A recent VOICE survey of 10 local Nottingham High School students found views about current makeup trends are deeply divided.
One student responded, “Makeup doesn’t equal personality. Personality is found within. Makeup should only be used to enhance your confidence and how you feel about yourself.”
Another student contradicted that statement saying “The way you do your makeup can lowkey give off a vibe or clues about what kind of person you are.”
Those opposing opinions mirror the contrast in two top current beauty looks, “baddies” and “clean girl” looks.
In 2022, a new trend of “soap brows” emerged to the internet to achieve a look called a “clean girl” aesthetic. Lifted up, full, glossy and sleek is what clean girls are all about. This look is about more than just being “clean.” It is seen as more than just a look, but also a way of life. To be viewed as a “clean girl,” is a reflection of your personality. With the “clean girl” aesthetic, you are viewed as softer and more feminine. It’s attributed to an idea that being clean is joined with being pure.
Girls who embrace the “clean girl” aesthetic are often characterized as doing light makeup or no makeup at all, with glass clear skin, and are associated with the ideal style of living in luxury that the majority of girls would love to have. In fact, more than 60% of survey respondents said they leaned toward this aesthetic.
A separate trend that runs opposite to the “clean girl” aesthetic, called the “baddie” makeup look inspired by beauty socialite Kylie Jenner. In 2016, Kylie Jenner was known for her lip kits that were an essential makeup must-have at the time. Seven years later she is still having a profound impact on the beauty market, this time with the “baddie” aesthetic.
Baddie makeup is a lot more matte and requires bolder colors for a non-natural look. It is achieved mainly by using Anastasia Dip Brow Pomade which is a cream case of eyebrow color that is used to overline the eyebrows making them stand out as the main element of the face.
Baddie brows start off soft and light at the front then fade to a dark with a defined tail end in an ombre effect and a crisp finish. The intense contour and the smoky eyeshadow is what is most notable about this look.
The “baddie” look of King Kylie is associated with women who are influencers. It is different from the calm, sweet, and feminine ideals of the clean girls. “Baddies” are associated with being obsessed with celebrity culture, parties, monetary value, luxury, and living a life with no responsibilities, in the way a 18 year old Kylie Jenner was described to have back in 2016. In the survey, just 30% of students said they favored this makeup trend.
When asked in the survey if there was a stigma or stereotype within either of these two aesthetics, 40% said maybe, 10% of students said no, and the other 50% said yes.
One student said, “Sometimes the stereotypes do apply but…not everyone that has a baddie aesthetic is a mean girl, and not everyone who does the clean girl aesthetic is sweet.”
Another student said “I feel like soft girls are usually seemed as quiet and kept to themselves, While the baddie aesthetic is viewed as catfishes, loud and/or ‘passed around’”
In beauty and culture, the way you are viewed can impact your self esteem for better or worse. As a form of self-expression, make-up often allows the person to feel more confident and appear more attractive. On the other hand when people try out one look or another their choices may cause them to be viewed as separate from how they view themselves.
The stereotypical lifestyles that attach to both the “clean” girls and “baddie” girls are, fundamentally preconceived notions based on social media influence. While makeup is a way to tell the world who you are and who you want to represent yourself as, in the end, trends come and go, they evolve, just like the people who wear them.
