Social media is always one for a trend or a fad, and platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook lend themselves, in particular, to the beauty world given the visual element.
Not long ago, we had the #NoMakeUpSelfie trend in which women were encouraged to post un-made-up and unedited picture of themselves to show their natural beauty, and now the latest craze to take off is #ThePowerOfMakeUp trend in support of using cosmetics.
The aim of the campaign is to show that women can look beautiful with or without make-up, but wearing it is their choice and they should never feel judged.
Catalyst
It all began last month, when 21 year old beauty blogger NikkieTutorials posted a video about the ‘power of makeup’, stating that many people shame women who love make-up, claiming that they’re only wearing it to impress men or hide their insecurities.
In response Nikkie stated that make-up is fun and means more than that to women who enjoy wearing it for themselves, explaining how it can transform someone’s face in a number of ways.
"It's as if putting make-up on to have fun is a shame. Therefore, I thought it would be cool to show you power of make-up. A transformation. Because makeup... is FUN!" she exclaims.
To show this, Nikkie decided to make one half of her face ‘full-on flame’ and leave the other half ‘raw, unedited, nothing, me’; taking the viewer through a make-up tutorial, but only on one half of her face.
The end result, she says, highlights the power of make-up and the fun that women can have with it, celebrating cosmetics use.
Resonating with others
Since then the craze has really taken off, and all over Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, women have been sharing their love for make-up by posting similar photos of their own half made-up faces, with the hashtag #ThePowerOfMakeup, along with personal reasons for loving the cosmetics they wear.
And having been inspired to take the challenge and ‘half make up’ their faces, women have also been posting their own reasons and why this trend resonates with them, on social media, stating that beauty can be natural, but it’s completely fine to use make-up too.
Instagram user maddybuch says: "Beauty can come from a tube but we're just as beautiful without it."
"Decided to take #ThePowerofMakeUp challenge! I wear makeup because it enhances my features and gives me extra confidence. Plus I love applying makeup, always have. But I love my plain face too :)" adds another Instagram user, stephanie_jmc, who also posted her own image.