The relationship between beauty products and beauty standards has evolved beyond simple cause and effect — it’s now mediated through social media’s distinct languages, reshaping how beauty is defined and democratised. Pinterest whispers in soft, attainable aesthetics, while TikTok broadcasts in bold, filter-heavy declarations. Each platform carries its own stylistic blueprint, turning beauty routines from mere maintenance into forms of creative expression and community building.
‘In the US, trending beauty keywords focus on goals like “youthful” and “elastic”,’ observes Lauren Lee, Korean Beauty Show host and Jelly Ko founder, ‘while in Korea, they emphasise prevention, protection, and hydration.’ These global differences increasingly blur as social media facilitates cross-cultural exchange, with consumers actively shaping both products and cultural definitions of beauty.
The platformatisation of beauty
Social media platforms have evolved into cultural spaces, each with its own beauty vernacular. As Sophie Elena Slutsky observed in 2020, the ‘Platformization of Beauty on Instagram’ emerges from ‘technological affordances of editing, long-standing social pressure and gendered expectations, and the pursuit of metric gains.’ This framework creates unique beauty dialects that brands and consumers must navigate. ‘Like many millennials, I learned makeup techniques from YouTube beauty gurus who championed heavy-handed application methods like “baking”,’ notes Shiri Feldman, beauty product marketing and copywriting consultant. ‘Watching today’s TikTok beauty creators feels like learning an entirely new approach to makeup!’
Pinterest positions itself as both archive and oracle, asserting that ‘trends on Pinterest start earlier than elsewhere on the internet.’ For example, the platform’s 2024 predictions highlighted surging blue makeup searches (+65% for blue eyeshadow aesthetic, +100% for aqua makeup looks). Following the report, Chanel launched the ‘Bleu Abysse’ eyeliner and Maybelline released a blue Sky High mascara. Guides on specific looks like ‘Ocean Eye’ and ‘Smokey Denim’ further demonstrate Pinterest’s influence in shaping brand releases and mainstream beauty trends.
For beauty brands, success now requires fluency in platform-specific beauty languages, especially on TikTok. In 2023, U.S. beauty sales reached $31.7 billion, with viral trends like ‘#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt’ driving a 15% growth in prestige makeup sales. Globally, TikTok Shops achieved $2.5 billion in beauty sales, making it the platform’s top-selling category. While creators like makeup artist Aoife Cullen value spaces free from ‘the pressure of sticking to hooks, format and the recipe for viral-ity to remain relevant,’ the sales figures underscore TikTok’s undeniable influence on beauty consumer behaviour. Beyond social media influence, co-creation platforms like Beaubble and KIKI World are creating spaces where community members directly influence product development through voting systems. Launched in May 2023, KIKI World has already amassed over 5,000 members and 20 successful voting campaigns.
KIKI World’s impact is evident in its user engagement: 50% of product sales are made by members who voted in at least one co-creation campaign, while 30% have voted more than twice, with top members voting over 200 times. These metrics demonstrate how democratising product development can transform the traditional top-down relationship between beauty brands and consumers, redistributing power over who shapes beauty discourse.
The power of subtle influence
Social media’s beauty content has evolved far beyond vanity showcases into powerful cultural scripts. The ‘Get Ready With Me’ (GRWM) format exemplifies this transformation, with #grwmmakeup content growing 900% year-over-year on TikTok in 2024. These formats choreograph products into stories of identity and aspiration. Before a creator opens their curated bag, we already know what we’ll find: the viral lip product, the ‘holy grail’ concealer, the trending trinket from the IFKYK brand.
The impact of these cultural scripts is clear through creators like Janelle Zharmenova, whose beauty content has generated $40.3M in earned media value with 16.76% engagement rates — proving the power of these predictable yet potent narrative formats.
The power of beauty vernacular reaches beyond description into shaping user identity. While these viral beauty terms can ‘bring the community together’ and ‘give people something to be excited and talk about,’ as Cullen explains, they’ve evolved into something more complex.
Consider ‘glass skin’ — a Korean beauty term describing skin so smooth, clear, and luminous it resembles glass. As Lee notes, ‘The term took on a life of its own overseas… everything from makeup releases to skincare are geared towards giving people a glass-like complexion.’ This trend has since transformed the global beauty industry, with the K-Beauty market reaching USD $91.99 billion in 2022 and projected to grow 9.3% annually through 2030. The rise of ‘glass skin’ also reflects a broader shift in consumer preferences toward skincare over makeup. As Feldman observes, ‘The “no-makeup makeup” movement prioritises enhancing rather than concealing, though this approach has faced criticism for favouring those already blessed with clear complexions.’
Such contradictions highlight the industry’s struggle to balance authenticity with aspiration, with reportedly 50% of millennials and 45% of Gen Z willing to abandon beauty brands they perceive as socially irresponsible.
The gap between product fantasy and achieved reality isn’t a flaw in the system — it’s a feature. As Cullen notes, ‘There are so many trends and terms that crop up that entirely birth a whole new insecurity or obsession for the viewer.’ The prize isn’t just achieving the look; it’s gaining the cultural literacy to name, claim, and perform these identities across social platforms. Mastering this beauty vernacular has become what L’Oréal acknowledges as a ‘social asset’ — a form of cultural capital that signals belonging and cachet in digital beauty spaces.
What we can learn
The evolution of beauty vernacular on social media demonstrates how platforms aren’t just changing how we talk about beauty — they’re reshaping who participates in these conversations and how brands can engage authentically.
Here’s how marketers can navigate this new beauty landscape:
- Master platform-specific language: Recognise that beauty terminology carries cultural weight and shapes both identity and consumer behaviour across different platforms.
- Champion co-creation: Shift from traditional top-down product development to genuine community participation, acknowledging consumers’ desire to shape beauty discourse.
- Words create worlds: Understand that beauty terminology doesn’t just market products — it creates cultural scripts that influence how people see themselves.
- Navigate cultural exchange: Learn how terms like ‘glass skin’ transcend borders to reshape global beauty narratives, driving market expansion through cross-cultural beauty dialogue.
- Honour generational values: Gen Z and millennials seek more than efficacy — they demand value alignment, with 50% ready to abandon socially irresponsible brands. Beauty vernacular is social currency, signalling both belonging and authenticity.
Featured image: Anna Tarazevich / Pexels