Do Believe The Hype About The Viral ‘Marinated Makeup’ Trend—It’s About To Be Everywhere For Fall

While this summer may have been all about Y2K beauty and style trends, a fall 90s grunge revival is currently all the rage on BeautyTok— the fan-dubbed section of TikTok videos that centers around makeup trends and DIY instructions. (Yes, this means that it’s more than appropriate to bust out your favorite smokey eye, smudged cat-eye, powdery foundation and mauve lipstick!)

‘Marinated makeup’ as a topic is currently garnering millions of views, thousands of videos and tutorials on the social media app, as a modern take on turn-of-the-century looks that are practically perfect for gloomy, spooky season weather. We reached out to professional makeup artist Mary Winkenwerder for tips on how to master the look for yourself, and took a deep dive into how the nostalgic trend resurfaced.

When you think ‘grungy glam,’ looks from Courtney Love and early aughts ‘it’ girls like Avril Lavigne and Taylor Momsen might come to mind. While not all of these smudged eyeliner and lipstick looks are exactly the same, they share the ‘lived-in’ appeal, or the idea that unkempt, effortless makeup had ‘marinated’ for some time. (The opposite of the TikTok-trendy ‘clean girl’ aesthetic, if you will).

As one user recently wrote, “What is the science behind makeup looking so much better at the end of the day once it’s marinated for a few hrs,” on a clip with over 9,000 views, “And when the eye makeup is slightly smudgy but still looks just right.” Another makeup enthusiast left a comment suggesting that one reason for its rising appeal is that the makeup seems to “melts into your skin, becomes part of you, blends with your essence.” Additionally, Maybelline’s global trend director Dominica Baird recently said to Nylon Magazine that this new look is “merging the two worlds of Y2K nostalgia and the new resurgence of nightlife.” (And what era had better going-out looks than the 90s?)

While you really can rock a grungy or gothic look year round, Winkenwerder explains why she believes this trend is made for fall, and can allow you to thrive when heading to a concert or preparing for temperatures to drop. “Autumn is a time when colors change and these unlikely colors mold together,” she says.

“While these color lines produced in nature are not precise, they are beautiful in their finishes.” When autumn metallics and jewel tones come together, “spectacular finishes bloom,” she adds, and “marinated makeup is one way to make autumn colors bloom on the face.”

This trend also works very well with creamy texture makeup, which is undoubtedly trendy right now, Winkenwerder acknowledges. “The creamy and liquid textures allows for better setting into the skin before blending, producing flawless finishes.”

The flawless finishes produced by marinated makeup range from glam grunge to traditional grunge, so the possibilities for your own iteration are endless. The good news is, you don’t have to sleep in your makeup to obtain this bedhead, pre-indie sleaze style, as Winkenwerder provides steps to achieve the look below without clogging any pores, thankfully!

Marinated makeup allows for the applied makeup to set and absorb into the skin before blending, Winkenwerder notes. “When it’s time to blend, the color appears seamless when finished and this makeup trend produces a flawless natural look,” she continues, noting that “it takes a bit more time to produce, but the surprising results are worth it.”

When choosing to move into a new and unexplored makeup trend involving blending color into the face, she advises to stick to the basics. Concealer (or corrective concealer if needed), foundation of any texture, liquid or cream highlighter, blush or bronzer of any texture, creamy eye color and soft eyeliner textures, and lip color are all “great places for anyone to start.”

1. On a clean face blot apply concealer.  Let it “marinate.”  Once the color sets into the skin, blend well.

2. Next, she says to apply foundation of any texture to desired areas, and again let it “marinate.”

3. Now, apply highlighter in liquid or cream textures before letting it “marinate” and blending well.

4. Brush your blush or bronzer in any texture.

5. Apply lip suite colors in any texture.

6. Add the creamy eye color and eyeliner products to the desired areas with a blotting motion.