L'unapproachable makeup ci dice qualcosa sulla contemporaneità

Throughout history, beauty and makeup have been used by girls for very specific purposes. To look healthier, sicker, tanner, paler, plumper or thinner, to signal belonging to an alternative subculture, to feel like a clean girl, a dancer or a scene queen. A real common communicative code consisting of precise steps and rules.

The unapproachable makeup

Never before, however, has makeup been used to influence, or rather avert, relationships with the rest of the world. We are talking about the unapproachable makeup, a TikTok trend consisting of striking eyeliner, heavy counturing, thin eyebrows and dark lipsticks, which, as the name suggests, is used to make oneself look aloof, superior and bad on the outside. Combined with a pouty, bored expression, it's even better.

Style influences in the present and the past

The hashtag #unapproachablemakeup counts more than 70 million views, and so many girls are giving their interpretation. There are those who focus on eye makeup, those who focus on lips and those who focus on eyebrows. The direct aesthetic influence, and this is clear, comes from the early 2000s, from the Y2K style of cigarette mums, contrasting dark lipsticks and crazy thin eyebrows. The masters of these looks are considered to be Pamela Anderson and Angelina Jolie in the past, and Alexa Demie, Lily Rose-Depp, Gabrielle Bechtel and Bella Hadid in the present.

What is the difference?

The approach, however, is quite different from that of the Y2K divas. Namely, the purpose of this very special trend is to avert others, especially men. There are two contradictory and complementary drives in this basic concept. Firstly, with this noir and seductive look, you want to scare off the clueless who are convinced that they can approach you in bars, attack you and not understand when too much is too much or when you want to be alone with friends over a drink.

Being disruptive

Secondly, however, people want to be disturbing in a more insidious and profound way. Today's beauty has long ceased to be bright, positive and cheerful. At least in part. While trends like glazed donut nails and strawberry makeup are still firm cornerstones of a certain type of beauty and girl, some are not up for it and want to deliberately go dark and moody, like the silent divas of the 1920s. In doing so, they want to feel more confident, but also to escape the male gaze, the male desire that pervades all things, let alone women. A particularly current trend, then, that attempts to transform into a visible forms the anger and desire to escape male influence that has long been simmering subliminally in today's girls.

Some go even further

Like all trends, the unapproachable makeup trend has its limits, proposing a vision that can be achieved by buying a varying number of products. A femme fatale reinterpreted by Generation Z. That's why some girls go even further and use creams and powders to transform themselves into imaginative and totally disturbing creatures. We then speak of clowncore, goblincore, ratcore. In these cases, makeup becomes stage painting and an art form that completely challenges what it means to be traditionally attractive.