Are people on TikTok really drawing on eye bags as a beauty trend?

Teenagers notoriously don’t want to adopt trends seen on anyone older than 21, so why eye bags?

(TikTok/@SaraCarstens)

If there was ever a time to rebrand eye bags as a beauty accessory, it was January 2021. After months of sleepless pandemic nights, working from home, and closed schools, we’re all rocking them.

Now it seems that’s exactly what some people on TikTok are doing, as popular users post videos of themselves using make-up to apply fake eye bags. Smearing dark-coloured concealer and other products directly under their eyes, on top of other makeup. 

The trend began at the end of last year, and it's had a mixed reception from viewers, with some people pointing out that eye bags are an insecurity for many people so don’t need to be used as a makeup trend. 

In December last year, Sara Carstens - who has over 73million followers - was one of those to post a TikTok of her using make-up to apply eye bags. 

The creator posted the video to her "spam" account - which has 100,000 followers - and set it to a remix of The Wombats' song Greek Tragedy. The post attracted over a million likes.

However, some commenters weren't impressed with the star appearing to turn eye bags into a "trend".

One said: "Ugh these are literally my insecurities".

Another wrote: "Ur telling me i've been trying to get rid of my dark circles for agessss for it to become a trend".

One user joked: "My culture is not ur trend".

Others were happy to see their natural features represented, with one Twitter user writing: "When eye bags is hot on tiktok now.

Another added: "Me: LADIES AND GENTS THIS IS THE MOMENT WE WAITED FOR".

While another said: "This eyebags trend on tiktok is actually making me feel a bit better about mine bc mine are super duper deep/dark/obvious". 

Other creators, like make-up TikToker Abby Roberts, also got on board with the trend, making their own videos of them applying fake eye bags.

In her own video, Roberts said: "This is a trend I can get behind because I've been saying for far too long that eye bags are fricking hot, and nobody wanted to listen to me."

After receiving "a lot of hate" for her initial video, Carstens later made a follow-up video explaining that her intention was not to "make fun" of people with dark circles, but to "normalise" them.

The star said she has eye bags herself, and that they're a "big insecurity" for her. In her follow-up clip, she said she ditched make-up and the beauty filter altogether.  

She added: "Next time you come across someone embracing or enhancing your insecurities, maybe feel flattered instead!"

When contacted by The Independent , Carstens said she wanted to show her followers how “beautiful” dark circles can be.  

She said: “Eye bags and dark circles shouldn’t go in and out of trend- the intention behind the video was simply to normalise them and embrace insecurities! I myself know what it’s like to be bullied for insecurities, such as for my ‘big sticking-out ears’ - but just like my dark circles, I’ve decided to show everyone how beautiful they can be.”