Filler Fatigue Caused TikTok’s Latest Makeup Trend
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Raise your hand if you’ve ever found yourself doomscrolling on TikTok, watching tutorial after tutorial, and wishing your face looked as smooth as the ones you’re holding in your hand (guilty). Neuromodulators such as Botox and injectables like filler are so common among beauty influencers that it’s sometimes jarring when someone on your screen doesn’t have noticeably plumped-up lips or a creaseless, motionless forehead. In response, some TikTok users are now celebrating their full range of facial movement by using their wrinkles to create fun, colorful makeup looks; they’re calling it “anti-Botox” or “anti-filler” makeup.
The trend has been given a handful of other names, too; you may have seen it called “Botox-resistant” or “Botox-repellent” makeup. It’s the result of two different TikTok microtrends mashed together. Although she doesn’t use any of these names, one of the first to do it was makeup artist Mei Pang, who went viral for a look that she calls “nose crinkle makeup”; in her video, she applies black makeup on and around her nose and eyes then scrunches her face up while she wipes the area with a makeup wipe. When she releases her expression, what’s left behind is an abstract pattern created by her skin’s wrinkles. The look spawned a plethora of similar techniques, including one where users apply eye shadow to the outer corners of the eyes then scrunch their faces up before applying another shadow; the crinkling motion of the eyes creates a fanned-out pattern akin to crow’s feet.
The other microtrend that inspired the “anti-Botox” and “anti-filler” makeup movement is “Beetlejuice lips,” inspired by the recent return of the beloved Tim Burton character. To achieve the look, people paint their lips in a bright color like neon green then scrunch up their lips and apply a black shade atop, which produces a crackling effect when the lips return to their resting point. As the look gained traction and more influencers tried their hand at it, those with a lot of lip filler couldn’t achieve the intended crackled effect simply because their lips are too smooth from being so full.
Thus, these respective trends rapidly morphed from fun and simple makeup tricks into a commentary on injectables, which many have embraced as a way to celebrate the natural movement of their faces despite the prevailing beauty standards of the social media era.
“In the current age of filler and Botox, it’s important to highlight that aging shouldn’t be something deemed ‘ugly’ or ‘undesirable,’” shares London-based TikTok creator Philosofay, who has participated in the trend. “I recognize as a beauty creator I play a role when it comes to beauty standards; I don’t want to further push the ideal of perfection. Human existence is not perfect, skin is not airbrushed, and wrinkles and fine lines are very, very normal.”
Philosofay tells Allure they find it “amazing and important” that the TikTok beauty community has come together to embrace their little lines and crinkles, and many comments on anti-injectable makeup videos reflect that sentiment.
“I love my little eye crinkles that are forming. They're evidence of the good times and the bad times and how I've made it through them all,” one TikTok user commented on a video. “Using our natural wrinkles for make up [sic] as beautiful as this is soo healing! Brought tears to my eyes,” wrote another in the same comment section. “I adore how this trend looks different on everyone who does it. It’s like tabby stripes, everyone has their own unique pattern,” commented another user on that same video.
Though these videos are positioned as “anti-Botox” makeup, they’re not really shaming anyone with injectables, just providing a creative beauty space away from the “Instagram face” of it all. We’d be remiss not to mention that most of the creators making these anti-injectable makeup videos seem relatively young and have to force their faces into scrunched-up positions to create wrinkles, as opposed to mature skin that appears wrinkled at rest. Showcasing pride in your eye crinkles because they’re a marker of happy moments is truly wonderful, but at the same time, we live in a culture that is terrified of and often hostile to aging, especially for women. It also demands aesthetic perfection from women by all means necessary, which has led to an increase of cosmetic procedures and created the injectable fatigue many of us have been feeling (both in the emotional and physical sense) the past few years.
And just because someone’s face wrinkles when it moves doesn’t mean they’re not getting a little something-something injected at the dermatologist’s office, by the way. It’s worth pointing out that these looks are possible with neuromodulators and/or filler in your face, as those procedures are completely customizable based on your desired look. The “overfilled” look—in which your skin is completely smooth and plumped and doesn’t budge an inch—is not always the end result, especially when a highly trained and precise doctor is holding the needle. It all depends on the placement. “You absolutely can move and crinkle with Botox if you want,” says Mona Gohara, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Connecticut. “You can honor your lip lines and still have filler.”
A half-syringe of lip filler or 25 units of Botox aren’t going to smooth out all your lip lines and wrinkles entirely or freeze your face to the point of no return; you can make small tweaks (if you want to, of course) and keep that natural motion and movement, too. “The lovely self-expression in the videos translates to these procedures as well—it does not have to be all or nothing,” Dr. Gohara says. “The bottom line is: People have the choice to look how they want to look and crinkle if they want to crinkle. No one can take that away from them.”
Philosofay is 23 and currently using retinol, and recognizes that what works today may not be the solution 10 years down the road. “Who knows, I may get Botox one day when I’m older,” they say. “We all strive to stay young, and that is OK as long as it’s your personal choice—but I really want to voice that aging is a privilege and a gift, and that is beautiful in and of itself.”
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Originally Appeared on Allure
