CRYING MAKEUP

Growing up, I had my fair share of bathroom breakdowns. You know, the ones where your emotions just get the best of you and you can’t help but escape to the bathroom to have a good cry. Once you’ve collected yourself, the goal was to make it look like you hadn’t been crying and that everything was fine. In a strange turn of events, the opposite is now true. There is a makeup trend going around on social media, best described as “crying makeup” or “sad girl makeup”, where the aim is to make you look like you’ve had a fresh cry, or are on the verge of tears, as it is a look that is supposedly universally flattering. Hallmarks of this look include puffy pink lips, flushed cheeks, and pink eyelids.

First brought into the public’s eye by Zoe Kim Kenealy, a 26 year old makeup artist with 122.5 k followers on tiktok, this look is, as she says “for the unstable girlies.” Based on that statement alone, and how the trend seems to romanticize sadness, it’s no surprise that there has been some controversy surrounding this trend. Supporters say that it allows them to embrace their femininity, and the beauty in sadness, but others say that it can be dangerous to romanticize depression and mental illness, and just adds to the unrealistic beauty expectations thrust upon women. While I can see both sides, I think that makeup has always been a tool for self expression, and that there is no one way for how one chooses to do so. That being said, if you do wish to try this trend, here are a few essentials.

For lips, as Kenealy says, “We want that puffy soft lip, right?” In order to achieve that look, she uses a soft liquid lipstick, smudged out with a brush and then topped with lip oil (but you can also use gloss). To get the slightly red eyes and flushed cheeks and nose, use a cream blush, spread evenly on the eyelids and across the cheeks and nose. To give the eyes a glassy look, line your lower lash line with liquid glitter, to make it look like you might be on the verge of tears. If you want to lean more into the just-cried look, an eye gloss might be the move, although you could also use lip gloss as a substitute. Keneally finishes the look by curling her lashes, but puts on no mascara, keeping the look very natural and fresh faced.

Regardless of whether this look is to be worn outside, or in the privacy of your own home, I can’t help but feel that just doing the look could be as cathartic as a good cry.