A rapidly growing beauty trend inspired by Cyberpunk and Euphoria is filling our world with digital esthetics: the hot glue make-up. Ready to enter the realm of experimentation?
by Silvia Manzoni. Cover image: Alessandro Corradini, Exploring the dynamics between human body and nature’s, Time, 2022, 3D digital artwork.
Forget the “touch-of-make-up-and-go-look”. We are in the realm of experimentation here: 3-D and cutting-edge effects as in the best science fiction movies, but in this case, created on cheekbones and eyebrows. And it has nothing to do with brushes and foundations. Trend forecasting agency Nelly Rodi has identified this rapidly growing social media trend: hot glue make-up, made with a hot glue gun that creates 3D shapes, to be apply on the face once solidified. Already widespread among cinema special-effect artists in the film industry, the technique has become very popular among the coolest beauty creators because of its proximity to the Metaverse aesthetics.
THE REASON WHY HOT GLUE MAKE-UP IS A TREND
The BeautyToker who introduced the method is Vanessa Funes, @cutcreaser, who used it at the beginning of March, used this method to create a metallic silver eye look. The video instantly went viral on TikTok. This is how the experts of Nelly Rodi describe it: “Spread by the Metaverse, the fluid, organic forms and saturated blues and purples from the Cyberpunk game and the Euphoria series are filling our world with digital esthetics. TikTok users are wild about these codes bordering on the unreal and have a particularly strong influence on make-up aficionados”.
#hotgluemakeup is the most popular technique for creating these faux-digital makeup looks and has already generated over 14.3 million views on the platform. The trend involves using a glue gun to draw shapes (abstract forms, stars, hearts, or other Y2K symbols) on a flat surface. When dry, iridescent makeup is applied and the final shapes go on the face – with a skin-safe adhesive, not a glue gun!
This new trend, spreading rapidly on social media, has made another one blossom (heir to a make-up style popular in the early 2000s): the chrome make-up (22 million views on TikTok), which is likely to be one of the most popular next summer, with metallic glitter compositions, insistent graphic lines and arabesques and an obsession with shades hinting Metaverse world. “This look makes you feel like Beyoncé on the cover of the Renaissance album,” said the Young American make-up Artist Olivia Hernandez, referring to the pop -star’s image on a holographic crystal horse. Ready for a mission to Mars?
Silvia Manzoni is a Journalist and Beauty expert.
