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Madonna

At the first-ever MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, Madonna stole the show with red lips and a perm.

Cindy Crawford

This shot of Cindy at the 1992 MTV VMAs proves that she has basically turned back time.

Sandra Bullock

Sandra is so ‘90s with baby bangs and a dark lip at the 1994 awards.

Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain

Nobody did grunge glam better than Courtney and Kurt.

Spice Girls

The pop stars gave beauty lovers plenty of hair and makeup inspo at the ’97 show.

Gwen Stefani and Lenny Kravitz

At the ’98 MTV VMAs, Gwen Stefani’s music festival beauty vibes were almost outshone by Lenny Kravitz.

Jennifer Lopez

Remember J.Lo’s bandana?

Destiny’s Child

The members of DC all had different hair colours at the 2001 awards show, but definitely colour-coordinated their lipgloss and outfits.

Britney Spears

The 2001 MTV VMAs blew up when Brit walked on stage – probably because of her flawless waves and glitter eye shadow, but definitely not because of the snake around her neck.

Avril Lavigne

In 2002, the only makeup essential was dark eyeliner for this skater girl.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen

The future fashion designers were still in twinning mode with a smoky eye and a touch of foundation at the 2003 MTV VMAs.

Ashlee Simpson

The VMAs are the place to experiment with your beauty look, like the younger Simpson sister did in 2004 with green liner.

Rihanna

Baby Rihanna in 2005.

Beyoncé

At the 2005 VMAs we were crazy in love with Bey’s curls and metallic eye.

Hilary Duff

Lizzie McGuire was all grown up at the 2005 awards with bronzed cheeks and nude lip.

Lindsay Lohan

Post-‘Mean Girls’, Lindsay was everywhere and of course made a head-turning appearance at the 2005 VMAs.

Christina Aguilera

It may have been 2006, but Christina went full-out, old school, Hollywood glam with a bold lip and ringlets.

Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag

LC and Heidi at the 2006 MTV VMAs were blonde, tanned and wearing matching glossy lips.

Taylor Swift

We still have a place in our hearts for Taylor’s soft curls, here on display at her first VMAs.

Jennifer Lopez

This is the J. Lo we know now – with a sleek pony, nude lip and her best smize.

Janet Jackson

Janet paid special tribute to her late brother at the 2009 MTV VMAs, and took to the stage with a smoky eye and half-up, half-down hair.

Lady Gaga

Everyone was talking about Gaga’s meat dress at the 2010 VMAs, but we prefer to focus on her pretty mermaid hair.

Adele

Adele hasn’t strayed from her signature waves and eyeliner since 2011.

Katy Perry

Katy, here in 2011, was one of the first to jump on the pastel hair trend.

Rihanna

Riri’s pixie cut at the 2012 VMAs showred off her stunning features.

Miley Cyrus

Hannah Montana was nowhere to be seen when Miley debuted her short cut on the red carpet at the 2012 awards show.

Selena Gomez

Selena’s 2013 MTV VMA hair is so perfect, no wonder she became a spokesmodel for Pantene two years later.

Nicki Minaj

Nicki has the most fun with beauty on the red carpet of anyone we know. But we also love when she dials it back, like this dramatic eye and pastel lip at the 2014 awards.

Cara Delevingne

We can’t tear our eyes away from the actress’s perfect brows at the 2015 show.

Demi Lovato

This slicked-back hair and perfect winged liner is Demi’s version of power dressing.

Rita Ora

Our April cover girl sported the smokiest of eyes as the 2015 VMAs.

Gigi Hadid

Makeup artist Patrick Ta gave Gigi a gorgeous glow in 2015.

Kylie Jenner

The youngest Jenner sister trialled a fringe but stuck with her classic nude lip at the 2015 MTV VMAs.

Willow Smith

Willow indulged her inner David Bowie at the 2015 awards show.