can choose to play every day.
What’s your combo?
How does the beauty content you’re making now compare to what you were doing in the 2010s?
At some point, I started to feel a lot more pressure about what to post. Now, it feels like your life is on the line when you post online. Before, you would use the internet as an escape, and now it has become reality. I think we’re reminiscing of a time where fun was real, and it was real fun. Maybe the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic was a reaction to the chaos of recent times, and those girls just looked so put together. But we just want to have fun!
What makeup fails or wins have you carried through your beauty career?
Well, I always think everything looks amazing at the time, and then I look back and I’m like, ‘What the hell was I doing?’ Like dipped brows. I literally just saw a TikTok someone made of me with photos from 2016 – it was so cute, but all I can see are my eyebrows. I’m like, ‘Please get this off the internet!’
One thing that has always stayed in my makeup routine is probably highlighter on the inner corner of my eye — that has never changed.
What would be on your ultimate ‘get ready with me’ 2010s playlist?
I loved “Bad Girls” by M.I.A., to this day if I want to feel like a bad bitch I put that song on. “Oblivion” by Grimes. I also was a huge Gaga fan, Rihanna… Ariana Grande’s first album too. Yours Truly was definitely getting played a lot.
Lip service
Are there any makeup trends from that era that you wish would come back or still find really inspiring?
I’m big on highlighter. You know, we did the blush, but maybe let’s put the blush aside for a second. It got a little crazy – no judgment! But back in 2016, we were so into the highlighter and I think it’s gonna become our next big obsession again.
And on the flipside, is there anything you’d want to leave in the past forever?
Never say never! Makeup is so creative. You can make anything look editorial and get away with it. So I might be like, ‘Yeah, maybe dipped brows were a mistake by society,’ but if you do it in a cool way, I might be like, ‘Damn, that actually looks really good!’
Mix ‘em up
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