Our explore feed has everyone trying out the ‘Strawberry Girl‘ makeup trend. With extra flushed cheeks and a radiant glow as the base, what’s not to love? But sometimes I like my beauty trends a little edgier. Vanilla girl, latte girl and strawberry girl are all easy-to-follow and aesthetic beauty trends but dare I say that I find these trends a little basic? For me, makeup trends need to be daring and bold. In the famous words of Nicki Minaj, “Who wants to look simple when you can look stunning?” The rise of villain girl makeup has proved that the girlies love being in their villain girl era. After all, there’s nothing like a sexy femme fatale.
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When I was growing up, instead of adoring the female protagonist, I spent my days trying to emulate Shego from Kim Possible, Jennifer Check from Jennifer’s Body and even Kathryn Merteuil from Cruel Intentions. While you might be tempted to suggest therapy, hear me out. I’m just intrigued by the irresistible energy these characters exuded. I wanted the same level of mysterious allure and confidence that female villains showcased. I mean those draped cheekbones and sultry eyes? Sign me up, STAT! Luckily, villain girl makeup isn’t rocket science and happens to be something I enjoy sporting all the time. Unlike the usual beauty trends, the villain girl makeup trend adds oomph to an otherwise drab makeup look. After this tutorial, you’re going to want to enter your villain girl era for that extra boost of confidence.
Getting the makeup look right.
If there’s one thing our favourite female villains have in common, it’s those sharp pointy brows. We know that the past few years have been all about keeping your brows fluffy and natural but this trend beckons you to walk in the other direction. Instead of using a brow pencil to fill in my brows, I chose a pomade. It took me right back to 2016 when those full brows were a major thing. Working with eyebrow pomade can be tricky since they’re extremely pigmented, so I scooped up a little on the back of the lid and worked my way from the ends of my brows. I used the Benefit Cosmetics Powmade Brow Pomade since it’s just the right amount of pigment. The key over here is to make sure they look extremely sharp, sharp enough to slay your enemies.
Then comes my personal favourite step, the sultry siren eyes. Whoever said that the eyes are the window to the soul, knew exactly what they were talking about. Siren eyes have been favourites for a while now. . To perfect them, you need to stick to darker tones of black, brown, blue or even metallics. Siren eyes are all about elongating the shape of your face with the angling of the eyeshadow and eyeliner. I used the Huda Beauty Wild Obsessions Eyeshadow Palette in Jaguar since it has excellent payoff and is easy to blend. To amp up the sultriness, I used the Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Matte Liquid Liner because only that level of precision can give you the inner corner flick of your dreams.
Now, I love my dewy foundations and dewy skin is all the rage lately, but villain girl makeup is all about a smooth and matte base. Not only is a matte base long-lasting, but it’s also shine and oil-free, and villains don’t really have glowing skin, do they? I used the Too Faced Born This Way Foundation because even though it’s a full-coverage one, it doesn’t dry my skin out.
Moving on to the step that puts the villain in villain girl makeup, the contour! If you place pictures of your favourite female villains alongside each other, you’re going to notice that all of them have one thing in common—SNATCHED cheekbones. Okay, Maleficent went a little overboard with it, but you get the memo. The Gush Beauty Stacked In Your Favour Palette has the perfect brown contour for Indian skin tones that doesn’t leave you looking too muddy. I contoured my cheekbones, the bridges of my nose, my forehead and my jawline too. Trust the process, we’re embodying the whole essence of a villain.
Blush isn’t just for strawberry girls, we villain girls enjoy a pop of colour on the cheeks too. Instead of going in with tones of pink or orange, choose a red or purple blush—the more daring, the better. I used the Hena Hainaa Beauty Lush Rouge in Claret which is a blood-red blush. What better for a villain? Since we’re all about making the overall look bold, the key is to master the placement of the product. I applied the blush on the high points of my face instead of the apples of my cheek to sculpt my face with some colour.
Villains have been synonymous with striking and bold lips since the dawn of time. The right lipstick has the power to take your confidence from 0 to 100 in no time, and most of the time that can be a classic red lip. However, since I love experimenting with my lip colours, I decided to shake things up a little. I used the LoveChild Masaba Luxe Matte Lipstick in Pan-Tastic to outline my lips and filled them in with Hey Sugar from the same range. Since I’m letting my eyes and cheekbones do the talking, I wanted my lips to be a mix of bold and subdued at the same time.
Final Verdict
The reason I fell in love with makeup years ago was because of the power it holds in making you feel confident. I love experimenting with makeup trends since all of them have something different to offer. Villain girl makeup has officially claimed the title of my favourite makeup trend this year. However, this makeup trend can be a little too overpowering for a lot of people since it has a lot of strong elements. But I love using makeup to portray my strong personality, so more than liking the final makeup look, I liked how it made me feel from within—strong, sexy and mysterious.
