- Harsh contour and dark brows are so 2016.
- TikToker Rachel O'Cool showed her 1.1 million followers how to do their makeup with current trends.
If you've ever looked in the mirror and wished your makeup looked more current, you're not alone.
"Sometimes I do my makeup and realize it's so 2016," Rachel O'Cool told her 1.1 million followers in a recent video.
O'Cool, a TikTok makeup artist, actress, and content creator, is known on her page for the "Lil Tips" series, where she breaks down small hacks her followers can try to improve their makeup, from contour tricks to putting on false lashes.
Her latest video — which O'Cool tells Insider wasn't even originally something she planned, just something she noticed herself doing organically — shows how anyone can bring their makeup game firmly into 2023. The key, according to O'Cool, is to focus on the center of your face, not the sides.
@rachelocoolmua The caviot of a trend it seems… #2016makeup #2023makeuptrends #makeuptrends #makeuptutorial ♬ original sound - Rachel OCool
Back in 2016, strong brows and contouring dominated YouTube and Instagram beauty spaces, whereas now, more natural versions of brows and contouring are in style.
"I've been on beauty YouTube since 2010 when it first started, so you get really good at spotting the trends and how one beauty look grows," O'Cool — who says she considers herself a 'cusp' Gen Z and millennial — told Insider. "I remember the eyebrows, the full face glam, I remember when people would use that same picture of Kim Kardashian to inspire their contour."
Her video, which has over 760,000 views and nearly 170,000 likes, recommends:
- Add some blush and fake freckles to your nose to focus attention.
- Dial back the brows — make them natural looking by not going so long at the end. O'Cool says she uses a brow gel in a slightly lighter shade for her look.
- Don't line the inner corners of your eyes, but do add a white powder or highlight to make your eyes pop ("Boom — you're Alix Earle-ified," she jokes, referencing the Miami beauty influencer).
- Use a lip tint, nude liner, and plumping gloss to do your lips instead of the drying matte lipstick that was so popular five years ago.
As for other makeup fauxpas that O'Cool has noticed, she recommended matching your skin tone when it comes to concealer and not just going after the same yellow or warm-toned shades that most people gravitate towards.
"My total mission as a makeup artist is: Do what looks best on you and the way your face already is," she said.
O'Cool joins a growing trend on TikTok where creators talk about the divergent ways millennials and Gen Z part their hair, wear jeans, and even take photos. But like any trend, O'Cool says in her video that this is all just for fun.
"There are two truths about trends — they're fun to follow and they're fun to hate on five years later," she says in her video.