10 TikTok beauty techniques that no makeup artist actually uses

#tiktokmademedoit.

In my late teens, the YouTube beauty community was all the rage. And I was obsessed. Thanks to the guidance of YouTubers like NikkieTutorials, Shani Grimmond and Manny Mua, I diligently finessed my dipbrows, Kylie lips and baking technique after school, hoping to impress my friends at the next house party.

Now, almost 10 years on and in the dust of beauty YouTube’s infamous ‘dramageddon’, TikTok is now facilitating a new generation’s foray into makeup. Often the algorithm gets it right but sometimes, the beauty trends that go TikTok-viral seem to do so simply because of their watchability, rather than offering any educational value.

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Of course, I’m no expert. Maybe industry makeup artists really are rubbing lube into their face as primer. To find out for certain, I turned to Rob Povey, a professional artist with 15 years of makeup under his belt. When it comes to learning how to apply makeup from TikTok, he warns to take everything with a grain of salt.

“If something seems like it’s a bit of shit, it probably is,” he says. “But if you really want to learn how to do makeup, book an appointment to see a professional makeup artist and they should be able to empower and educate you.”

Rubbing in excess 

@meredithduxburyComment below what makeup trend you want me to try out next! 😱🤪💗♬ Get Into It (Yuh) – Doja Cat

“No makeup artist would apply makeup like this. I’m all for using your hands, they’re really beautiful to warm up product and melt it into the skin. Using your hands to apply makeup actually sheers it out a lot, because your fingers are absorbing half of the product. But in this case, it’s just so much product.

“I want to state, [it’s] your own personal choice – wear as much or as little makeup as you like. She just does not need that much product at all to make her look flawless.

“She is also under a really strong ring light, which blows out texture. If you saw that makeup in less-than-perfect lighting, it would [appear] so ageing and expose every imperfection and blemish. The more foundation you wear, the more obvious texture is on your skin. And not to mention, the consumerism aspect of wasting so much product.”

The Cullen-jaw effect

@mikaylanogueira @rachelocoolmua got me putting highlighter on my jaw 😂😂 #makeup #beauty #DuetDoWet #makeuptutorial ♬ original sound – Mikayla Nogueira

“I have never seen someone refer to a jaw highlight in the industry. I would never use shimmer on the jawline because that is not going to be flattering, and will make you look sweaty.

“But in terms of putting light on the areas of your face you want to bring forward, that’s just old school theatre makeup technique. It’s 101 of contouring that makeup artists have used for the better part of a century to accentuate all the areas we want to, with lights and shadows.

“Placing a bit of light in that area with a powder, or a tiny bit of lighter concealer next to the contour on your jaw, will create a really nice contrast between the two and add a bit of depth.”

Real-life filters 

@nikkietutorials this changes everything! #foryou #fyp #transformation @mikaylanogueira ♬ original sound – nikkietutorials

“Contouring is really just about adjusting the proportions of your face. You can, under really specific lighting that is designed to emphasise the dimensions of your face, really play with where the shadows fall.

“In theory, placing your contour higher than where your natural cheek hollows sit is going to “bring up” your cheekbone under very directional light. In broad daylight, it’s going to look unnatural. You’re going to have a contour sitting on the highest part of your face and make it look quite ruddy. If it’s just for a photo or a performance, you can definitely cheat that.

“When it comes to blush, I really love blush up on the temples and on the high points of the face, which is a bit of an ’80s technique. But again, that technique will only look flattering in very specific lighting.”

Slip and prime 

@itsrady ✨☁️ #makeup #fyp #makeuptips ♬ original sound – ssznn

“Lube will never work as a primer per se, because there are no ingredients in lube that are going to act as either a barrier between your makeup and your skin, or give you longevity – which is what most primers are traditionally designed to do.

“Lube will definitely give you a dewy look to the face, so I don’t think there’s anything egregious in lube that you should never put on your face. I mean, it is designed for the most sensitive parts of our skin. But it’s just not going to prime you in any way, shape or form.”

Colour mapping 

@rikkisandhuu by far one of the BEST contouring and highlighting techniques I have everrrr used!! 💗💗 #beautyhacks #makeuptips #contouring101 #foryou ♬ original sound – ꧁𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐢 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐬꧂

“This is just unnecessarily complicating the makeup routine. There is no purpose to applying all these designs to the face, other than it looks cute in a video and is fun to watch. There’s absolutely no other reason why you would apply that much product, it’s just so heavy-handed and, again, will only really look nice under very hard lighting.

“But where she places the blush, it’s really fresh and fun, it makes the skin look a bit more youthful and ‘imperfect’. Where she puts all the contour and bronzy tones, again, you’ve just got to think. When it comes to bronzer, this is where the sun would naturally hit your face, and contour is where shadows would appear if you were to stand under a downlight.

“Then highlight is for the areas you want to be most prominent on your face, [like] the cheekbones, the bridge of the nose, the cupid’s bow, even the jawline. There’s nothing wrong with where she places the products, I just think the whole design is superfluous.”

An OTT lip contour 

@kyliekillzzzz WHY I CONTOUR AROUND MY LIPS. Try this contouring technique, tag me and use the hashtag #lipcontourchallenge ♬ original sound – Kylie Larsen

“There are certain makeup artists out there who absolutely do this. Well-renowned makeup artist, Scott Barnes, is synonymous with ‘the J.Lo look’ and he absolutely does this sort of technique.

“Again, it’s basic contouring theory. If you add shadow around the edges of the mouth, you’re going to create that nice contrast and make the lip appear more full. But you could do a much simpler version of this by simply just overlining your lip and softening out the edges, so there’s not just a crisp line. Although, it’s good to have a realistic understanding that no amount of lip contouring is ever going to give you the impression of lip filler.

“You can certainly achieve the illusion of a more rounded pout with either overdrawn lip liner or the contour technique, but I would probably just go a lot lighter-handed.”

Powder up first

@leilanigreen Trying out this tiktok foundation hack! Do you think it looks better or the same? #viral #makeuphack #makeuptiktok ♬ original sound – Jarida🖤

“I’ve never done this because I’m of the theory that powder is going to potentially create balling of any cream or liquid products that go after it.

“But if you apply it in a really light-handed way, and if you’re exclusively using a super fine, translucent powder (it can’t be a tinted powder or one that gives you extra coverage), I think it would be fine. It’s just a little extra security blanket if you are very oily-prone, or if you have quite enlarged pores.

Personally, I would rather cut the shine after I’ve done the makeup, and select where I need to blur than have a complete layer of matte-ness. I rarely want everything to be flat and matte, I want a bit of highlight and glow to the skin.”

‘Your Perfect Lip Shade’ 

@yokenziebShout out to all the gworls♬ original sound – Kenzie B 🐝

“As a blanket rule, choosing your eyebrow colour to be your lip line colour is probably not great – especially if you’re a blonde because blonds need a really ashy, taupe-y colour on the brow, and that’s not going to look great on the lip.

“But matching your blush to your lip colour is great. It’s what we as makeup artists would call a monochromatic look – where the eyes, cheeks and lips are often in the same colour family. It’s just really, universally flattering.

“We have all been given the perfect lip colour for our face. If you want to just emphasise it and amp it up a little, use a lip stain, or lip liner and a balm in a slightly deeper pigment.”

Fake freckles with root spray

@_ayshabegum_ IB: @Натали root spray as faux freckles #fauxfreckles #lorealrootspray #frecklehack #beautytips ♬ original sound – Aysha

“I’ve seen [professional makeup artists] using root spray to achieve freckles. In some cases, people get a nice effect out of it. For the average person, that is too much risk.

“If you have just done a full face of makeup, you’re tempting fate by spraying something that is designed to give opaque coverage. You would need to have such precision and good fortune for it to give you that ‘spatter’ effect of the faux freckles.

“I think with faux freckles, you’re best to stick to the classics, like eye pencils and lip liners. My favourite now is those brow markers, [they] have this translucency to them that liners don’t because they’re intended for the brow. When you stipple them on the skin, they melt in and let the real skin still show through.

“I would also say have at least two-to-three colours, and the key is not to be too perfect. Start with the small, delicate dots and work up to larger dots. The less perfect [the application, the more natural it looks.”

White concealer 

@blumarinebaeRun! don’t walk 2 ulta ..🤭♬ original sound – Kevo

“As a blanket statement, white concealer is absolutely not going to be flattering on everyone, especially if you’re a person of colour.

“It’s such a hard contrast – which, again, if that’s your personal aesthetic, go crazy – but as a working makeup artist, I would say, you can go one shade lighter and it will give this brightening effect but pure white is going to look so unnatural. Unless you want an obviously white under-eye [area] as an aesthetic choice, I personally wouldn’t do it.”

For the #BeautyTok products that are actually worth the hype, head here.