It’s been an epic year for the best beauty trends. Call it a post-Covid bounce or maybe we’re just making our way into the Roaring Twenties once again, but make-up and skincare aficionados have been swift and eager to embrace everything from Nineties minimalism to Sixties sparkle, plus plenty in between.
If you’re not looking to TikTok for the best beauty trends these days, you’re liable to get left behind because some of the biggest and baddest trends start exactly there. One merry influencer does a little video about how nice her glitter eyeshadow looks and a million views later the product is on the near-permanently sold out list.
We’ve taken a look back over some of our favourite products of the year that made a big splash on the app, from £1 eyelashes to the Kate Middleton lip look and one of the best base dupes to ever land on our beauty desks.
The best TikTok beauty products of 2022
1. Dior lip oils
With over 670 million views for #lipoil, and over 330 million specifically for this fancy brand, we can safely say that the little Dior product was a hit, spawning thousands of dupe-a-likes and pouting influencer videos. The main reason the hashtag went wild? Dior’s Lip Glow Oil, £30 here, reached viral success thanks to its volume-boosting formula and for nailing the Nineties minimal makeup look. The problem, though, was that the oil kept selling out and wasn’t always available to shop in all of the available seven shades.
Cue the dupes, of which we really loved Jouer Cosmetics Essential Hydrating Lip Oil, £15 here, which looks so similar to the original but for half the price; and Catrice Power Full 5 Glossy Lip Oil, £2.89 here – an absolute bargain.
2. The Revlon hot brush
It’s all very well seeing professionals using styling tools on social media, but when something ticks the fan-favourite box, that's when it gets really interesting. The hashtag #revlononestepvolumiser refers to Revlon’s One-Step Volumiser Plus, normally £69.99 but £45 here, has and has over 11 million views. It's also been touted by fans as a good Dyson "dupe".
Thousands of videos sprang up demonstrating the body-boosting hair tool on a range of different hair types. And it’s got glowing reviews: “It is AMAZING! I got mine yesterday and it is a game changer!” one user commented on a video demonstrating the tool. Apart from that, it now has over 20,000 five-star reviews on Amazon, with more appearing every week.
3. The Clinique sheer cherry lip
When Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey, £21 here spawned the hashtag #cliniqueblackhoney and even Kate Middleton was seen sporting a similar shade, we knew it was a big trend. The hashtag has currently clocked up over 137 million views and of course, not far behind it is #blackhoneydupe.
Our favourite of the lip-a-likes has got to be Elf’s, which TikTok user Alyssa Lorraine demonstrates on each side of her lips to show just how similar it is. Oh, except the Elf Black Cherry is just £6 here at Boots.
4. The Jones Road foundation that split (the Internet)
Generally when a product goes viral it’s because people love it, but sometimes it's because people can’t decide, and the lovers and the fighters come together in a clash. This is what happened when TikTok user Meredith Duxbury posted a far from complimentary review of the Jones Road What The Foundation Tinted Moisture Balm, £42 here,
The foundation appeared to split as she applied it in this video. But BB fans were quick to point out that while Bobbi is the queen of natural, skin-like make-up, Meredith is, well, not – and her usual method of using two handfuls of foundation per application weren’t exactly suited to this product.
A fairer review came from our own Beauty Editor, Laura Mulley: “Admittedly this does look a little scary at a first glance,” she said. “A pot of thick, paste-like putty. WTF indeed! But clearly looks can be deceiving, as it in fact spreads out into a very sheer, very dewy veil on the skin."
5. The Utan freckle pen
Love Island sunshine queen Tasha Ghouri beachy look made us all wish we had freckles even when the sun wasn’t shining, but how to get them without spending time on an actual beach? TikTok famous brand utan had the solution in the form of the new and improved Utan Pen,£18 here. The waterproof and buildable semi-permanent formula lasts up to 48 hours, offering a sunkissed “no-makeup makeup” effect in seconds.
Of course TikTokers obliged by creating a bunch of vids about how good it looked (#utanpen has nearly 35,000 views and counting). And soon people were using it as a lip lining hack as well. We love a multi-tasker.
6. These £1 Primark lashes
It might be the biggest beauty bargain on the planet – Primark’s PS… Individual Lashes, cost just £1 for a pack of 30 and when they come into stock at the stores, TikTok gets very excited. This summer it started when TikToker Jessica Grace alerted beauty fans to a restock when she took to the platform to film a short review of the lashes. She applies the lashes using tweezers and Duo Lash Glue before showing off the fluttery results and hailing them “10/10” – prompting hundreds of users to comment on the product’s return.
#PrimarkIndividualLashes now has over 1.2million views on the app so if you see them in store, get them in your basket.
7. The viral e.l.f Tilbury dupe
It’s par for the course in the beauty world that if you make something beautiful, someone else is going to find a way to get the look for less and the #flawlessfilterdupe is one of the best we’ve come across. Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter, £36 here, is literally one of our favourite products ever, so the chances of finding one for £22 less, that we liked just as much, felt slim, but the e.l.f. Halo Glow Liquid Filter, £14 here, is impressive. As evidenced by the 56 million views for #haloglowflawlessfilter on TikTok.
Beauty Editor Laura Mulley tried it out to see if she’d add it to her make-up bag even though the CT one was in there already… and she would. “I absolutely loved the finished effect,” she said. “My skin looked radiant and juicy without looking shiny or shimmery – very filter-like, in fact – and I could even notice the effects on screen on that morning’s Zoom call.
8. The Blinger hair gems
Back when we were eight we thought sticking plastic gems into our hair might be the very height of sophistication, and now we’re all grown up it turns out in 2022, it was. First Laura Whitmore proved it on Love Island then it was all over TikTok before you could say ‘how do I get them out again?’
“Look, how fun! I’m going to a festival,” said influencer Sophie Murray, in a TikTok video that amassed over 1 million likes. Using a kid’s toy known as “The Blinger ” she stamped tiny crystals into her blonde waves.
“Makes me laugh that [that’s] what I used to do as a kid, all these Gen Zs are doing now as adults,” one person replied. The product immediately racked up in price and it’s now available for £33 here.
9. The Danessa Myricks infinite eyeshadow
Sometimes you want to stand out from the crowd and for those days you will want Danessa Myricks Beauty Infinite Chrome Flakes , £27.50 here. TikTok users loved it for the whole galaxy of sparkle effect that it added to their eyes in early videos and even painted it over their lips in an entirely impractical but nonetheless effective-for-TikTok kind of way.
The trend lasted the distance, however, with 1.2million views for #infinitechromeflakes. And that was not just because of the wow factor of the early videos, but because with a lighter touch, then sparkle was actually pretty wearable even for your average night out.
10. Color Wow's waterproof hair product
The drizzle is back like an early Christmas present but we’re not too worried thanks to what we learned from the viral trends market earlier this year. We’ll be prepping for humidity with the help of the Color Wow Dream Coat Anti-Humidity Hair Treatment, £27 here. With over 27 million views for #colorwowdreamcoat and endorsement from Kim Kardashian’s hair stylist mate Chris Appleton, it’s no wonder this product has been selling out. It’s probably our favourite winter coat.
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