Every month the agency listens in to the beauty conversation on social media to uncover the emerging trends to inspire your next innovation. Read on to discover the next food-inspired beauty trend and the controversial music video that is inspiring TikTokkers to experiment with provocative beauty looks.
1. STRAWBERRY MAKEUP by Hailey Bieber 🍓💋
Naming skin trends after food has become a trend in itself, and despite some backlash, TikTokkers continue to latch on to these buzzy terms. From latte makeup to potato makeup, food-related shades are capturing the imagination.
In August, strawberry makeup went viral, thanks to Hailey Bieber uploading a photo of herself with a dewy, fresh look, signed off with the emojis: 🍓💋. In doing so, she inadvertently created this summer’s signature beauty trend, #strawberrymakeup. Perhaps not coincidentally, Bieber timed her strawberry post with the launch of a new lip treatment flavour by her brand Rhode; Strawberry Glaze.
The strawberry makeup look is defined by a quick, fresh summer makeup that continues Bieber’s signature style of a glowy, rosy, light complexion created using creamy products. The T-zone is illuminated, while the contour is accentuated by a darker bronzer. The key element is "false freckles", which have been a constant feature over the summer. Finally, the lip contour is worked with a lip pencil and then a gloss to finish.
Key Influencers: @andrea_subotic/ @jamescharles / @glowwithnorhane
Rising Hashtags: #strawberrymakeup – 308.6M views / #strawberrygirl – 60.4M views (September 14, 2023)
Spate Data: TikTok searches for Strawberry Makeup +4386,5% YoY (September 11, 2023)
2. CONTROVERSY by Doja Cat🩸🥀
Doja Cat has never been shy of courting controversy and her latest song, “Paint the Town Red”, is her most provocative creation yet. The TikTok-famous dance anthem flirts with themes of satanic worship, feeding the cultural appetite for transgressive content. In the music video, she is seen embracing the grim reaper, throwing raw meat, wearing pentagrams and devil horns.
Doja Cat’s creative subversions have a loyal following on social media, triggering copycat makeup looks inspired by the themes explored in her controversial content. Adjacent looks play with the aesthetic codes of Paint the Town Red: new romantic, vampiric and gothic gestures, blood red lips outlined with a darker pencil, black and red graphic eyes, fake blood artistry and mis-applied mascara.
Key Influencers: @tyra.mua/@makeup.lois/ @k.figaszewska/ @jeamyblessed/ @anemariemua/ @sophiasinot
Rising Hashtags: #dojacat – 28.3B views/ #demonsdojacat – 3.4M views/ #painttownred – 6.9M views/ I paint the town red makeup – 18M views (September 14, 2023)
3. WRINKLE ART - taking it back to 2018 -🌪️
The latest creative beauty hack doing the rounds on TikTok was spurred by @nettart (27.7K followers on Tiktok), who created the look that she calls, "metallic chic". To achieve a wrinkle-effect, the model is asked to squeeze their eyes shut tightly, and then metallic pigment is worked over the folds of the inner and outer corners of the eyes. Once the eyes are open a stencil-like effect is created from the negative space of the folds.
Key Influencers: @catquinn / @josiezhou1028/ @meicrosoft/ @f.bermann/ @arsonblue/ @julias_makeup_palette
Rising Hashtag: #wrinklemakeup – 97.8K views (September 14, 2023
The CIC Take
The popularity of Doja Cat’s often shocking social media content confirms the shift towards transgressive beauty influences. Brands should take confidence in the consumer appetite for edgy, alternative looks and develop products that fuel the desire for subversive experiences: such as sticky, visceral textures, gore embellishments, and prosthetics that dramatically alter the features.
