- THE TREND: Slogans and statement words in big bold lettering across your face.
- WHO’S DOING IT? Tapped-in internet make-up artists and beauty influencers who are increasingly spawning copycat looks.
- HOW CAN I GET IT? A steady hand and lots and lots of Q-tips. Stencil or transfer or freehand at your own peril.
From Britney Spears’ iconic “dump him” T-shirt and Henry Holland’s cheeky indie quips that defined the hipster era (which Charli xcx revived before London Fashion Week kicked off last month) to the inescapable Conner Ives’ design rallying for us all to “Protect the Dolls” last year, slogan tees are a trend that never dies. Popularised in fashion by designer Katharine Hamnett and her famous political “Choose Life” designs back in the 80s, making a literal statement with your clothes soon became one of the easiest ways to communicate your thoughts, affirmations and personality.
But now, slogan tee-style designs have travelled from the chest to the face, in a new trend towards statement make-up – and honestly, it’s a wonder it hadn’t happened sooner. You have probably seen examples cropping up on your FYP: beauty influencer August with ‘LUCKY’ painted in lilac across their face, which racked up six million views, for example, or the ‘Fuck Swag’ look from make-up artist Vlada Krukovskaya.
Krukovskaya says she likes to use hype words that grab attention, taking inspiration from famous magazine and fashion house fonts, recognisable brand logos and viral phrases, “like the one from Paris Hilton’s T-shirt, ‘Queen of the Universe!’” she says. While the final look is usually simple and clean, the process isn’t as easy as it might seem. “When I first started making inscriptions or logos on my face, I always did everything by hand. Sometimes I can’t transfer all the images the way I need, however, so I started using transfer tattoos.” Another complication is the texture and curvature of the face, she says, which can distort the lettering depending on the angle it’s viewed from.
So why do these words have such a big impact on social media? “I mean, it hasn’t had time to get boring,” she says. “If you scroll through your feed and see a face with text, especially if it’s some kind of flashy inscription, you spend time looking at it, reading, thinking about how it’s done.” When algorithms reward the content that keeps audiences engaged for longer, it makes sense that these intricate designs get pushed onto the explore page.
They’re an effective tool for grabbing attention IRL too, especially when it feels like everything has already been done. “If you take a model’s face and put text on it, it’s unique in terms of promotion,” Krukovskaya says. It’s no wonder brands have already approached her to collaborate. “Imagine a girl walking down the street with your advertising text as part of a promotional campaign,” she continues, suggesting it could be far more memorable and attention-grabbing than a billboard. A word is worth a thousand pictures.
August, another pioneer of text-based make-up, also puts the virality of these looks down to their novelty. “When you’re so used to seeing writing on infographics and memes, seeing it on someone’s moving face is quite confusing at first to people,” they say. “You’re trying to figure out if it’s a filter or an edit, and that’s what stops the scroll.” For August, though, the idea came from real life rather than the internet. “I was writing a sign in cursive font with an old watercolour paintbrush to cheer my friends on at the London Marathon,” they say. “When people commented on how nice it was, I thought: time to transfer this onto the face!”
August posted their first horoscope-inspired cursive designs in 2024, and has since made bold-lettered ‘text up’ looks a regular feature, including words like Viral, Lucky and C*nt. Their ‘Diva’ look even caught the attention of Tyla, which makes sense. Working from a face chart planned out in Procreate and taking selfies along the way to check their progress, August keeps the line straight with “sooo many cotton buds” and micellar water.
Other make-up artists and beauty creators have taken inspiration from August’s facial statements, joining in the fun by posting their own renditions. When Shiyao Miya posted a hand-drawn design with bold black lettering that referenced Daft Punk, she directly thanked August in the caption; she has since moved on to other text-based pieces like this sensational Word Art look. Thirza King also names August as the influence behind her glittery purple ‘Blessed’ mantra, as does Samhita Sharma’s hot pink design from last week. It’s interesting to see how different fonts resonate with different creators. Choosing one almost becomes a ‘which font are you?’ personality quiz – and an exercise in personal branding.
The statement make-up trend also reminds August of the slogan graphics they used to reblog on Tumblr. “It’s very indie sleaze, especially with those heavy sans-serif or condensed impact fonts,” they say. “The children yearn for ancient text.” In an internet culture where everyone is already branding themselves, statement make-up makes the message impossible to miss.