Explaining BeautyTok's Latest Artful Obsession: the Yarn Makeup Trend
The latest viral makeup trend involves gluing yarn to your faces and then applying products. Is it worth trying at home or just good for content?
When it comes to TikTok beauty trends, we've seen it all. Whether it's adding purposeful dark circles with "tired girl" makeup or letting our astrological rising signs guide our product application, it gets pretty creative over on the beauty side of the app. But even the most seasoned beauty pro has probably not tried the latest yarn makeup trend.
What is yarn makeup exactly? It requires covering one's face in a carefully placed pattern of swirling yarn, starting from the center or nose area, to serve as the base for a makeup look. The outcome is pretty surreal, albeit a bit haunting. Makeup artists on the app have been able to transform their faces into doll-like works of art via short transformation videos of a process that takes hours to complete and a variety of non-traditional items for a makeup bag, like glue, skin-colored yarn, and more.
Keep scrolling to learn all about the yarn makeup, the transformative makeup trend taking over the internet, including a tutorial and how to know if it's worth trying out.
What Do You Need to Do Yarn Makeup? A Quick Tutorial
Generally, when beginning the look, makeup artists start by adding an adhesive base (a non-toxic glue works best) to their face to lay the yarn. Then, from there, the yarn is carefully placed on the face, starting from the tip of the nose, and then wrapped around the surface of the face in a circular pattern ending near the hairline. This requires a surgeon-like touch and careful precision to lay each string of yarn tightly next to each other to achieve the dreamlike aesthetic.
From there, each look takes a unique turn as artists can add powder blushes and eyeshadows to create a replica of a more traditional beat or even turn themselves into a fictional yarn-like character. Liquid lipsticks are ideal to lay onto the yarn without displacing it. Some creators on the app have gotten more and more creative as the trend has picked up in popularity, upping the ante with complementary yarn in their overall beauty routine. Such is true in makeup artist Zaynna's (@itszaybaybay) spin on the trend, in which she created a yarn hairstyle, earrings, nails, and wore a crochet two-piece set for the video showing her look. Her TikTok video garnered over 13 million views and 2 million likes, inspiring others to give the trend a try.
Anna Murphy (annamurphyyy), a 19-year-old Canadian special effects makeup artist, is generally credited as having started the trend. Her now-viral TikTok of her yarn look is reminiscent of a crossover between Chappell Roan's makeup look and the Maison Margiela Spring/Summer 2024 Haute Couture show. Since, many creators have shown the multitude of ways to interpret the trend and make it one's own.
What's the Point of Yarn Makeup?
Why spend hours meticulously decorating one's face with yarn generally associated with knitting? In the crippling world of the "clean girl aesthetic," it is pivotal to highlight the artists who are still pushing boundaries and creating looks that break the status quo. Plainly, this makeup trend isn't necessarily about optimizing your routine, but it's about artistry. The yarn makeup trend highlights cosmetics as a tool for transformation. It's not about practicality, but about finding a new way to push the limits of makeup.
