Glitter tongue: The weird beauty trend going viral on Instagram

Has the glitzy fad finally gone too far?

Sarah Jones
Saturday 26 August 2017 11:50 BST
Comments
The trend has gone viral with glitter enthusiasts attempting to recreate the glitzy mouth look
The trend has gone viral with glitter enthusiasts attempting to recreate the glitzy mouth look

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

We’ve had glitter boobs, bottoms and even glitter for your vagina but now beauty buffs have found a new place to sparkle up – their tongues.

In a quest to cover absolutely every part of their bodies in the stuff, the hot new trend involves dunking your tongue in brightly-coloured glitter to create the ultimate Insta-worthy shot.

Interestingly, the over-the-top trend actually started out as a bit of an accident. Australian make-up artist Jacinta Vukovic accidentally instigated the glitter tongue when some sparkles mistakenly ended up on her tongue during the creation of a dazzling lip look.

“I thought I would embrace it and make it the main focus,” she wrote on Instagram.

Since then, the trend has gone viral with fellow make-up artists and glitter enthusiasts attempting to recreate the glitzy mouth look.

While it all sounds like a bit of harmless fun, concerns are growing that the trend could be causing health problems. Although swallowing small amounts of glitter won’t kill you, it can cause problems with digestion, trigger stomach aches and even blockages.

On a larger scale, glitter is also bad for the environment. It’s made up of micro plastics which can leech chemicals and harbour dangerous bacteria that gets into our water and food supply.

If you do fancy giving the glitter tongue a go, we suggest opting for edible glitter like the stuff used in cake decorating or opting for a product that labels itself as non-toxic.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in