8 Experimental Makeup Trends Taking Over Our Feeds

Photo: @tyra.mua / IG

Remember Pat McGrath’s glass skin makeup that she did for Maison Margiela’s Couture Spring 2024 show that started a glass skin frenzy on TikTok? Or the now-iconic Beetlejuice lip trend that had creators pouting their lips to apply black eyeshadow over radioactive green lipstick so the green can peek through the black in the dents of their lips? These kinds of trends aren’t meant to be worn to brunch or your 9-to-5. They’re not tutorials in the traditional sense. They're digital performance art. Experiments. But that's exactly what makes them so interesting to watch. They’re just fun! Fun to execute and fun to watch.

While you might not find yourself reaching for latex glue or glass skin masks anytime soon, there’s something powerful about seeing makeup being used to entertain, play around with, or to provoke. These trends push boundaries, not just in technique, but in our understanding of what beauty can be. They broaden our visual vocabulary and even encourage us to be just a bit more open-minded.

Here are eight of the most captivating experimental makeup trends taking over your social feeds recently:

1. Shalom Harlow Makeup

Photo: @tyra.mua / IG

This trend is a love letter to the legendary Shalom Harlow’s appearance in Versace’s Spring/Summer 1995 Ready-to-Wear show. It's a softly diffused grunge yet soft glam look; intense foxy eyeliner, luminous skin, overlined lips in brownish red, ashy white eyeshadow, contour to emulate Shalom’s infamous bones structure and that signature 90s model glow that says “I only sleep four hours but somehow look ethereal.” The vibe is part 60’s pin-up and part melancholy It-girl. Bonus points for pairing it with a side part and romantic curls that hug the side of your face.

2. Cleopatra Makeup

Photo: @_marianazambrano / IG

While winged eyeliner is timeless, Cleopatra makeup in 2025 is more maximalist than ever. Social creators are reimagining ancient Egyptian beauty with exaggerated eyeliner shapes (which means, a lot of tight-lining), shimmering turquoise and gold lids, and bold cut-creases that stretch toward the temples. This is power-makeup at it's best. Completed with pharaoh-level embellishments. TikTok and Instagram beauty creators are pairing these looks with gold leaf, gold shimmer body oils, hair jewellery, the signature Cleopatra bob and bangs, and even snake motifs for full-on Ancient Egyptian ruler energy.

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3. Ballerina Cappuccina Makeup

Photo: @mi.kseniya / IG

This trend isn’t just about the look, but the transformation. Makeup artists begin their TikToks barefaced, often looking completely casual or “normal,” and then transition into a hyper-feminine, highly stylised version of a fictional internet character known as Ballerina Cappuccina. The look is soft and delicate: pale pink makeup, wifty lashes, a white or pastel outfit, and usually a ribbon or bow in the hair. It's pure balletcore sweetness.

Then, some creators take it even further with a second transition, becoming Espressona Senora a darker, more intense counterpart. The makeup becomes bolder: smokey eyes with winged liner, red or brown lips, sharper contour, and a dramatic brown or black outfit.

4. Yarn Makeup

Photo: @annas__sfx / IG

This one is not for the faint of heart (or the texture-sensitive). Yarn makeup involves gluing actual pieces of yarn to the face in a circular notion starting from your nose to cover your entire face and then applying makeup on top. The result is a plush, puppet-like appearance that’s part children’s craft project, part uncanny valley. It brings to mind those almost cottagecore-style horror movies or movies like Caroline. It’s giving Raggedy Ann possessed by an influencer. The contrast between the soft material and the almost sentient effect it gives is seriously off-putting… but also weirdly captivating. It could also feel quite claustrophobic to look at. Watching people peel it off is also pretty satisfying.

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5. Lace Face Makeup

Photo: @charlotteroberts / IG

Equally disturbing and beautiful, the lace face makeup trend is the gothic cousin of the yarn look. Here, creators apply sheets or fragments of lace directly to the face to create a full lace face mask, then apply makeup over it; blush, even lipstick, to create an eerie, delicate look. If you can imagine it looks like what would happen if the Corpse Bride’s face fused with her wedding veil during her eternal wait for her groom. Lace and skin mesh together and the result is hauntingly romantic: a second-skin effect. Some people have even tried this with black lace. We know, spooky. It's romantic, haunting, and just a bit wrong in the best way. Strange? Yes. Stunning? Also yes.

6. Stolen Skin Makeup/ Facemask Makeup

Photo: @meicrosoft / IG

Equal parts disturbing and mesmerising, the stolen skin or facemask makeup trend is pure visual theatre. The process starts with something simple, a dry sheet mask. A beauty creator using a facemask. Pretty normal, right? Good skincare goes hand in hand with a flawless beat. But instead of hydrating serums, creators paint hyper-exaggerated features directly onto the mask: warped lips, stretched-out eyes, upturned eyebrows. The final effect is a face that looks like it’s been borrowed or stolen.

Many take it a step further by taping the edges of the mask to their skin, creating a raised, floating effect that mimics the look of wearing someone else’s face. It’s unsettling like if Hannibal Lecter made it to beauty school. It’s horror-core meets high concept makeup

7. Latex Swirls Makeup

Photo: @lavanyawiles / IG

Originally popularised back in 2021 as a graphic eyelid look, latex swirls makeup is back and bigger than ever. The new version abandons subtlety entirely. Creators now trace abstract swirl patterns across their entire face using lash glue or liquid latex, let it dry, then paint vibrant colours over it.

Once the colours are in place, the latex is peeled off to reveal clean negative space underneath, creating an optical illusion that looks like something between a 70s rave poster and a psychedelic fever dream. It’s so pretty and a little nostalgic for the chaotic colour-drenched energy of early pandemic makeup trends. The fun of latex swirls lies in their unpredictability. No two looks are ever the same. And the peel-off moment is deeply satisfying.

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8. Snow White Transitions

Photo: @patiiloz_makeup and @alyssa_benavidess / IG

Because of the release of the new Snow White movie, one of the latest TikTok transformations is the Snow White transition trend. It usually begins with a soft, rosy glam look inspired by the Disney princess herself: fluttery lashes, flushed cheeks, red lips, and a sweet bow in the hair. But later, the creators morph into something much darker: the Evil Queen in disguise as the old lady. Made complete with prosthetic noses, sunken eyes, and wart-covered skin. It’s nostalgic and dramatic.

These experimental looks might not be meant for the everyday and they’re probably not telling you to run out and glue yarn to your forehead because it is the ‘in’ thing. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to take away. Maybe it’s the reminder that makeup can be more than for enhancement and conventionality; it can be a form of expression and escapism. Maybe it’s the inspiration to channel your inner Shalom Harlow and finally use that untouched white eyeshadow in your pallett that you did not know how to use. Or maybe it’s just the joy of watching someone else be wildly creative in ways you’d never think to try yourself.

At the end of the day, these creators are artists, stretching the boundaries of what makeup can do, and what beauty can mean.