Has internet culture killed individuality when it comes to make-up?

With the ‘Instagram Face’ gaining momentum of late, what does it mean for diversity and individuality in the approach towards beauty?  

Wet, glazed lips, doll eyes with fluttery, natural-looking lashes, feathered brows, rosy, flushed cheeks, and skin that mimics the bounce of jelly or dumplings. All of this makes for an accurate description of the Gen-Z ‘it’ girl’s make-up aesthetic. However, that’s exactly how most people on our social media feeds look like today, and perhaps, will continue looking until a global trendsetter (Hailey Bieber, we’re looking at you) drops yet another look that bags a premiere spot in the virality race.

Historically and theoretically, make-up was a means to channel self-expression. Today, make-up is anything but individualistic. As the internet culture becomes increasingly influential, singularity has been thrown into oblivion. In keeping up with the constant  ebb and flow of beauty trends like #strawberrygirl, #lattelips, #sunsetblush or #fauxfreckles, we’ve forgotten the charm of kohl-rimmed eyes, for instance.

With glow-enhancing products propelling the growth of the beauty industry, we attempt to understand how this phenomenon has impacted the diversity and individuality in the approach towards beauty, and what it means for the beauty industry.

How Instagram Face upheaved the lip + cheek categories 

The lip and cheek tint category—which didn’t exist until a few years ago—is omnipresent today. Not only has the miscellany of the product mushroomed in the last five years or so, but its market size, currently valued at US$2.5 billion, is projected to proliferate at a compound annual growth rate of 6.3 per cent between 2024 and 2030. Similarly, lip glosses—though first released in 1932 by Russian-American beauty brand Max Factor—enjoyed their prime in the 1990s as people swayed away from the classic, monochromatic matte make-up and began toying with Lancôme’s Juicy Lips and M.A.C Cosmetics’ Lipglass. Several trends have made a comeback, thanks to the likes of Hailey Bieber, Selena Gomez, Rihanna and their respective make-up lines.

As products like Peptide Lip Treatment from Rhode, Soft Pinch Liquid Blush from Rare Beauty, Gloss Bomb from Fenty Beauty, the pH-activated Byo Blush from Youthforia, the Pillow Talk lipstick and cream blush from Charlotte Tilbury, lip tints from Korean brand Peri Pera , Orgasm Liquid Blush from Nars, Lip Glow Oil from Dior Beauty among others attained cult status, thanks to their virality on TikTok and other social media platforms, homegrown beauty brands swiftly jumped on the bandwagon. Brands like Simply Nam, Kay Beauty, Typsy Beauty, Diam Beauty, Kiro, Gush Beauty, and Ruby’s Organics thrive on an array of lip and cheek products. 

According to reports from Mintel, in India, lip-colour cosmetics make up the largest share of launches in make-up. “This category has consistently led in terms of product launches from 2018 to 2023,” informs Tanya Rajani, beauty and personal care analyst, Mintel Reports India. “More specifically, they accounted for 37 per cent of all colour cosmetic launches in the period from August 2022 to July 2023, showing a steady increase from previous years.” Needless to say, so much of this movement is influenced by what’s trending in the West. Make-up artist Bianca Louzado, who has noticed a unanimous approach towards running trends like the sun-kissed blush look, says, “All it takes is a great skincare routine topped with a multifunctional lip and cheek product all over the face,” which explains why the product is in great demand currently. 

“The lip category continues to thrive,” says Hanna Strömgren Khan, co-founder of Simply Nam, who attributes a major part of this hype to social media. “Lip products serve as an excellent entry point for new consumers; picking up a new lip shade requires little to no pre-planning due to its price point and the idea that you can enjoy many different lip shades without ever feeling like you have ‘too many’. The Indian consumer appreciates multipurpose products, from what we’ve observed. For example, many cream blushes are marketed as both lip and cheek products, offering 2-in-1 functionality and high value for money.” Even for FAE Beauty, the spread of lip products—liquid lipsticks, lip liners, bullet lipsticks, and reformulated lip glosses included—pose as the biggest component of its portfolio. “I believe that in the case of lipsticks, it’s easy to convince a customer. There’s an instant and visible gratification in terms of appearance versus, say, a moisturiser. Another reason for the category’s growth is its diversification—from scrubs and balms to oils, gels, high-shine lipsticks and more, there’s so much to choose from,” shares Karishma Kewalramani, founder of FAE Beauty.

Kewalramani’s FAE has reintroduced its lip glosses, this time, with an infusion of the attention-garnering peptides. “We’ve redone the whole product—packaging as well as formula. We wanted to make the packaging more ergonomic based on customer feedback, and while we were at it, we went back to the drawing board and added ingredients like peptides and passion fruit extract for enhanced lip care benefits,” she shares. 

The unfortunate unidimensionality of beauty 

When beauty and skincare products comprise trendy ingredients like peptides, ceramides, and snail mucin or champion terms like ‘barrier’, there is a deeper story to tell than the obvious hike in their surface-level demand. Dewy, well-hydrated skin, with a plush veil of high-shine gloss, salmon-pink cheeks, and slicked-back hair have become the epithet of ideal beauty standards. The beauty industry continues to milk this fad by further populating the same product categories.

The human tendency to mimic a celebrity- or influencer-led trend isn’t new, points out beauty editor and brand consultant Hena Desai. “We saw a generation rock Sadhna- and Rachael-inspired hairstyles or have over-plucked brows. With constant exposure to social media, people are influenced more easily. Back in the day, all of us wanted to look like the models we saw in magazines? Today, TikTok and Instagram are the new magazines—the only difference is that instead of a new issue reaching you every month, there is a new piece of content hitting you every second. There’s constant access to celebrities and beauty influencers, and the near-perfect visuals of their make-up…no wonder we end up looking the same.”

However, this has also led to the gentrification of beauty of sorts. Wearing a glossy lacquer, having airbrushed skin or posting a mirror-selfie with Rhode’s lip treatment inserted in the brand’s phone case have emerged as status symbols, reminding us of the ‘Lipstick Effect’ theory. The social-economical concept suggests that women tend to purchase cosmetics—lip products, in particular—during times of economic crises as make-up provides instant gratification versus other expensive items like furniture or a vehicle. This was first noticed in 2001 during the 9/11 attacks in the United States, when The Estée Lauder Companies reported an 11 per cent spike in the demand for lipsticks. Later, in 2008, when the global recession hit, Leonard Lauder observed an increase in the demand for lipsticks once again. A similar trend occurred in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vasundhara Patni believes that this theory did play a role in boosting the sales of her brand Kiro Beauty’s lip products in 2020. “During that time, people sought small indulgences like looking good on video calls, or simply while cooking at home. Lipsticks and multi-purpose products, therefore, became go-tos for a quick pick-me-up, offering both emotional indulgence and practicality at an affordable price.” Rajani adds, “Lip colour accounted for 43 per cent of launches in India between August 2018 and 2019. This percentage slightly declined between July 2020 and 2021 (34 per cent) but began to recover, reaching 39 per cent between August 2022 and July 2023, indicating sustained consumer interest.”

The flipside of virality

According to Sakshi Kabra, a beauty enthusiast and founder of Sunday Forever, social media is the breeding ground for “trends”, and brands are quick to turn them into products. “Someone uses their lipstick as a blush, and now the market is flooded with multi-sticks,” she says. But, trends are cyclical, and trendsetters aren’t permanent either. In the mid-2010s, Kylie Jenner took the beauty landscape by storm with her eponymous brand’s liquid matte lipsticks that coated her plump and full lips perfectly. What’s next? Lip fillers and liquid matte lipsticks were all the rage then. While some people still covet pillowy lips today, the focus has shifted to the possible migration of fillers and skincare-make-up hybrids such as lip serums, tinted lip balms, and lip oils.

“The internet, especially social media platforms, is defining what’s hot, and what’s not. It is becoming our new favourite marketplaces; it is our new newspaper, television, mall and even grocery store. Millennials and Gen-Z—the two age groups with the highest spending power—are glued to their phones 24x7,” says Desai. While the internet culture does serve the next hit product’s idea on a platter to beauty brands, the internet is also notorious for not providing long-term real estate to anything or anyone. After all, every trend and trendsetter has a shelf-life. 

According to make-up artist Savleen Manchanda, make-up has largely had a feel-good aspect, like in her mother’s case, who would always wear lipstick, if nothing else. But the visual language of make-up has evolved dramatically with time. “A natural, no-make-up make-up look didn’t exist until a few years ago—everyone was happy using a full-coverage foundation. Today, people use BB creams, or sunscreen with a slight tint. Similarly, we’ve moved on from a matte finish to a dewy, glowy finish,” says Manchanda. The beauty industry, at large, has also made space for more innovation—beauty tech, personalised beauty solutions, an influx of homegrown beauty brands, and the never-ending advent of international beauty labels in India are changing the face of the Indian beauty industry. 

“Our research reveals that 46 per cent of Indian consumers have bought a beauty product that they have not tried before. This suggests that they are keen to experiment with new products and technologies such as virtual try-ons and co-creation opportunities,” says Rajani. Having said that, there is a pressing need for brands to look beyond virality, and build a voice or positioning of their own through never-seen-before products. Trends are volatile; lip gloss fatigue or the death of minimalism could render make-up categories that are exciting today, redundant tomorrow. Until then, the similar-looking refined, Paris-filtered aesthetic will dominate our social media feeds, as we wait for #selfexpression or #originality to become the new cool.

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