7 Douyin make-up looks to spice up your everyday glam

Make-up is hardly just a beauty tool—how we choose to look is also a form of self-expression and experimentation. We’ve known this since we were little girls peering into our mums’s cosmetic collections. And while a fixed routine is essential to get you out the door most days, sometimes we just want to zhuzh up our look. Look no further than Douyin, China’s answer to TikTok and a burgeoning hotbed of beauty looks and tricks. The antithesis to the minimalistic Clean Girl aesthetic made popular by stars like Hailey Bieber; the Douyin make-up search tab is full of bright colours, exaggerated features, and tonnes of glitter—leavings lots of room for artistry and the unconventional.

At a glance, it’s playful and fun, but what sets Douyin make-up looks apart is also their emphasis on using products to enhance one’s existing features. The style’s signature characteristics include doe eyes created by strategically applying eyeliner and false lashes, a porcelain-smooth base and exaggerated blush that goes up from the cheeks and over the eyelids—a cultural callback to the painted faces of traditional Chinese opera singers. The lips are reddened into a soft, often glossy pout and contour is used unapologetically to create definition on the nose, a feature that is also highly sought after in other East Asian countries like Korea and Japan. Altogether, the style creates a youthful, doll-like appearance increasingly being spotted on celebrities and influencers alike.

Spice up your go-to daytime look or go all-out glam for a special occasion—whatever it is, it’s worth taking notes from these stunning creations by Douyin’s best.