Scene culture beauty is back and it’s all TikTok’s fault

Back in January 2020, when we were all still naive and brimming with hope for the new year, the dawning of the new decade was taken by some as a chance to revisit early 2000s emo and scene culture, dubbing this era the RAWRING 20s.

We should have known then that something was amiss.

“At a time when society is feeling more and more divided and the planet increasingly in crisis, maybe it’s the perfect time to bring back the subculture of disenfranchised youths expressing themselves through dark poetry, dark music, and dark make-up,” we wrote at the time. As I said – we were naive.

Since then, there’s been a global pandemic, uprisings around the world against systemic racism and state violence, and whatever was going on with those killer bees. Amid chaos and upheaval, the scene revival is going strong. Paramore’s Hayley Williams released her first solo album earlier this year, while era-defining My Chemical Romance were set for a 2020 reunion tour (although that has since been pushed back a year due to said world chaos).

But scene culture has always been about more than the music – think of its biggest purveyors, like Kiki Kannibal or Audrey Kitching, and you’ll recall the striped hair extensions with extreme short choppy layers on top like a mullet, the neon cut creases, and the chipped technicolour nails. On TikTok, the subcultural hair and make-up looks are thriving, with users posting tutorials full of side-fringes, extreme backcombing, and neon coloured makeup. The hashtag #scenehair currently has over 12 million views, while #scenemakeup has amassed over 825,000 views.

Here are some of the best scene beauty TikToks.

@lisha_is_mee

##hair ##hairdying ##emohair ##scenehair ##mcr

♬ mcr x animal crossing - frickurself

@madmolly

This is a sign cut your hair scene and join the RAWR XD cult. ##SummerLooks ##alternative ##scene ##scenequeen ##scenekid ##scenegirl ##scenehair ##emohair

♬ original sound - madmolly

@aly33.a

😗✌️ ##mywayorthehighway ##emoo ##emoogirl ##arcticfox ##arcticfoxhaircolor @arcticfoxhaircolor ##scenekid ##scenequeen ##scenecore ##fyp

♬ Chant of the Bad Girls - marleyowo

@gingerycarrotkitten

Twenty ninescene ##scene##scenequeen##twentyninescene##emomusic##scenemakeup##scenehair

♬ national anthem circa 2009 - voretherich

@cowboybelle

GIVING MYSELF SCENE HAIR :D !!! (reupload lol) ##got2bStyled ##scene ##haircolor

♬ Freddie Dredd Evil Fantasy - waltdisneysbum

@infectxdghoul

Scene girl transformation ##scene ##scengirl ##scenemakeup ##makeupartist ##egirl ##foryou ##makeupartist

♬ Pain - Three Days Grace

@darklunakawaii

Enjoy my no-makeup :3 ##emo ##emohair ##scenehair

♬ Nice guy grlwood - theofficialyoonbum

@milanicor

##scenekid ##scenequeen ##kandi ##emo ##emokids ##middleschool ##upcycling

♬ My mom said no - shauna_the_sheep123