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In hindsight, the signs were there all along. In fact, the stirrings of the anti-hot movement were first chronicled in 2022, on an American talk show on the Fox network titled The Five. In a now viral segment, news host, Greg Gutfeld, makes an impassioned speech. “Have you seen how miserable-looking a lot of the students are? They’re deliberately ugly-fying themselves,” he rants. “You see them on TikTok. They’re out of shape, asexual, they’re rejecting the truth in beauty. They all look like rejects from a loony bin.”
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Outrage followed. Amid a barrage of opinion pieces and heartfelt pleas for self-love emerged a TikTok video from Julia Fox. The actress recorded herself lip-synching along to Gutfeld’s tirade in a mocking fashion. In it, she is sporting bleached brows that provide a stark contrast to a dark fan of mascara-coated lashes. Her hair is unstyled. She is incandescent and practically vibrating with verve; blasé towards cries of her unapproachability and the supposed strangeness of her make-up. This phenomenon is best encapsulated by the top-liked comment from the 15-second clip: “We aren’t doing it for the male gaze and they’re mad.” And so, the anti-hot movement was born.
All hail the new sex symbol
Anti-hot is merely one of the many monikers used to describe this crusade. Other descriptors encompass terms such as ‘man-repelling’ and ‘weird’—an embracing of an otherworldly, off-putting vibe that draws inspiration from the macabre and strange. See Doja Cat’s surrealist blue body paint or Billie Eilish’s strikingly two-toned strands.
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“Man-repelling make-up is understood as a group of trends that does not appeal to the typical male gaze,” elucidates Kenneth Chia, professional make-up artist. “Rather, it is largely for self-satisfaction and a celebration of make-up’s transformative power. Indie sleaze, office siren, brutalist aesthetics. These are all great examples of anti-hot make-up looks, although I feel every decade has had its equivalent.”
While there was buzz surrounding the cause in 2022, it only began to take off in 2023. A turning point: Kim Kardashian’s CR Fashion Book cover for its 10th anniversary issue, where she was lensed rocking a buzz cut and pencil-thin arches—a far cry from her signature glamazon aesthetic comprising a sky-high blowout and a shellacked pout. For many, the deliberate shedding of her sex bomb status felt symbolic; the dawn of a new era when unconventionality reigns.
Female coded
Is it fair to say that this phenomenon is reactionary in nature, and perhaps a knee-jerk response to years of dehumanising sexualisation? Possibly. After all, the plethora of real-world cases is evidence enough. K-pop soloist, Hyuna Kim, for one, underwent a drastic image change after girl group quartet, 4Minute, disbanded—opting to discard her temptress branding for a short, choppy haircut and tooth gems. The same goes for Julia Fox, who went on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour to talk about how her unorthodox style is a physical rejection of the overtly sensual identity bestowed upon her by the public.
It is a startling, if welcome, realisation: in 2024, selfhood and the need for autonomy has triumphed over conventional codes of sexiness.
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“I think we lean into maximalism as a coping mechanism in difficult times,” offers Celine Bernaerts, global make-up expert at Dolce&Gabbana Beauty. “This generation has the freedom to express ourselves in any way we want. Call it anti-hot or defying beauty standards. Either way, it’s enticing.”
The new world order
This begs the question: will there ever come a point where this genre of make-up will be regarded as a kind of creative expression rather than a form of activism? To that, we say hope springs eternal. At any rate, proponents of this change are on the right track.
“If you’re new to the anti-hot movement, I recommend exaggerating what you love in the first place. You love eyeliner? Extend it over the brow or into the hair,” shares Bernaerts. “If you’re into blush, consider placing it on your forehead as well.”
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But above all, remind yourself that patience prevails. It’s not easy to shake off hundreds of years of reductive paragons of beauty, but it certainly feels a lot less daunting when it is tackled en masse.
“As with anything out of the norm, there will always be people who do not understand it and prefer something safe. But if you wear this look with confidence, you’d be surprised at the many positive experiences that come your way,” Chia advises. “Gather your friends and attempt it together. And remember, it’s all in the attitude.”
