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I am not a pink lipstick girl.

When I think of pink lipstick, I think of my grandma. Which is lovely for Grandma, but not exactly the vibe I’m going for when I’m standing at the MAC counter looking for a new lip combo.

I grew up in the 90s, when grunge was king, eyebrows were questionable, and a dark lip liner paired with a much lighter lipstick was considered completely reasonable behavior. And I loved every minute of it.

Bringing My Favorite 90s Lip Look Back

I’m pretty sure I wore Wet n Wild lip liner in 666 with some sort of frosty light brown lipstick for approximately four straight years of high school. If you were there, you know.

So when I started seeing 90s makeup coming back, I was thrilled.

But there is a difference between being inspired by the makeup I wore at 16 and actually wanting to recreate it exactly. I love nostalgia. I do not necessarily need my lipstick visible from across the food court.

I wanted a grown-up version of that dark-liner/light-lip look I used to love.

Enter MAC Chestnut Lip Pencil.

Chestnut seemed perfect. It has that deep, cool brown color that immediately gives me the 90s lip-liner feeling I was looking for.

There was just one small problem.

What the heck was I supposed to put with it?

MAC Chestnut + Peppermint Patty: The Combo I Didn’t Expect to Love

I wasn’t sure I wanted to go back to a frosty lipstick. Frost at 16? Absolutely. Frost now? Potentially fabulous, potentially “I haven’t changed my makeup since the Clinton administration.”

Then I saw someone on TikTok pair MAC Chestnut with Pink Peppermint.

Pink.

Of course.

My immediate reaction was basically, No thank you.

But the more I looked at it, the more I wondered if it might actually work. Pink Peppermint is a cooler pink, and Chestnut has those deep, cooler undertones. Maybe the combination would give me the contrast I loved about my old 90s lip without feeling like I was trying to recreate my high school yearbook photo.

So I tried it.

And I was shocked.

Chestnut and Peppermint Patty are ridiculously good together.

Chestnut is dark—and I mean dark. This is not a timid little “my lips but better” liner. Chestnut has entered the room and would like everyone to know it’s here.

On my medium skin tone, I like to blend it quite a bit before adding Pink Peppermint. That softens the contrast while still leaving enough depth around the edges to get that 90s-inspired look.

And somehow, the pink works.

Not Grandma pink. Not bubblegum pink. Not why did I buy this pink?

It becomes this really pretty cool-toned, dimensional lip that feels nostalgic without feeling like a costume.

And Then I Started Playing With Gloss

Technically, I could stop with Chestnut and Pink Peppermint, add a clear gloss and call it a day.

But apparently I am incapable of leaving well enough alone.

I wanted a little more variation and dimension, so I started experimenting with different MAC glosses over the top.

Nymphette was pretty. I liked it. The gold in it was gorgeous.

But Oyster Girl?

That was the one.

Oyster Girl gives the combination that little bit of shine and lightness that reminds me of the frosty lips I loved in the 90s—without requiring me to fully recommit to frosted lipstick and start listening to Bush in my bedroom.

Although, to be fair, I would happily do the second part.

I still switch up the gloss depending on my mood, and sometimes I just wear Chestnut and Pink Peppermint on their own.

But the biggest surprise is how often I actually reach for this combination.

I bought Chestnut because I wanted a modern version of a lip look I loved years ago. I tried Pink Peppermint Patty even though I was convinced I wasn’t a pink-lipstick person.

And somehow the two together became one of my favorite combinations.

Maybe I’m still not a pink lipstick girl.

Maybe I’m just a pink-lipstick-with-a-really-dark-brown-liner girl.

And honestly?

That sounds much more like me.