TikTok’s Weirdest Beauty Trends in 2021

Another year of masks, “Zoom” filters and excessive time spent in front of the screens seems to have taken the beauty industry off the hook.

I’m 2021, o TikTok – the video platform with a history of leveraging cosmetics to such success that they remain sold out for weeks – was inundated with some pretty weird beauty and skin care tips.

The app has proven to be an important piece to this industry over the past two years, influencing consumer habits and even rekindling interest in products launched years ago (searches by a color broker launched in 2016 are now reaching historic levels thanks to TikTok ), and also drive new trends.

From a dizzying mix of hair colors, to gooey creatures and theatrical makeup looks, here are some of the most bizarre TikTok beauty fads of the year.

nose blush

It was clear by 2021 that the masks weren’t going anywhere.

The noses were hidden in many situations: covered with a cloth while traveling on public transport and carrying out everyday tasks. Some people, more than others, seem to have missed this central facial feature more: proof of this was the meteoric rise in blush noses.

Applying hot pink blush to the base of the nose was a makeup trend no one could have predicted. It started at TikTok, as part of what the app defines as the E-Girl look – an internet subculture characterized by heavy eyeliner, thick eyebrows and often fake heart-shaped freckles.

@abbyrobertshappy easter i hope everyone had a good day hehe♬ baby my phone – Tik Toker

But this year, nose blush has entered the mainstream — the hashtag has more than 850,000 views — as a growing number of TikTokers embodied the reindeer Rudolf.

“Round 6” makeup

A dystopian drama filled with blood, sweat, and masks may not seem like a natural source of beauty inspiration, but the great success of Netflix, “Round 6” it achieved.

On social media, users – including YouTubers James Charles and Raiza Contawi – created their own makeup looks inspired by the show’s fictional competitors such as Kang Sae-Byok, the secretive North Korean refugee. The looks mimicked the show’s characters’ dark circles, the sheen of sweat and even bruises – topped off with a handful of artificial freckles to match Sae-Byok’s.

@jooshicaSubscribe my YT @ Jooshica ##fyp ##foryou ##squidgame ##saebyeok ##junghoyeon ##makeup ##makeup ##fypsi ##kdrama ##korean♬ MONEY – Lisa (LISA)

Of course, the terrifying Red Light doll was also a popular Halloween costume choice for stars like Blackpink’s Lisa, who completed the look with large drawn eyes and two ponytails.

Dark circles “happy”

Instead of the youthful glow that was once popular on social media, Generation Z began championing the carefully constructed dark circles painted with suntan lotion or eye shadow.

However, some of them looked for a very specific type of dark circle form known as “aegyosal” in South Korea. Translated as something close to “fluffy fat”, aegyosal are bags under the eyes which K-Beauty’s website, Soko Glam, says they help her “look younger and her eyes happier and more inviting.”

@courtneeyparkmight have short lashes but my aegyosal (애교살) saves the day ##koreanmakeup ##koreaneyesmakeup ##aegyosal ##koreanamerican ##koreanmakeuplook

♬ Streets – Doja Cat

In addition to TikTok tutorials and aegyosal-specific products launched by brands such as Etude House, long-term cosmetic procedures such as filler injections and plastic surgery to achieve the look have also emerged in the United States.

On TikTok, a popular filter known as “Belle” – which overlays aegyosal on users’ faces – also circulated, creating a buzz in defense of an Asian beauty standard against a Western standard.

Lubricant used as a primer

It’s not uncommon for TikTokers to resort to random items in the name of a beauty trick, but the intimate lubricant is perhaps one of the most unexpected.

@ameliaolivia09Thought I’d hop on the trend💦 ib: @Rady ##lubeprimer ##makeuphacks ##testingmakeuphacks

♬ original sound – Amelia Olivia

After TikTok user Lukáš Kohutek apparently kicked off the trend this year – starting his beauty tutorials with intimate face lubricant – others have joined the movement. The gel is applied with a brush or with your hands all over the face, and after drying, apply the foundation and the rest of your beauty look on top.

According to YouTuber Grwady, the lubricant helps create a “fine, smooth texture” for your skin.

Trick of rice water on hair

Most people discard the water after they finish washing their rice. But some savvy users of social media started to ferment and bottle the milky liquid.

Although the practice of beauty has been around in Japan since ancient times, according to researchers, it became very popular around the world this year after digital influencers said washing hair in rice water makes it grow faster. Instagrammer @anisasojka stated in a reel that her curls grew “3 inches in a month”.

@audreyvictoria_HOW TO MAKE RICE WATER FOR EXTREME HAIR GROWTH ✨ ##ricewater ##ricewaterforhairgrowth ##hairgrowth ##hairtok ##ricewaterhairchallenge ##fyp

♬ Rasputin (Single Version) – Boney M.

Snail Facials

Snail mucin – the viscous, protein-rich secretion that comes from the mucus glands of snails – has long been a popular ingredient in K-Beauty for its shine-inducing qualities.

This year, TikTok seemed to make snail mucin a product of the Holy Grail. Corsx, a maker of snail skin care products, has its own hashtag on TikTok with 3 million views. Google searches for your product “Corsx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence” have increased 140% this year.

@blinkariaThrowback to when I gave myself an affordable snail facial 🐌 😂 ##BurberryTB ##facial ##beauty ##blinkariatests ##review ##testing ##fun ##funny ##حلزون ##فيشل

♬ original sound – Alvaro Giraldo

But users have found a cheaper way to get their hands on this beautifying goo: straight from the snail.

Some TikTokers have started putting curls directly on their faces and letting them creep in, before massaging the glowing trail into their skin. Many have realized that their pets, the gigantic African snails can serve as a home beauty treatment, while others have rolled up their sleeves and gone to get regular garden snails.

Yassification

Perhaps the most stunned beauty trend of 2021 has almost nothing to do with our real faces. The “Yassification” meme was technically born out of Twitter, after someone posted two images side by side: a screenshot of actor Toni Collette from the 2018 horror film “Hereditary”, and the same screenshot after a few rounds of editing of FaceApp.

@chloewolchockmy yassification moment.. ##sugarcookieoatlatte ##starbucks ##yassification

♬ Faceshopping – SOPHIE

Collete’s round mouth is still open in terror, only now filled with red lipstick. The disconnect between the context (“Hereditary” is a horror movie) and the altered subject (Collette looks like a digitally decked influencer) is what caused the original meme to spread like wildfire.

Now yassification has moved to TikTok, where users play with intelligent editing software that makes their faces unrecognizable through layers of artificially-generated airbrushing, lip contour and thicker hair.

*Translated text. Read the original in English here.

Reference: CNN Brasil

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