End-of-year food-themed beauty trends

The fridge holds a withered half lemon, a couple of carrots, last weekend’s leftover vegetable stir-fry noodles, and a neat row of Coca-Cola Zero cans. It's time to throw a coat over your pajamas and venture out into the cold to the nearest supermarket. As the automatic doors slide open, I walk in, navigating the aisles like I’m in an episode of The Walking Dead—head down, steps quick, careful not to meet anyone’s eyes or place the pineapple in the cart the wrong way. Or maybe not. This article it's still about make-up trends, I swear! Let’s rewind. I’m still at home, I need groceries, but I don’t have to leave my PC—or even TikTok and Instagram. No, the platforms haven’t launched a new grocery app. Everything I need to create breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dessert is in the #BeautyTok aisle: cinnamon, berries, donuts, pumpkin, strawberries, olives, vanilla, chocolate, and so on. Drinks are included too: Cabernet, Cherry Cola, Martini, espresso, Aperol Spritz, latte, and more. After endless scrolling, my stomach might remain empty, but my eyes? Fully satisfied.

Makeup and food: a love story

The relationship between beauty and food isn’t just a fleeting social media flirtation. Some argue it dates back to ancient times—when Cleopatra used burnt almonds as eyeliner, Greek women stained their lips with berries, and Edo-period Japanese women used rice powder as foundation. Remember grandma’s beauty hacks? Mayonnaise for hair masks, sugar and honey for scrubs, or milk baths for soothing the skin. Today, fruits and vegetables often feature in creams and serums, and some even smear beef tallow on their faces. But recent years have pushed things further.

Spend 20 minutes on TikTok, and a creator will likely turn a food or drink into a make-up look. By adding terms like “makeup,” “nails,” or “girl,” and tying it to colors, textures, or the emotions and flavors a dish evokes, trends are born. Tomatoes and broccoli have even had their moments. It’s all about reviving past trends with a new, social-media-friendly twist. The Latte Makeup trend, with its brown and neutral tones, is a reinterpretation of 90s supermodel makeup or simple light brown smokey eyes. Dark Lip Liner traces back to the Chola subculture, and the Black Cherry Manicure is just a vamped-up red nail polish. Meanwhile, Strawberry Makeup updates 80s blush trends. Renaming an old trend with a relatable, seemingly mundane object like a donut offers universally recognizable imagery. The aesthetics may blur together, differentiated by small elements, but on TikTok, hashtags rack up views. Food Beauty is a way to romanticize daily routines. It’s playful, fun, and reminiscent of childhood experiments with colorful markers and crayons.

Let’s Play: Food-Inspired Beauty Trends for the Festive Season! But beware—some of these trends are made up. Can you tell which are real and which are fantasy?

Cinnamon Roll Make-up

The season’s favorite spice inspires a warm, monochromatic look with rich brown tones that transition into orange, bronze, or pink on lips, eyelids, and cheeks. These spicy tones work equally well on nails and hair. The face starts with a luminous or semi-matte BB cream base, sculpted with bronzers, highlighters, and peach-toned blushes. Brown or caramel shades adorn the eyelids, paired with brown eyeliner. Finish with a creamy lipstick or gloss like the Cinnamon Roll Peptide Lip Tint by Rhode.

Cherry Mocha Nails

The year’s trending shades— Bordeaux, burgundy, rouge noir —shine on nails. Inspired by dark cherries, this manicure pairs well with every look. The Cherry Mocha Nails, as the name suggests, are inspired by the darkest and juiciest cherries, featuring a smooth, glossy skin-like finish. The key is selecting a nail polish that best complements your skin tone and nail shape, capturing shades of red-burgundy with brownish, almost black undertones.  For added drama, it’s recommended to apply multiple coats of polish. A celebrity favorite is DND’s shade 751, topped with a glossy top coat. While a monochromatic application is a timeless choice, you can also experiment with French tips, swirl effects, and metallic finishes.

Mulled Wine Make-up

Mulled wine is a warm drink typical of the festive season, the kind you sip to warm up while watching the Epiphany bonfire burn. Its ingredients include red wine, sugar, citrus peel, apple skin, cinnamon sticks, star anise, nutmeg, and cloves. The result is a steaming liquid in a deep red hue with vibrant highlights and darker, almost black undertones—the same shades used on the eyelids, lips, and cheeks in the Mulled Wine Make-up. The key is to apply eyeshadow with your fingers for an imperfect look and add highlights in gold or copper tones reminiscent of orange peel. The lips are a dark red with brown undertones. Go for glosses and jelly or creamy products to replicate the liquid effect.

Pomegranate Girl Make-up

The Pomegranate Girl Make-up falls under the “sunkissed glow” category. It’s yet another blush-focused trend, with the product applied to temples, lips, eyelids, and chin. Think of Sabrina Carpenter’s beauty look—that’s the vibe! The key is a highly pigmented blush that mimics the crimson hue of pomegranate seeds, ranging from intense reds to softer pinks. A great product to try is Ilia’s multistick in the shade “A Fine Romance”. The final step includes faux freckles, created with a brown pencil or eyeliner, and a lipstick or gloss to give the lips a juicy finish. The result is a fresh, natural look, ideal for anyone aiming for a no-make-up make-up style, even in the colder months. Simply swap the blush for an orange-toned one to transform the Pomegranate Girl Make-up into the viral Pumpkin Spice Blush.

Struffoli Make-up

Just in time for Christmas, a new trend combines one of the season’s classic desserts with the festive sparkle of the holidays. The focal point of the Struffoli Make-up is the eyes. The face is almost bare, with a matte, velvety complexion, and the lips feature a soft, barely-there biscuit pink hue. The eyelids, however, steal the show, adorned with colorful pearls reminiscent of the round sprinkles that decorate struffoli. To add more definition, a black pencil is used to create a smoky, slightly smudged effect, finished with a few generous coats of black mascara.

Capitone eyes

Some call them Eel Eyes, others Capitone Eyes, but the concept remains the same: recreating the scaly, translucent look and colors of an eel. Embrace a mix of eyeshadows in green, black, and deep blue hues, with glitter effects for a festive touch. The key, however, is to opt for cream products that deliver a wet, ultra-glowy finish. To complete the look, simply add a transparent gloss, ideally infused with hyaluronic acid.

Pandoro Make-up

The Pandoro Make-up revolves around shades of yellow, gold, and orange, with a touch of white reminiscent of powdered sugar. Highlighters and blushes with yellow undertones are key to sculpting and brightening the face. Golden and yellow shades dominate the eyelids, and for those who want to take it up a notch, a gold glitter mascara can add extra flair. On the lips, you can mirror the biscuity tones of Pandoro slices or opt for a pink lipstick with a slightly metallic finish, featuring whitish accents for a frosty effect.

Torrone Eyes

Another holiday-inspired trend recreates the colors and texture of a classic festive treat: torrone. To achieve this look, start with a flawless complexion—glass skin works well—and a beige lipstick to mimic the hues of almonds and hazelnuts. Naturally, a white eyeshadow is essential. The extra touch? White mascara, adds definition to the eyes and draws attention to this focal feature of the face.