Nose hair extensions and ear makeup: the 15 weirdest beauty trends in history

It seems that every other day in the beauty world there is a new product, a new cream, a new trend for us to try. Given the over-saturation, it can be a challenge for something to turn our heads. However, there have been a few trends over the last decade that are to be remembered, mostly because they are completely bonkers. Let’s take a skip down the memory lane of weird beauty trends. There will most certainly be some you remember, some you may have tried, and some you hope never come back!

Nose Hair Extensions

First up, lets get the weirdest one out of the way, shall we? I’m not quite sure how much of a trend this was as it just seems too bizarre, but it was definitely a ‘thing’ for a while on Instagram. It is slightly misleading as there are no actual extensions here- seriously who has time for that– this involves cutting up false lashes  and sticking them around your nostrils. I am happy to say I have and will continue to give this one a miss.

Nude Eyelashes

This trend feels very editorial, like some kind of ethereal alien and I love it. Instead of lashings of black mascara this used a nude colour to coat your lashes. Often it was done with liquid lipsticks so just be careful you are using one that is eye-friendly! I love the idea of this paired with a bold red lip, and to be honest would be quite happy if this trend popped back up on my Instagram feed.

Ear Makeup

Veering into the world of body paint now rather than makeup, however think more Stella McCartney than Snazaroo. This was a trend where you could get really creative, by painting your entire ear, or just the lobe a multitude of colours. Now although this works for a runway show or a festival I can’t see myself with gilded ears on the DART (unless it’s of the Maria Tash variety).

Glitter Roots

An easy one to replicate, simply apply glitter to your roots after a healthy spritz of hairspray. It works best if hair is tied back or plaited and can be spotted on 70% of Coachella attendees. Also possibly the most glamorous way of covering those greasy roots after three days of Electric Picnic. This one will be a future mainstay of festival beauty looks.

Household Items

How on earth did this become a thing? It did the rounds about a year or so ago with people uploading videos of themselves applying makeup with condoms wrapped around beauty blenders, stacks of cash for contouring, tampons, eggs, you name it you (seemingly) can apply makeup with it! This trend died the day we saw a girl applying foundation with her Louboutins, nobody needs a pair of €600 makeup brushes. 

Kylie Jenner Lips

When the youngest of the Kardashian’s hit headlines with her drastically altered appearance the world became obsessed with her lips. Her favourite MAC lipliner in Spice was sold out for months on end. Everyone wanted to achieve the Kylie pout, and one way of doing this was by putting a shot glass or bottle on your lips and sucking in to create a vacuum. Leave it on for a minute or so and voila! I have tried this one and for the first 30 seconds they look ridiculous, then they look pretty good, and in no time at all you’re back to normal. Although using this technique was just a flash in the pan the Kylie Jenner lip trend has by no means faded, we have just moved on to more permanent solutions.

Zig Zag Parting

Now this I was a pro at back in the day, it looked especially good after a hair crimping session. Definitely one of the tamer trends from the list but could be ramped up a notch if paired with glitter roots, see trend number four!

Skinny Brows

You’d never know it now from looking at the industry’s current obsession with eyebrow gels and microblading, but we all remember a time when it was trendy to have barely-there-brows. How lacking in facial framework we all were. I have been staunch that this trend could never make a reappearance but looking at Rihanna’s skinny brows on the cover of September’s British Vogue I could be wrong (please let me not be wrong). 

Dyed Armpit Hairs
I’m all for being a #woke feminist and if you don’t wanna shave under there you don’t gotta. But dying under there is just a bit too much for me. When this trend hit we saw shades of neon pink, blue and green grace the armpit of many a feminist, Miley Cyrus included.

Eyebrow Wigs

If you cannot imagine a world where this would need to be a thing please refer to trend number eight. This trend got a little wild though with people adding these wigs just for some extra fullness. Unless you are really lacking on the eyebrow front from over-plucking this seemed a bit unnecessary.

Faux Freckles

Yes to embracing the humble freckle! I rejoice in summer when a smattering of them appear on my cheekbones. For a while everyone wanted them after a surge of ad campaigns with fresh and freckled skin began to appear. They even went into glitter/metallic territory which sounds like a cool idea until you’re looking like you’ve caught some futuristic chicken pox.

Vampire Facial

Ever since ‘that’ pic of Kim K went viral we’ve known about the Vampire Facial. A treatment that uses your own blood to promote skin cells, hence the slightly gruesome after photos. These have come under fire as recently as this week with clients in New Mexico urged to have HIV test after misuse of equipment, so hopefully this trend is well and truly on the way out.

Reverse Manicure

Ok so here me out on this one: painting the underside of the end of your nails, like a french tip but underneath! The concept of this seems ideal, yay for minimal chipping! But upon further thought; how would you get it in a straight line? And how would you remove it? Seems like it was more than likely too good to be true.

Half-Shaved Head

At the start it seemed slightly subversive and alternative to shave half of your head, but as it increased in popularity it did get quite mainstream. It looked cool for a while until you would be in the process of regrowing it and had an annoying patch of fluffy hair sticking out at completely different lengths to the rest of the hair on their head.

Vajazzle

Now synonymous with TOWIE and general Essex culture the Vajazzle was a revelation when it first went mainstream. Simply put, it’s sticking rhinestones on your vagina to make it look more, eh, dazzling?

Photograph: Sophie Hannah Richardson Facebook