Faux dark circles, freckles and tooth gaps: Makeup trends that celebrate you as you are

If you’ve been camouflaging your freckles with concealer and foundation and looking for ways to hide your dark circles, it’s time you stopped! Why? Because viral makeup trends on social media are all about flaunting freckles, unibrows, under-eye circles and even tooth gaps now, albeit with faux ‘imperfections’, created with makeup products. These trends are helping promote body and skin positivity and dismantle beauty standards.

“Initially, many found them bizarre and even controversial, but with a bunch of popular social media influencers and makeup artistes popularising this trend, the internet is grateful that these people are trying to flip the script and normalise who they are,” says celebrity makeup artiste Caroll Joseph, adding, “This is similar to Bollywood actress Malaika Arora sporting her stretch marks and Anusha Dandekar flaunting pigmentation because it pushes others to be comfortable in their own skin. Such trends are sending out powerful messages to everyone to love themselves for who they are.”

The makeup trend where one creates tiny dots all over their face has been taking social media by storm for promoting skin positivity. Selena Gomez, in her single Fetish, flaunted faux freckles and created a debate. “Fake freckles create an illusion that you haven’t applied any foundation or concealer on your face, making you look natural,” says makeup artist and skin positivity influencer Naina Shekhawat, adding, “The trend has not only made sporting freckles mainstream, but now even brides request us to create faux freckles on their wedding day. Some people are taking it a notch higher by opting for semi-permanent freckles that last about six months!”

From freckle pens to freckle stencils and henna kits are being used to create freckles. You can either use a liquid eyebrow pen or a brown kajal and meticulously create the beauty spots. Apply translucent powder to keep them intact for long. Emily Ratajkowski did a tutorial and created faux freckles for the perfect summer look

In 2019, a leading international fashion house featured models, including Dani Miller, that had natural tooth gaps, for its lipstick advert and created a stir. Cut to 2021, faux tooth gap is the latest beauty fad ruling the internet. “Creating tooth gaps using makeup is no longer a Halloween look; it’s trendy and desirable,” says Maya Sabarwal, an image consultant, adding, “It is refreshing to see how mindsets are changing thanks to the makeup trends. Young people don’t need to burn a hole in their pockets to get braces and orthodontic treatments anymore.”

Clean your teeth and rinse with mouthwash. Let the teeth dry. Now apply black gel eyeliner or a waterproof pencil to the front two teeth and viola, you’re done!

The chipped nail paint trend has been a rage for a while. “Hundreds of pages and hashtags are dedicated to the trend. While many let their nail paint wear off naturally, others meticulously create the chipped nails look. The bottom line is - you’re not expected to have perfectly manicured nails all the time! They aren’t eyesores anymore because a lot of people are in professions where they’re unable to keep up with their regular nail salon appointments, and that is totally fine,” says nail expert Alex Vaz. Celebs like Post Malone, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Bella Hadid have been sporting chipped nails.

Apply a base coat, then apply paint on the nail, starting from the center. Alternate between short and long strokes to give it that uneven look. Apply a top-coat. You can also paint your nail all the way through, and file the end of it, to chip off the paint.

Started by TikToker Sara Carsten, who struggled with dark circles and wanted to own her natural self, the ‘panda eye’ trend has gone viral. In an interview with a magazine, Sara had said, “Dark circles are nothing to be ashamed of and they can actually look cool. A lot of people have struggled/still struggle with their dark eye bags/circles and now we finally see the aesthetic and beauty in them.” Beauty influencer Kishwar Paul adds, “It is not only fun to create the tired and puffy eyes look, but they’re also so real. The fact that the trend also took over the Met Gala, with Ella Emhoff and Ben Platt rocking fake dark circles on the red carpet, means we are finally okay with looking exhausted without being pressured to appear as porcelain dolls."

You can use a dark concealer, taupe lipstick, or grey or brown eye shadow. Draw inverted semi-circled and smudge using a blender

From #Januhairy to #bodyhairdontcare, body hair has become a trend, as have fuller unibrows and facial hair. To create Frida Kahlo-inspired eyebrows, you can start by drawing on a small monobrow with a flat brush to overdraw the brow onto both sides of the face. Now shape and define each one with concealer