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Bloodshot eyes, puffy lips, glistening cheeks—crying provides us a definite look that, for many of us, wouldn’t be one we need to showcase to most people. However based on the wellspring of knowledge that’s TikTok, “crying makeup” is without doubt one of the newest, hottest make-up tendencies.
The title primarily speaks for itself; this make-up look is all about attaining that fresh-from-a-cry-sesh face. Whereas simple in principle, the pattern poses just a few underlying issues which are much more advanced. Does this look romanticize poor psychological well being? Is it deceitful? Or is that this all only one large overreaction?
We acquired our tissues and dove deeper into the difficulty, breaking down the origins of this pattern and its attainable advantages and pitfalls.
Breaking Down The Teary-Eyed Trend
“This one is for the unstable girlies,” started @ZoeKimKenealy on TikTok. “If you’re not in the mood to cry, here’s how to get the look with makeup.” Kenealy outlined how she achieved her completely pouty look, together with puffy mushy lips, pink eyes and cheeks, glistening lash strains, and moist Cupid’s bow.
Whereas this look is definitely distinct, it’s not fairly as authentic as Gen Z would possibly prefer to assume. However we’ll forgive them, after all, as a result of additionally they thought skorts have been invented final yr. Nevertheless, we’ve seen this heavy-eyed look earlier than.
Fiona Apple, Mazzy Star, and even nihilistic cartoons like Daria—these popular culture icons of the late ’90s made it cool to be crabby. This look, which i-D writer Rayne Fisher-Quann aptly dubbed the “dissociative pout,” has been round for many years.
Simply assume again to the exaggerated “sad” eyebrows of the Nineteen Twenties or the dead-eyed gaze of Nineteen Sixties couture. So what makes this so notably regarding to some and empowering to others in 2022?
Performative Cosmetics?
As Kenealy explained to The Guardian, the reactions to this make-up pattern have been divisive. Whereas some commenters eagerly requested about merchandise and shades to copy the look, different spectators weren’t as impressed.
“People—mostly men—have been commenting ‘Amber Heard’ on my video,” Kenealy stated. These commenters are referring to a widespread perception, held principally by Johnny Depp followers on-line, that his ex-wife, Amber Heard, was fake-crying on the stand about Depp’s alleged abuse. They, in flip, are accusing Kenealy of doing the identical.
RELATED: How Amber Heard’s Demonization Amid Johnny Depp Trial Reveals Toxicity Of Social Media In direction of Ladies
Furthermore, there’s the argument that make-up seems to be like these solely serve to romanticize poor psychological well being. Dissociation, anxiousness, and melancholy have all been co-opted by the larger on-line group as being stylish. “We’re all traumatized,” these tendencies appear to shout, “and you have to be, too, to fit in with us.”
After all, that argument could possibly be countered with the advantages of erasing stigma. By bringing these psychological well being subjects into the collective zeitgeist, it might probably (ideally) be simpler for these affected by these points to hunt assist. It gives a way of group, turning the messaging into, “We’re all traumatized, and there’s nothing to be ashamed about.”
A Pushback On The Patriarchy?
Certainly, some writers are fast to level out that this kind of communal acknowledgment is a elementary pillar of those “emotional” make-up tendencies. Fredrika Thelandersson, writer of 21st Century Media and Female Mental Health, research on-line cultures and communities, notably via the lens of the feminine expertise.
Thelandersson argued that whereas the make-up is likely to be performative, it’s nonetheless serving the aim of connecting others via comparable experiences. “That’s a sort of belonging,” she advised The Guardian. “You can make fun of that as much as you want, but it’s still kind of hopeful in a way.”
And as acknowledged earlier, this actually isn’t a groundbreaking pattern. It conjures up lyrics from Fiona Apple (“Me and everybody’s on the sad, same team, and you can hear our sad brains screaming”) and Rubbish (“I’m only happy when it rains, pour your misery down on me”). And based on artist Audrey Wollen, a lady marinating in her personal unhappiness can really be a type of protest.
RELATED: No, You’re Not Hysterical: Why Ladies’s Anger Is Vital And Vital
Wollen, who coined the time period “Sad Girl Theory,” argued to Nylon that “the sadness of girls should be witnessed and re-historicized as an act of resistance, of political protest … Girls’ sadness isn’t quiet, weak, shameful, or dumb: It is active, autonomous, and articulate. It’s a way of fighting back.”
It’s Your Social gathering, You Can Cry If You Need To
Whereas some would possibly name this look performative, isn’t that each one make-up to a level? We use make-up to outwardly categorical our personalities and attitudes. We use white eyeliner and mascara to look (learn: carry out) like we’re extra awake even when we’re useless drained.
@ecemcelenli Credit score @zoekimkenealy 🥀 Crying Make-up aka Fairly when You Cry Make-up 🥲 #makeuptutorial #StemDrop001 #makeup #easymakeup #beginnermakeuptutorial ♬ Pretty When You Cry – Lana Del Rey
And if unhappiness is the angle you need to lean into, then who’s to say you shouldn’t? All magnificence tendencies, from easy no-makeup seems to be to full-on glam and every part in between, are superfluous in nature. We don’t want any of them, interval. However we select to make use of and put on what we like—and more often than not, these selections are cyclical and predictable.
And moreover, in a society the place girls are vilified for displaying unfavorable feelings and continually advised to smile, leaning into the precise reverse is sort of punk rock. Misogynistic naysayers, the likes of whom in contrast Kenealy to Amber Heard, would doubtless discover any cause to sentence their feminine counterparts. Crying make-up is simply the most recent object of derision.
To cry or not cry: That’s the million-dollar query. Whether or not you need to give a teary-eyed center finger to the patriarchy otherwise you like the way you look rosy-nosed and glistening, the look appears innocent sufficient to us. Is it comprehensible? Er, kinda, although we gained’t be rocking the look ourselves anytime quickly.
Nonetheless, the pattern is benign simply the identical. In case you disagree, you would all the time cry about it.
