1. THE TREND: Ditch the Botox and filler to flaunt bold, sweeping streaks of eyeshadow, like painted gills or tiger stripes, that accentuate the natural lines of your face.
  2. WHO’S DOING IT? SFX make-up artists have long used similar techniques to age actors (see Mia Goth’s dramatic transformation into Pearl). Wrinkle make-up has taken off on TikTok, popularised by artists like Mei Pang’s signature nose scrunch and Adrianna Kalisz’s Beetlejuice Lips.
  3. HOW CAN I GET IT? Grab a mix of cream and powder eyeshadow, pat it lovingly onto your deepest creases, and top it off with a slick of cream paint.

Beetlejuice is full of iconic beauty looks, from Lydia Deetz’s signature spiky fringe to Miss Argentina’s green skin and glam red updo, so it’s not surprising that the release of the sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, would inspire a new generation of creative make-up trends. The most popular of these has been Beetlejuice Lips. Created by make-up artist Adrianna Kalisz, the viral look is a tribute to the iconic striped suit worn by Michael Keaton and has spawned a slew of copycats trying out the lips for themselves. What makes this trend so captivating is its playful embrace of the lips’ natural creases – to create the look, a thick layer of cream-based lip paint is applied, followed by tightly pursing the lip and dabbing dark eyeshadow into the creases. When released, the lips reveal a unique pattern that showcases both colours.

But Beetlejuice Lips isn’t just a standalone trend – say it thrice, and you’ll realise it’s part of a larger movement of “wrinkle make-up”. An early example of the technique was a viral video from make-up artist Netta Szekely, in which she dusts metallic powder over a model’s squinting eyelids and sets it with cream concealer. When the model opens his eyes, the reveal is an asymmetrical pattern, organically shaped by his natural wrinkles. Soon after, make-up artist Mei Pang took things up a notch with her signature nose crinkle look. Sweeping a vibrant sunset of eyeshadow across her nose, she then scrunches it up like an accordion and carefully dabs white paint over the creases. The result is a stunning peekaboo pattern born from Pang’s natural expression. “My scrunchy nose is probably my favourite feature on myself,” she writes in the caption. 

The comments on the post are full of excitement, with people praising its originality and creativity, and comparing it to a tiger’s stripes. There are also many comments drawing attention to the fact that this look isn’t achievable – or at least as easy – if you’ve had Botox or filler in your face. “I’m SO HERE for the anti-filler makeup trend!” and “I love watching influencers struggle because of all the filler!” And struggle they do – most influencers and make-up artists who’ve dabbled in fillers or Botox find themselves sidelined from these trends because they lack the necessary facial movement like scrunching and puckering. Influencers including Natalie Violette have been unable to sport the look, while others felt compelled to ‘come out’ as filler users after failing to achieve the desired effect. 

Although the initial videos in the trend make no mention of the looks attainability for those with tweakments, a number of creators including Philosophay have since purposefully positioned the trend as being “Anti-Botox”. The names “Anti-filler,” “Botox-repellent” and “Botox-resistant” have also been used. While flawless, airbrushed looks have long dominated social media beauty ideals, this trend pushes back against this to celebrate natural creases and, suddenly, having natural facial movement has become a niche form of social currency. 

“There’s something anti-establishment and anti-elite about rejecting this ultra-glossy, high-tech, Botoxed ‘perfectionism’ and embracing something unpredictable, unpolished and entirely human,” says Ellen Atlanta, author of Pixel Flesh, who calls the trend ‘inherently punk’. For many viewers, seeing “real” skin and make-up looks that embrace natural texture feels cathartic, a refreshing break from the ultra-smooth, ageless aesthetic dominating social media. At a time when the fear of ageing is so strong that teens are getting Botox and people are scared to move any muscles in their face, it’s unsurprising that there would be some form of backlash. “People seem tired of the blurred, wrinkle-free look and are craving something real,” as Kalisz tells Dazed.

There’s also joy to be found in a trend that is unique for each person and gives a different result every time, since they are so dependent on your face’s natural movements and creases. “In that way, these designs are almost like fingerprints in their singularity – offering self-expression in its purest form,” says Atlanta.

It’s impossible to know how the increasing pervasiveness of cosmetic work and tweakments will impact future beauty standards. While some have speculated that as plastic surgery becomes more accessible, natural “imperfections” will become the next status symbol, it’s equally possible that cosmetic work will just become more advanced and undetectable. Either way, it’s great to see a trend that finds play and joy in make-up and celebrates faces full of natural texture and wrinkles.