TikTok is the queen bee when it comes to social media, and in 2021, TikTok beauty trends filled our feeds and our makeup bags alike. As far as setting trends go, it's not just army pants and flip flops that the site can cement overnight, it's experimental eyeliner looks, clever brow-fluffing techniques and the latest Y2K glossy lip combo. The app has billions of beauty lewks and techniques going viral on a daily basis, which means the rest of us can pick up some inspo and life-changing hack or two. But of it's beauty smash-hits, which have scored best during 2021?
Luckily for us, a new Skindex report, by luxury beauty brand Clarins, has broken down the top 30 TikTok beauty trends over the past year. We take a look below...
1. Graphic liner
Perhaps unsurprisingly, graphic liner has taken the top spot. 2021 was the year we wanted to break away from our everyday beauty uniform and introduce new twists to keep our makeup interesting. Hence, graphic liner (which takes our classic winged liner a step further) has been huge. In fact it's brought in over 645 million views. NBD.
2. Cat eye
It's a classic for a reason, the trad cat eye has held its own with over 400 million views because a) it looks so chic and b) we'll take all the tips we can get. But (whispers) heading into 2022, a new rendition is taking off. Kitten eyeliner is the trend's cool little sister, so if you haven't heard about it already, you're about to.
3. Soap brows
Soap brows have been big for a while, but despite some rogue brow looks making a splash earlier this year (more on that below), the brushed up look is still the top trend for brows with over 220 million views.
4. Ombre lips
Ombre lips started taking off in Korea, then hit top and exploded in the west. Now the multi-tonal lip look has over 244 million views.
5. Smokey eye
Smoky eyes may be timeless, but there's also endless ways to spin them which is why we keep coming back for more views (over 190 million of them).
How to pull off an epic smoky eye like the A-listers (just in time for the festive party season)
6. Glitter lips
This year has seen escapism infiltrate our beauty looks and glitter lips are a cute example of that with over 185 million views.
7. Glass skin
Skinimalism was one of 2021's biggest trends. Rather than concentrating on makeup to cover spots, we switched focus to upping our skincare ante to ensure our base was as perfect as possible, then obvs, we looked for trends that would showcase all that hard work. Healthy, sheeny glass skin had over 182 million views.
8. Faux freckles
A cute addition to our makeup, faux freckles continued to take off throughout 2021 with techniques becoming more experimental and long-lasting – fake tan freckles anyone? The trend brought in over 164 million views.
9. Winged liner
Like cat-eyes, winged liner is going no-where, it scooped TikTok's ninth most popular beauty spot with over 125 million views.
This is the makeup artist-approved way to apply eyeliner so that you'll never rock wobbly flicks again
10. No makeup makeup
Lots of us got much more familiar with our naked faces over 2020, and by 2021, we were willing to embrace it (ish) with this our skin, but better trend. Views topped 109 million.
11. Glossy lips
After years of headlining, matte lips have seen a dip and fresh glossy Y2K lips are firmly back on the agenda with over 96.3 million views.
12. Reverse cat eye
We've seen the Reverse Frenchie mani invert the classic French tip so it runs along the cuticle, and we saw the same deal with the reverse cat-eye. The liner swapped spots from the top lash line to the bottom for a simple refresh that's seen over 80 million views.
13. Lip stain
Face masks have changed the way we've had to think about our makeup. For some it's meant skipping steps and going in with a lighter hand, for others it's meant bullet-proof long-wearing formulas, or clever budge-proof options that stay put but don't feel too heavy. Lip stains fall into that last category. They're transfer proof, they last all day and most of them feel weightless. The trend's brought in over 75 million views.
14. Blue eyeshadow
We keep seeing blue eyeshadow everywhere and JLo's latest blue smoky eye has us converted. So far the trend has brought in over 68 million views.
15. Gradient lips
Like ombre lips, gradient lips sees multiple shades applied to lips, gradually getting lighter from the lip line to the centre of the lips. It's brought in over 50 million views.
16. Fluffy brows
For makeup minimalists who don't want to look too neat or “done” relaxed fluffy brows are the way to go and have totted up over 48 million views.
17. Double liner
Another spin on graphic liner, the double liner trend has been big throughout 2021 with double wings or a classic cat-eyes paired with a liner defining the crease dominating our social feeds. It's brought in over 45 million views.
18. Bleached brows
It's brave, it's bold and videos of creators blanking out their brows with bleach have been viewed over 41 million times.
19. Purple eyeshadow
Frosted '90s lavenders and lilacs or richer amethyst shades have made an appearance across the lids of some of our favourite celebs and over on TikTok, too with over 41.2 million views.
20. Feather brows
We've seen this trend spun in two ways: the first, a fluffy, feathery brow technique, similar to fluffy brows, and the second, split down the middle and brushed out to recreate the look of actual feathers Either way, it's brought in over 25 million views.
21. Thin brows
We're not sure whether we'd personally commit to the thin, plucked brows our mums have spent our whole lives warning us off of, but we're 100% here to watch other people do it on TikTok. It's brought in over 23 million views.
22. Green eyeshadow
23. 90s makeup
That '90s nostalgia is the gift that keeps giving – grunge liner, glitter, brown lipstick and those skinny brows we mentioned before have all helped rack up over 22 million views.
24. Blue eyeliner
Since we've started incorporating simple switches into our makeup bags (like swapping out our black liner for something a bit different) it makes sense that blue eyeliner has trended with over 19 million views through 2021.
25. Batwing liner
This trend took off to help those with hooded eyes achieve a more slick winged liner. The secret is to create a batwing shape to make sure that none of the liner gets concealed in the crease when you open your eyes. It's racked up over 19 million views.
26. Glitter liner
In general, liner has dominated the beauty trends on TikTok throughout 2021. We've seen the shapes become more extravagant and the shades become more experimental, but we especially love glitter liner for a cool way to wear party makeup. It's got over 17 million views on the platform.
27. Purple blush
We may have Rihanna to thank for this next trend since she's worn the shade out to high-profile events numerous times and even given us the goods (aka her Fenty Cheeks Out Freestyle Blush) to recreate it ourselves. It's cute, it's wearable and it makes a cute change from peach and pink. That's why over 14 million people tuned in to watch the trend on TikTok.
28. Double hand liner
We're mesmerised by this next trend and from the looks of things, lots of you are too, since it's brought in over 14 million views. The jist, apply your liner to both eyes, at the same time, with both hands and see just how neat you can get it. We're mega impressed by this rendition from Fairy Freak.
29. Overlined lips
We're surprised overlined lips didn't come up higher given so many of us are doing it (and we're always looking for hacks to make it look seamless). That said, it still made the top 30 with over 12 million views.
30. Lamination brows
Last but not least, we love a lazy-girl beauty hack and brow lamination is the low-maintenance way to get brushed up brows for longer, without resorting to more permanent methods like microblading. Basically like a perm for your brows, it lifts the hairs and sets them in place so they don't move for weeks. The trend has brought in over 11 million views.
This was originally published on Glamour UK.
