The Biggest Makeup Brand Of Our Teens Is Back – But Have We Outgrown It?

The year is 2003. I'm strutting to my local Boots in low-rise jeans adorned with butterflies, a satin tank top and patent white pumps. I'm allowed to spend my £5 pocket money (earned through household chores) on my first ever makeup products. It's a no-brainer: I head straight to 17. Cosmetics.

Fast-forward to 2022 and it's safe to say the brand has had a lasting impact on my beauty rituals. Like many young girls my age, I was drawn to its bold colours and cool teen vibe — it made me feel grown up. Bourjois, L'Oréal and Ruby & Millie didn't have the same fun allure. 17.'s lip gloss and clear mascara — the key to looking groovy, according to my teen magazines — were my first forays into this new, experimental world and though makeup wasn't allowed at my school, sneaky dabs of Stay Time Concealer helped hide my breakouts.

Despite amassing fans across the UK, in 2018 an Instagram post quietly announced 17.'s discontinuation — but it's safe to say our beauty tastes had moved on by then. Personally, a work experience stint in John Lewis' beauty hall introduced me to Lancôme’s Juicy Tubes and the rest is history. With brands like Fenty Beauty by Rihanna, Insta-famous Morphe and influencer favourite e.l.f. beginning to reign supreme thanks to social media, we forgot about 17. — until its surprising relaunch into Boots stores earlier this year. Like everyone else in the brand's Instagram comments section, I was instantly transported back in time. "A 17. mascara was the first makeup I ever owned," beauty journalist Helen Wilson-Beevers told me, "so the brand evokes warm and fuzzy beauty nostalgia." Similarly, freelance beauty editor Isabel Dexter recalls wearing 17.'s Shell lipstick as a teenager in the late '90s. "Think frosted pink vibes," she says. With nostalgic beauty trends like over-lined lips, gloss and skinny brows taking over, Isabel welcomes 17.'s comeback.

Today, Boots boasts some 500 beauty brands, from luxury offerings like NARS and Laura Mercier to trending brands such as Anastasia Beverly Hills, Kylie Cosmetics and Huda Beauty, with various shade ranges, skin types and emerging trends in mind. So why the revival of 17.? In a press release, head of beauty at Boots brands, Jenna Whittingham-Ward, said that affordability doesn't have to mean a compromise on quality, adding that the store is excited to bring a new-look 17. to beauty-loving customers. 17.'s relaunch certainly started off promising. The brand's imagery is young, fun and inclusive, while the collection is fully vegan and never tested on animals. There are new formulations, too, with a whopping 170+ products, and every item is under £5 — something many of us will be grateful for post-pandemic. Add to that our obsession with everything Y2K and it's no wonder the beauty industry welcomed back 17. with open arms. But is it falling short?

In such a saturated beauty market it's fair to say that we demand a lot from our products. Inclusion, quality and a sustainable edge are needed to get the thumbs up. Thanks to AI we can try before we buy and get an up-close glimpse of shade ranges and textures in YouTube tutorials. Influencers and TikTokers are justified in their critiques. On TikTok, beauty enthusiast Annie Rose Thomson tried 17.'s Eye Flicks Pen, £3. "Six or seven hours later, she's looking tired," says Annie in her review. "It's smudged slightly as you can see and the intensity is not as black as what I usually get from benefit." But for £3, Annie says it's not too bad and gives it a 6/10. TikToker Lizzie Demetriou was very impressed with her haul but reports that the blush didn't mix well with the foundation and that there were only three shades of the bronzer to choose from.

I managed to get my hands on the very popular Glow Is Everything CC Cream, £4, and Second Skin Enhancing Foundation, £5. I must say, they blend beautifully and offer a healthy-looking base with medium coverage. Both contain moisturising vitamin E and hydrating hyaluronic acid for a plump and fresh finish. The Second Skin Enhancing Concealer, £2, similarly impressed me, with not a whiff of cakiness. Sadly, however, the base products don't deliver on shade range. There are only four CC cream shades, 20 foundation shades and 10 concealer shades. Surely a diverse collection is the bare minimum a makeup line should offer in 2022 — especially when it's returning new and improved? Glow + Define Bronzer, £3.50, and Powder Blush Edit, £3.50, sufficed but again there are just three shades. Where is the consideration for darker skin tones? 

Beauty journalist Vanese Maddix has a particular interest in inclusivity and echoes my concerns. She thinks that the price point is great but says 17. could have done more. "For a brand that's been away for a number of years and put a lot of effort into a relaunch, I thought 17. would return with an inclusive shade range. In 2022, offering light, medium and dark shades isn't really good enough. I don't think the dark bronzer is very dark, and it looks ashy on the model's hand." If Vanese were to recommend anything to those with dark skin, it would be the eyeshadow palette in Golden, the lip pencils and mascaras.

I agree that each of the five mascaras (volumising, lengthening, curling, defining and lasting effect) and the Colour Glow Cream Blush, £4, deliver on quality — these are steals I would recommend. Beauty editor Isabel echoes my praise for some gems in the range. "Lip Boost + Shine Gloss has a great texture and I'm happy the line is vegan." The brand's Second Skin Enhancing Foundation, £5, has five-star reviews but compared to the likes of Fenty Beauty (50 shades) and more affordable options like NYX Professional Make Up (45 shades), which are also available at Boots, offering just 20 shades isn't cutting it with many industry pros. Makeup artist Lauren tells me: "I have budget brands in my kit but I need to know they will last all day, work for all skin tones and are highly pigmented for photographs. Sadly many of these products don't offer that." Beauty lover Jess concurs: "As a Black woman and a beauty lover, I'd rather shop e.l.f., which offers 40 shades in their CC cream and a £9 foundation."

I repeat-buy from bargain brands including e.l.f., Maybelline, Sleek Makeup, Revolution and L'Oréal, all of which I believe do a lot more for darker skin tones. There's a reason why they're trending all over social. The shade range is the biggest letdown of 17.'s new collection.

Flicking through pictures of me as a teen wearing 17. makeup, it looks as though I've got hardly anything on at all. The '00s really hadn't found that pigment payoff yet! Years later, the Matte Lip, £3, and Crème Lip, £3, both sat on my lips with a cheap, waxy feel and the colours aren't quite right, either. Ironically the lipsticks remind me of the '00s but in the worst way. Every other product is passable but the quality isn't there in formulations, pigment or staying power. I give props to the accessible price tags but in my honest opinion, I'd rather pay a few pounds more for a quality product which I'd use to the last drop. Refinery29's senior beauty editor Jacqueline agrees and worries that the TikTok trend for beauty hauls featuring cheap, high street products may lead to us buying more than we actually need, contributing to landfill. According to Zero Waste, 120 billion units of packaging are produced globally every year by the cosmetics industry.

Perhaps the look consumers want has changed too much for 17. to flourish or assume cult status like Fenty, e.l.f. and NYX. A slick of barely there lippy was enough for me in my teens but lots of makeup lovers fancy the snatched look, with pigments that'll shine in TikTok videos and allow us to channel our inner Euphoria. Makeup obsessive Millie agrees: "17.'s prices are ideal for my student budget but I don't think many of the products compete with the other high street brands out there. I want quality, plus I like to shop eco-friendly." The vegan credentials are great but there is no word on sustainability and this is a real shame. Most high street brands are plastic-centric and 17. returning with its own sustainability pledge would have been wonderful and may have set it apart from its competitors. The one consolation, perhaps, is that you can recycle plastic products at some Boots stores.

Some of those who loved 17. in the past have now outgrown the brand, with enthusiasts like Grace deciding to skip the relaunch altogether. "I did shop 17. back in the day," she told me, "but now I have more disposable income I forgo the budget brands in Boots for the quality of Fenty Beauty, Estée Lauder and YSL." In a similar vein, a fellow beauty editor tells me: "I wish 17. had returned with a USP apart from the £5-and-under sell. Without all-round product quality, it misses the mark. The tagline 'unbelievable beauty, unbelievable quality, unbelievable prices' sadly doesn't ring true."

As a makeup obsessive, I'd rather have seen 17. burst back onto the scene with just 20 products that match the quality of the blush and mascara. I was so willing for this to be a tale of rekindled first love but I can't hide my disappointment — and those I spoke to agree. This Jenny from the block used to have a little choice, and now I have a lot. The beauty world has moved on in leaps and bounds and in order to make a true impact, brands must move with us.