As long as social media is around, creators will continue to revive old and forgotten trends from a bygone era. Those who grew up in the early 2000s are unlikely to cling to the style and fashion they followed back in the day. That being said, these questionable fashion and beauty hacks can make people feel embarrassed and nostalgic in equal measure. TikTok creator Kate Steinberg (@itskatesteinberg) took her viewers on a trip down memory lane to when girls were doing their own hair lightening hacks.
In the early 2000s, to save money on salon visits, teenage girls would often look for alternative ways to make their hair look blonder. One crazy alternative was using lemon juice to lighten their hair. Steinberg appears in the video with her hair parted and straight, frosted eyeshadow and lip gloss. She then pulls out a bag of lemons and begins squeezing the juice all over her head.
A voice from off-screen asks what he’s doing, to which Steinberg replies that he’s using lemons to lighten his hair. This hair-lightening hack was popular among women in the early 2000s because the citric acid in lemons acted as a bleaching agent, similar to hydrogen peroxide, and was believed to turn hair blonde. The video has been viewed more than 7 million times to date, and the comments section has been flooded with nostalgia-filled millennials.
@chantel7723 suggested, “Put lemon, chamomile tea, and a little bit of conditioner in a spray bottle, spray, then comb through for a more even lightening effect!” @looloo.booboo recalled, “In high school, my friends and I used Sun-in at the pool, and when we got home, their moms were freaking out.” @zenkinii commented, “I used to dye my hair with a little crayon and straighten it out with a straightening iron.” @nettiethegreat wrote, “You just rub it into your hair. It reminds me of my friends washing their faces like in the Neutrogena commercials. Like girls.” @derpyterps joked, “I used hydrogen peroxide. It smelled awful but it worked. I would then put on conditioner five times to make sure I didn’t get so much breakage.”
This isn’t the only video where Steinberg has taken viewers on a rollercoaster ride of popular trends from decades ago. Her entire page is dedicated to nostalgic lost fashion and pop culture from the early 2000s, so some of Steinberg’s most popular videos poke fun at them. The most popular video on her page, which has been viewed more than 16 million times, depicts the behavior of some girls during their first period of school swimming in 2008. Steinberg appears in a soaked crop top and wet hair, vigorously spraying perfume all over her body and hastily combing her hair to one side.
Another of her videos, which has more than a million views, gives a modern generation an idea of how girls would dress for prom in 2008. Steinberg appears in a glittery dress with “five layers of fake tan” and again squirts all-over deodorant. She also wears very light eyeshadow. Steinberg applies hand cream and pops four capsules of Listerine in her mouth before walking off camera.
For more funny videos about millennial trends, follow Kate Steinberg (@itskatesteinberg) on TikTok.
