(CNN) – Another year of masks “Zoom” face And too much screen time seems to have turned the beauty industry around.
In 2021, TikTok, the video platform with a history of catapulting cosmetics to such success that they sell out for weeks, was inundated with weird, wonderful, and downright bizarre skincare tips and tricks.
The app has proven to be a major player in the beauty industry over the past two years, influencing consumer habits by rekindling interest in products launched years ago (the searches of this color corrector launched in 2016 are now hitting their all-time highs thanks to TikTok) and also driving new trends, including some that still have real-life beauty junkies scratching their heads.
A bewildering mix of hair tricks, slimy creatures, and theatrical makeup styles; Here are some of the weirdest TikTok beauty fads of the year.
Blush on the nose
In 2021 it was clear that masks weren’t going anywhere.
Noses remained hidden in many situations: covered while riding public transport and going out on errands. Some, more than others, seemed to have missed this central facial feature: the meteoric rise of nose blush enters the scene.
Applying pink blush to the tip of the nose was a makeup trend that no one could predict. It started on TikTok as part of the app’s E-Girl look, an internet subculture characterized by heavy liner, thick eyebrows, and usually a fake heart-shaped freckle.
@abbyroberts happy easter i hope everyone had a good day hehe
But this year, nose blush reached mainstream culture – the hashtag has over 850,000 views – as a growing number of TikTokers hit Rudolf levels of pigment on the tips of their noses.
Make-up from “The Squid Game”
A dystopian drama full of blood, sweat and masks may not seem like a natural source of inspiration for beauty, but Netflix’s surprising hit “Squid Game” about a contest in which players compete in children’s games with life and death bets he got it.
On social media, users, including YouTubers James Charles and Raiza Contawi, created their own makeup looks inspired by the contestants on the show, such as Kang sae-byok, the cunning North Korean refugee. The looks mimicked the “Squid Game” characters’ eye bags, sheen from sweat, and even wounds, and finished off with a hint of fake freckles to match Sae-Byok’s.
@jooshica Subscribe my YT @ Jooshica #fyp #foryou #squidgame #saebyeok #junghoyeon #makeup # 메이크업 #fyp シ #kdrama #Korean
Of course, the terrifying doll from the show singing “Red Light, Green Light” was also a popular Halloween costume pick for stars like Blackpink’s Lisa, who completed the look with larger-than-normal drawn eyes and pigtails.
“Happy” dark circles and bags under the eyes
Instead of the bright, moisturized, youthful eyes that used to be popular on social media, Gen Z started advocating for eye bags painted with bronzer or eyeshadow.
However, some users pursue a very specific type of eye bag known as “aegyosal” in South Korea. Aegyosal is a puffy eye bag that, according to the K-Beauty Soko Glam website, helps “to look younger and to make the eyes more cheerful and attractive.”
@courtneeypark might have short lashes but my aegyosal (애교살) saves the day #koreanmakeup #koreaneyesmakeup #aegyosal #koreanamerican #koreanmakeuplook
In addition to TikTok tutorials and specific products for “aegyosal” launched by brands such as Etude houseLonger-term cosmetic procedures, such as filler injections and plastic surgery treatments to achieve the look, have also appeared in the United States.
On TikTok, a popular filter known as “Belle,” which overlays “aegyosal” on users’ faces, has also made a splash for upholding an Asian beauty standard, rather than a Western one.
Lubricant as a primer
It’s not uncommon for TikTok users to turn to random products in the name of a beauty hack, but lube is perhaps one of the most unexpected.
@ ameliaolivia09 Thought I’d hop on the trend? ib: @Rady #lubeprimer #makeuphacks #testingmakeuphacks
After TikTok user Lukáš Kohutek started the trend this year, starting her beauty tutorials With a Durex cape, others jumped on the trend. The gel is applied with a brush or with the hands all over the face and, once it dries, the makeup base and the rest of the look are applied.
According to youtuber Grwady, the lubricant helps create a “smooth and fine texture” on the skin.
Rice water hair tricks
Most people dispose of the water when they finish washing the rice. However, some social media users have started to ferment and bottle the milky liquid.
Although this beauty practice has existed in Japan since ancient times, according to researchers, it became popular around the world this year after social media influencers said that washing your hair with rice water made it grow faster. Instagramer @anisasojka stated in one of her reels that her hair grew “5 centimeters in a month”.
@audreyvictoria_ HOW TO MAKE RICE WATER FOR EXTREME HAIR GROWTH ✨ #ricewater #ricewaterforhairgrowth #hairgrowth #hairtok #ricewaterhairchallenge #fyp
Facial treatments with snails
Snail mucin, the slimy, protein-packed secretion that comes from the snail’s mucous glands, has long been a popular ingredient in Korean beauty products for its radiance-inducing qualities.
This year, TikTok seems to have taken note of snail mucin as a holy commodity. Corsx, a manufacturer of snail-based skincare products, has its own hashtag on TikTok with 3 million views. Google searches for his product “Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence” also they have increased 140% this year.
But users found a cheaper way to get this beautifying goo: straight from the snail.
Some tiktokers began putting snails directly on their faces and letting them run over the surface, before massaging the shiny trail into their skin. Many have found that their giant African snail pets can make for a beauty treatment at home, while others got down to business and went for regular garden snails.
@blinkaria What do you think? Would you do this? #facial #MaybellineSwipeIt #snailfacial #makeup #beauty #guitarsolo #surma # عراقيه #catchchallenge
“Yasification”
Perhaps the most incredible beauty trend of 2021 had, in fact, almost nothing to do with our real faces. The “Yassification” meme technically born on Twitter, after someone posted two images for comparison: a screenshot of actress Toni Collette from the 2018 horror movie “Hereditary,” and the same screenshot after a few rounds of FaceApp editing.
@chloewolchock my yassification moment .. #sugarcookieoatlatte #starbucks #yassification
Collette’s round mouth is still open in terror, only now it has been filled in with scarlet red lipstick. The disconnect between the context (“Hereditary” is a horror movie) and the altered image (Collette looks like an influencer in digital makeup) was what caused the original meme to spread like wildfire.
Now the call “Yasificación” has migrated to TikTok, where users poke fun at clever editing software that renders their faces unrecognizable through layers of AI-generated airbrushing, lip lining, and hair thickening.
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