Nothing guarantees it will be a good day more quickly than the days where your beat is so laid you don’t even want to wash it off. This is why I can’t stop dreaming about TikTok’s unrecognizable makeup trend. If you haven’t scrolled past the makeup magic yet, it’s truly a sight to behold where seriously skilled makeup girlies are transforming into seriously bad bitches. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that the girls weren’t cute before, because they all are! But this particular style of makeup application is like waving a wand and getting an ultra-baddie face transformation, with no surgeon required.
The makeup looks “unrecognizable” because instead of following your face’s natural attributes (my go-to method), these creators are using makeup to push the boundaries of expectation — altering the shape of their eyes, lips, and bone structure, all with the same shit I’ve bought from Sephora??? This brings me to my next pertinent question: how the hell do I do this? Here’s a guide on how to achieve TikTok’s unrecognizable makeup from a professional makeup artist.
How To Achieve The Unrecognizable Makeup Trend
What Is The Unrecognizable Makeup?
Unrecognizable makeup is a full glam makeup look where the face is transformed with bombshell, supermodel-worthy makeup that makes the person look totally different from their natural appearance.
Essential Products For Unrecognizable Makeup
When it comes to really making a full face elevated (and in this case, elevated enough to switch up your whole visage), I’ve often asked, “But why do I still look the same??” It turns out that the key to next-level “unrecognizable” makeup starts before you even pick up a brush.
Viral MUA and makeup influencer Leilani Green tells me, “Honestly, the makeup isn’t makeuping because you are not prepping the skin the way it should be prepped.” Okay, that’s low-key, making a lot of sense.
Leilani encourages mini makeup gurus to ask themselves the hard questions: “What does your skin look like before you put your makeup on? Did you do your entire skincare routine?” If the answer is no, it is time to back it up. For her pre-makeup routine, Leilani applies “a thin serum, a thick moisturizing under-eye cream, and a moisturizer mixed with an SPF to prevent stacking on multiple layers of skin care.”
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Since a fire final product always starts with a flawless base, Leilani says, “using a primer designated for your skin type,” like ones that shrink pores or smooth texture, “will even out the skin before applying your foundation concealer and powder on top of it.” So, babes, it looks like we need to accept once and for all primer is a thing.
If you’re someone who doesn’t typically apply a full face, you might be fearful your look could turn out cakey. Suppose you want to look like a whole new woman without any of the flaking and creasing. But Leilani says not to worry.
“Layering will only cause cakeiness throughout the day as the product starts to break down, and sweat starts coming out of the pores.”
So, try building products up certain products selectively when possible. Like adding foundation around the areas you typically put concealer on. Another hot tip? “Re-wetting your face during the blending process with something like a serum spray or a fixing spray during the blending process” can bring an elaborate vision to life without making a muddy mess.
Tips For Seamless Contouring
One thing you’re going to need to master to create the illusion your bone structure is different is contouring.
“When you apply the contour below the cheekbone, it will make your face appear longer and larger than it actually is,” she says. Basically doing the complete opposite of snatching your face. If you apply your product a tiny bit higher than you think you should, by the time you blend it out, it’ll be in the perfect spot
Remember, when selecting the perfect contour shade for your skin tone, “contour is to create shadows, bronzing is to warm.” Mixing those two products up can leave you “looking ghostly.” Leilani’s process is to contour with a cool-toned, designated contour and stacking on a warm bronzer shade above it. Once you have blended, you can move on to creating a siren eye, which is popular with this beauty trend.
Smoking out a shade deeper than your skin tone past the tale of your brow is the key to Bella Hadid-adjacent cat eye territory, according to Leilani. And yes, looking like Bella Hadid every once in a while is a reasonable bucket list item for every betch’s 2025 rebrand. She then tightlines and waterlines with black eyeliner and finishes with a straight (not curved) liquid wing for “the ultimate cat-eye effect.”
The Perfect Lip Combo
In addition to making your eyes bigger or wider, you might want to plump your pout. Cutting down on filler is all the rage right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use a lipliner instead of a needle.
Going the tiniest bit above your natural lip line is Leilani’s trick if you have naturally thin lips. “I have pretty medium to large size lips,” Leilani says. “So overlining that Cupid bow and underlining that lower bottom lip in the center, gives me the effect of a Bratz doll.”
Something that works like magic for everyone is topping your lip combo with a “glass” gloss to blend all of your hard work together like the unrecognizable icon you are.
