Trending Beauty Challenges: What’s Hot on TikTok Right Now?
TikTok is the beating heart of social media trends, especially within the beauty world. With an abundance of creators from all walks of life — from makeup artists and beauty gurus to licensed dermatologists, TikTok has become a melting pot of hair and beauty trends.
A lot of these beauty trends are along the lines of makeup, hair care, skincare, fashion, and cosmetic procedures. Case in point: TikTok is largely responsible for the fashion trend comeback of 90s and 2000s clothes.
Let’s take a look at the hottest and most current TikTok beauty trends taking 2024 by storm — and see if they’re worth the hype!
TikTok Beauty Trends 2024
Let’s take a look at the trending beauty products and top TikTok skincare products right now:
Skin Cycling
Skin cycling is a dermatologist-recommended TikTok skincare trend that encourages the idea that “less is more” when it comes to skincare. Per this trend, people only need to apply specific products on certain days and then have rest days in between to avoid skin irritation. Basically, skin cycling involves alternating retinoid use for nightly exfoliation and hydrating skin care products for two days to calm redness and rehydrate the skin.
Skin Care Minimalism
Skincare minimalism, or “skinimalism,” is another TikTok beauty trend that aims to simplify beauty routines without sacrificing one’s results. One of the goals of skin minimalism is to reduce the use of unnecessary products while still supporting skin health. Skinimalism is also meant to be good for the environment and skin because it is rooted in sustainability.
Skin Positivity
Many people are also advocating against filter culture and forwarding skin positivity instead. Gen Zs are particularly wary of influencers overusing beauty filters, and are stressing that normal skin can be imperfect and should be embraced as such, sans filter.
Permanent Freckles
The permanent freckles TikTok beauty trend popularized cosmetic procedures, like cosmetic tattooing, that can help to create natural-looking freckles. The goal is to give wearers a sun-kissed look without risking excess exposure to the sun.
Buccal Fat Removal
One of the most controversial plastic surgery trends on TikTok is the buccal fat removal trend. Buccal fat is located in the lower part of the cheeks, often leading to a full face or “chubby-cheeked” look. While fuller cheeks tend to make people look younger, this beauty trend has convinced many people to remove their buccal fat to get sharper cheekbones.
Forehead Reduction
Forehead reduction is a surgical procedure that focuses on surgical methods to make the forehead appear smaller. This can be done by lowering the hairline using micro feathering or adding strokes to the hairline with tattoo ink.
Butterfly Haircut
The butterfly haircut, also called “shag cut” or “octopus cut,” involves cutting hair in a lot of layers to achieve a rocker look that looks wispy, relaxed, and full of volume.
Bowl Method
The bowl method is a TikTok hair trend that involves applying curling cream to hair and repeatedly immersing it in a bowl of water to increase hydration and reduce frizz. The result is a lot of gorgeous, natural-looking waves. It’s one way to achieve heatless curls and reduce damage to natural hair.
Pumpkin Spice Makeup
The pumpkin spice makeup look uses warm shades of brown, orange, and bronze to capture the colors of pumpkin, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Deep red and bright orange are sometimes added to the eyes and lips for an extra pop of color.
Spider Lashes
Spider lashes, or Twiggy lashes, involve using mascara or eyelash extensions to create the illusion of longer lashes akin to spider legs. It’s supposed to open up the eyes and create a doll-eyed look.
Unapproachable Makeup
Trust TikTok to create trends with exciting names! The unapproachable makeup trend hinges on showcasing a person’s dominance and confidence with bold makeup choices to highlight their personality. Think smudged and smokey eyes with winged cat eyes and well-lined, plump lips in a bold color.
Cherry Cola Lips
Cherry cola lips focus on using bold lip tints, a makeup trend from the Dolce & Gabbana Fall/Winter 2023/24 runways. The models donned fiery red lips to match every outfit, creating a trend that TikTokers picked up on.
Red Lipstick Contour Blush
If you’re bored with your blush and contour routine, pick up the brightest red lippie in your makeup box and sweep it across the bridge of your nose, the apples of your cheeks, and across your forehead. Then, don’t panic! Blend, blend, blend, and finish with a light skin tint or foundation for a glowy, sculpted base.
Soap Brows
It’s exactly what it says — instead of brow gel, people are using bars of soap to brush their brows into place. It’s apparently a good hack to get the feathered, bushy-browed look that’s still all over social media. For girlies with less abundant brows, fill in gaps with a brow pencil or mascara to create faux hair strokes for a feathery finish.
Face Lift Makeup
This makeup trend is about tweaking how the face appears by using concealer in areas that help to create a more “lifted” appearance based on which areas get the most light. It’s like reverse-contouring using concealer.
Cold Girl Makeup
The cold girl makeup look is all about, well, looking like a cold girl by applying blush from cheek to cheek and on the tip of the nose. This is to recreate a subtle complexion flush that tends to happen when one is cold. It also involves applying highlighter in the usual areas and in the corner of your eyes, elevating the look even more.
Subtle Lip Lifts
A happy midway between pillowy filler lips and completely au naturel lips, subtle lip fillers are all the rage on TikTok. With people looking for ways to create just a slightly fuller upper lip without achieving the “filler lip look,” subtle lip lifts are minimal and should be barely noticeable.
Armpit Masks
Armpit masks, or armpit detoxes, involve using a mask to detox the area and reduce odor naturally. The masks usually consist of natural ingredients like bentonite clay and apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. While considered safe, it is recommended to do a patch test to ensure that your armpit area isn’t irritated by ACV or lemon juice, both of which can be quite acidic.
Glazed Donut Nails
Popularized by Hailey Bieber, glazed donut nails are about painting the nails light to dark brown. Then, applying an iridescent shimmer and clear polish achieves a glazed donut look reminiscent of a Krispy Kreme donut.
Red Nails
If glazed donut nails aren’t for you, then you might want to try out a classy red nail manicure. Legend has it (and by legend, we mean TikTok) that red nails on a woman attract the opposite sex, with some TikTokers testing it out in the wild and reporting they’ve gotten more compliments wearing red nails.
If you’re looking for the hottest beauty trends and fashion tips to try out, look no further than TikTok. With a super smart algorithm that caters to your personal preferences, you’re sure to find your next new signature look, style, or wardrobe piece!