Flying high: The “lip wings” beauty trend explained

“Lip wings” is the latest makeup trend that’s got everyone talking, but what exactly does it involve? In contrast to the “less is more” vibe that’s been riding high since the start of the pandemic, this beauty technique gives you plumped-up and perfectly overlined lips, echoing the extravagant makeup sported by Bratz dolls in the early 2000s.

Natural or eccentric?

The choice is yours when it comes to makeup trends. The pandemic has transformed beauty routines, with recent research suggesting that women are generally wearing less makeup and are paying more attention to their skin.

But while many have been reconnecting with a more natural beauty look, part of the global population seems to be rejecting the trend, opting instead for extravagant makeup.

Others are taking a more hybrid approach, picking the occasional thing here and there to liven up their new home-working, face-mask-wearing routines.

On the TikTok social network — a veritable incubator of beauty trends — Gen Z users appear to have chosen their side of the makeup divide, with videos recreating “lip wings” flourishing in recent days.

And it’s hard to imagine anything more extravagant. Then again… So anyway, what’s it all about?

Well, like overlining — familiar to fans of the Kardashians — “lip wings” involves creating a plumped-up effect with no need for surgery or fillers. And, what’s more, it’s not necessarily that difficult to recreate at home.

To create the perfect “lip wings,” you’ll need a lip pencil that’s darker than the natural shade of your lips.Start by drawing a quite thick outline around the contours of your lips.

But the whole effect hangs on what happens at the corners of your mouth, where you draw wing-like flicks — as if drawing cat-eye eyeliner, only on your mouth.

In the comments underneath these videos — whether on TikTok or Instagram — certain users have compared the result to the lips of the Bratz fashion dolls that were popular back in the 2000s.

And that’s an interesting observation, considering that these famous toys, characterized by their full lips and eccentric looks, seem to have been making a major comeback in recent months.

Bratz dolls, fashion icons?

Not long ago, still on TikTok, influencers and fashion fans posted a host of photos and videos of themselves wearing boots with huge platforms, resembling those worn by the 2000s dolls –so much so that they were dubbed Bratz Boots.

Once an icon, always an icon… Still, it remains to be seen whether the dolls’ eccentric garb will also manage to sway upcoming fashion trends. Watch this space.