I Recreated My 2016 Makeup Next to 2026 Makeup | Elena Rachitskaya

I was looking through my old photos and honestly this is probably the happiest version of me I could find. So today I'm recreating true 2016 makeup on the one side of my face and 2026 on the other to see what still looks good. And this was my special occasion makeup. And this one is my go-to everyday makeup. Let's begin. So now my go-to is a very simple makeup look. Fluffy Brow blindness was honestly traumatic and I still have to live with those almost black brows next to silver blonde hair in my old photos. Today I use very light movements and fill only the empty spots with a brow marker. That's it. The most important thing is the right natural color for me, not too dark and the perfect olive toned shade. Back in 2016 I used to do my brows with the gray eyeshadows using just a wet technique and honestly it was so good. If you had a good brow day you were the queen. The bottom had to be perfectly straight line, the tail super dark and the front softly blended into the gradient. Do you remember those days? Please tell me your hottest cyber story so I don't feel so bad about mine. Then one day I just woke up and realized those brows were way too harsh for my hooded lids. They made my eyes look even more hooded and somehow they also enhanced my under eye bags every single morning before university. Just oh and actually that's not even the end of it. I used to sharpen them as much as possible with a concealer. It had to be full coverage and definitely matte. Forget hydration and glow. We didn't even know those words back then. Next foundation. I bought one from fanciest day so let's see how it goes. In 2026 there are so many complexion products with the skincare formulas, moisturizing ingredients and a glowing finish. Most of them are water-based so we need to shake them first to even out the formula. Okay I'm going to apply it like this and let's see how it blends. You can already see it's not completely liquid. It still holds the drip shape which is interesting. I'm blending it with a synthetic brush and that's so cool. It blends really easily without needing any special makeup tricks. The coverage is light but we will try to build it up and take a close-up look. I would definitely recommend it for combo or dry skin but probably not for oily skin. As soon as it sets the finish looks very natural, not flat matte, not oily, glowy or sticky. Just like real skin I really like it. It's less tricky than a lot of skins since I've tried before. It evens out the skin tone beautifully and I'd even say it blurs the pores a little. Anyway it definitely looks better. Look at the close-up and then from a distance. Very good. My first impression is honestly really strong. Next time I'll come back in another video and tell you how it wears throughout the whole day. Now in 2016 I used to wear full coverage matte foundation with a sponge and I wore it every single day. Even for the whole I'm not wearing makeup I just naturally look perfect white. No freckles, no moles, no fake freckles especially. Are you kidding me? We have to be perfect. Applied everywhere. Even if I pumped way too much foundation onto my hand still go in my face. I paid for it. I'm not throw it away. And by the way I used to wear foundation that were way too orange back then. Although honestly I still sometimes play around with the shades now and I think it's because I'm natural a pal. But back then I was really into Next concealer. By the way this is actually the same type of product I used back then. And I still use a matte concealer. I've just changed the way I blend it and how much I apply. Nowadays I apply concealer only to the inner corners and then blend it into the blue and purple areas. I also use it around the nose and sometimes I even use it as an eye primer. Back in 2016 I honestly didn't care about wrinkles or creasing. I only cared about the color. It had to be white. Those Hollywood triangles were probably the only geometry I was capable of practicing after school. I was definitely playing with the optical illusion but I didn't really know what I was doing or how I was actually supposed to blend it. And I definitely didn't care about properly canceling out my dark blue under eyes. I just covered them with a concealer, with a white concealer and somehow they turned into what is now a very trendy shade. Sky blue. Now let's move on to blush. 2026 is all about lightweight, glowing, almost invisible textures. One of the biggest trends this spring is water blushes and I picked this one up yesterday during the Sephora savings event. So it says we need to shake it first. See? Everything needs to be shaken in 2026. What if that's the sign of the entire era? Okay shake it well. I chose a blackberry shade which feels so fresh, so good. It looks scary at first because it's very dark, I know, but trust the process. This is a watery formula. We are in 2026, nothing to worry about. I apply it and once it sets it turns matte rather than that glowy and sticky, you know, just matte. And it really locks in place which is good especially for the summer. Back in 2016 I honestly didn't really care about blush. All I wanted was sharp sculpted cheekbones. I used orange bronze as a contour and I remember those days before we all moved into the grey cheek era. I also applied bronzer along the jawline which made the difference between my skin tone, my orange foundation and my pale neck even more obvious. And of course nose contouring. Although honestly I don't remember being too obsessed with that part. Next is powder. Nowadays I apply powder only with a brush, very subtly and only where the makeup actually needs to be set. Usually around my fine lines. Also under the eyes, just enough to remove extra shine from the under eye area and set the smile lines. And then just a touch on the forehead. Oh but back then I used to apply it with a damp sponge and very very generously. A lot under the eyes especially so darker shadow fallout could be easily swept away afterward. And of course under the cheekbone too just to make it snatched. And also just like a continuation from the lip corners. It was called baking. God, those were such a good times. Now let's talk about highlighter. Now we use cream products so much more often, right? They look natural and give the most natural shine to the highest point of the face. I apply it to the back of my hand first, then warm it up and look how gorgeous that glow is. Then you turn toward the light, find where your natural reflection hits and apply it exactly here. I blend it with my fingertips and that's so natural. Completely invisible on the skin but still so pretty and fresh. Such a clean girl makeup vibe, right? Back in 2016 guys, it was basically only powder products for that. Except foundation and concealer I guess. Because a liquid highlighter we use as a face primer, you know. Applying highlighter to the cupid's bow was probably the most viral thing ever. MAC Soft and Gentle and that iconic ABH 4 pan glow kit were probably my top picks. And honestly I still use the MAC one. It's a must-have for me. Sometimes even as an eyeshadow, so just a tiny touch. But back then we used to apply it all over the cheeks, straight onto the apples and we generally didn't care about pores. And actually we placed it way too low, in one straight line directly toward the hairline, which is not actually okay. And when the face was orange, the highlighter obviously had to be silver. Color theory truly left the chat. And of course, the final touch, the tip of the nose and the bridge of the nose. Oh my god, that's what I love the most. Lips. I apply lipstick with the light, tappy motions and I usually blend the edges with my fingertip for that blurry effect. Sometimes I use a lip liner, but lately it's mostly just lipstick. And I usually match the lipstick shade to the color of my blush. And it all has to feel natural, like one cohesive picture. Back then I always start with my lip liner. Of course, the legend MAC. I would smile and go really high with a liner. Overlining the lips was my absolute must. I am honestly so scared of doctors and anything involving injections. So maybe that's why I never touched my lips. But back then that whole look was such a huge trend. And now look how fout I took my lip contour. It looks so strange, but I really used to do it. My hand still remembers this movement, which is such a strange feeling. And of course, matte liquid lipsticks were everywhere. I personally didn't love them. They were way too drying for me. And I could literally peel my lips. And that's why I usually went for creamy lipstick or lip gloss instead. Oh, and I often did this too. I applied concealer over my lips to make them look lighter. I already felt back then that something was a little off with the color and my low contrast. So... But at this time makeup had to be visible. If you wore lipstick, it had to look like lipsticks. Makeup felt like such an amazing tool to play with. And it had to be obvious what you have done. Eye makeup. This is fun. So my go-to eye makeup now is very simple. So I apply mid-tone brown to the outer corner of my eye with a fluffy synthetic brush. Then I place it on the hooded part of the eye and blend it outward toward the temple. A little higher to leave the shape. Then I go along the lower lash line to make the eye look bigger. And then I apply matte white eyeshadow to the inner corner and onto the mobile lid as close to the lash line as possible to create more visible space here. I actually call it the strip of delight and hope. Because my hooded lids naturally pull very low. Back in 2016 I started with a light matte shade. If you remember the naked palette in the velvet packaging, it's probably still somewhere in my mom's apartment. Then I took a mid-tone shade, lower the crease and blend it with a big brush. After that I slowly build the intensity toward the outer corner. Blending definitely wasn't my strongest skill back then. So I'm going to try to recreate it exactly how I remember. Then I went in with a darker gray shade. Color theory wasn't exactly my strength either. And I placed it on the outer corner almost like a dot. Almost no blending. And then I added the same color to the lower lash line. And then the very very dark matte eyeshadow went right on top of the same area. With a clean brush I tried to turn it into something smoother, but honestly it was dirty and uneven. I just kept swiping side to side in chaotic motions. And when I realized I couldn't make it any better than that, I moved on to the next step. Cut crease. Girls, are you here? Who remembers when we were so young that our only real problem was making the eye makeup symmetrical? Even in 2016 I already knew the mobile lid had to stay light and a fake crease was the only thing that could really help my hooded lids. And by the way, I only truly accepted my hooded lids around the age of 25 I guess. And of course I did a lot of sparkle on top of the concealer. It could be some kind of girl highlighter or bronze shimmer eyeshadow or maybe something from Urban Decay Space Cowboy. Something like that. Honestly I still love shiny eyeshadows, so these are the OG sparkles in my makeup kit. Black eyeliner. I've been applying black pencil to my upper waterline since high school. And it's very important to mention that I had very strict rules around makeup growing up and I wasn't really allowed to wear it. So by the time I got to university it felt like freedom to finally play with everything I hadn't been allowed to do for so long. And that's probably how it eventually became my profession. In 2016 I did the same upper waterline plus big winged liner. And my favorite moment. I cleaned under the wing with the concealer and the sharp brush. Such a satisfaction. I also applied the black pencil to the lower waterline and then just added lots of mascara. But I never really loved fake lashes. They always felt too long for my hooded prominent lids. Today I can totally skip mascara or I'll just apply a tiny bit, wiggle it into the roots and lightly slide upward. Look how beautiful that is. And the last thing. Highlighter under the brow bone. Oh yes, it was so popular but completely unnecessary for my eye shape. It made the hooded part of my eye look even heavier. So... But the thing I did keep for today is highlight in the inner corners. Compare both sides. What do you think? Look at the close-ups. The eye makeup, the lips, the skin. And then from a distance. Which side would you choose? The modern one or the old vibe side? Let me know. Because personally I'm feeling surprisingly emotional right now about the old me or maybe the old times. I don't know. This video is so much fun because it really plays into that nostalgic feeling. It's still me but it feels like a completely different person. Look at the eyes and brows separately from the lips. What do you think? Which side? And then look at the lips without the eye makeup. Which one is better? These are two completely different moods, styles and personalities. And honestly looking at these two sides feels so emotional. It's not even just about makeup anymore. It's about time, growth, mistakes and everything we carry with us through different versions of ourselves. But no matter how much I miss the old vibes, I will always choose the present. Because now I know myself better. I know what truly suits me and I know how I want to feel. And I think that confidence is the most beautiful glow any decade can give you. So tell me in the comments which side are you choosing? 2016 or 2020-16? And maybe which version of you do you miss the most? Thank you so much for watching. See you soon. Bye!