#new makeup trends 2022

[universecrowns]

Congratulations to our new Miss Universe of 2022!!!✨

Representing the USA, R'Bonney Gabriel won our country s 9th win!! ✨ 🇺🇲

Miss Universe 2022 was filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana.

[beautytips123321]

Photo Of Woman Holding Make-Up Brush

Beauty is only skin deep.See more...

[beautyandhealthtips123]

A Woman Applying Mascara To Thickens And Enhanced Her Eye Lashes

I love natural beauty, and I think it's your best look, but I think makeup as an artist is so transformative. See more...

[39oa]

(nonsensical hrpf data exercise) degree centrality graphing & other archive insights

intro/prior work

hello 🙇‍♀️ i'm not sure this post will make any kind of sense at all, but i love analyzing ao3 data and i especially find it fascinating in the realm of sports/hrpf because of the amount of player- and team-related attributes that offer dimensionality to fandom analysis when examined in parallel with archive metrics. i've already kind of done hrpf overviews on two separate occasions over the past year or so, but my method of collection differed in each instance and also always gave me new things to chew on and potentially explore, such as expanding on the link between player talent and shippability and whether high-draft picks have more fic written for them on average.

i most recently examined player data based on aggregated relationship counts since 2022, but this was a limited snapshot meant to piece together recent ficdom trends (see top ships since 01/01/22) and not be representative of fandom overall. basically, things i want to visualize/talk about now are:

hockey is so widespread as a sports fandom because there are 32 teams in the league, which when compared to a community like f1 makes it difficult to succinctly summarize primary relationships for. there is no self-contained grid of 20 drivers that remains generally fixed within a season, where every move in/out of that "roster" is highly reported upon and instrumental to fandom makeup, but instead a more amorphous network of malleable rosters featuring high-variance cascading orders of character visibility; in short, the difference between the most and least popular driver in f1 fandom is not the same as the difference between sidney crosby and that one ahl lifer who was called up to your 4th line two months ago because your team is utterly decimated and gunning for bedard.

Still: because rosters are so malleable and trades happen with some amount of frequency, and because hockey is still an "insular" ecosystem in terms of geographic accessibility and junior-age development (for better or worse; mostly for worse, but that's neither here nor there), players intrinsically have a low degree of separation between one another, whether it be as teammates now or as friends growing up in the ohl, ntdp, etc. i therefore wanted to take that a step further and look at it through fic metrics especially: can we use a summary of ficdom's real, tangible output and visualize it through a similar network? (+ where and how does that network differ from player connections in practice?)

back to the impact of draft pick # and assessments of talent relative to popularity, i also wanted to look at the most "successful" ships in ficdom from this network and evaluate the different distributions and impacts of their respective attributes. are certain player positions more popular? which nationalities are the most commonly shipped?

etc. But let's just get into it.

process

getting any kind of information from a 60%-locked fandom on ao3 is a nightmare and introduces a myriad of data-collecting limitations, so i do feel it important to disclaim that what i present in this post functions more in the realm of Approximate Interpretation and Potential Correlation than any actual 100% objective representation of fandom metrics.

a perceived limitation i have with character tagging metrics on ao3 is that they don't exactly reflect shippability; that is, if q.hughes is tagged as a character in a n.hischier/j.hughes fic, it gets attributed to his character tag but doesn't actually say anything about how many Relationship Fics exist for him on a whole. my best solution for this was essentially uncovering most of a player's relationships and summing their individual fic counts to create an approximate # of "relationship fics" for each player. so any kind of shippability graph going forward will use that metric.

i used ao3's relationship tag search and filtered by canonical in the men's hockey rpf fandom and only pulled relationship* fics ("/" instead of "&") with a min. of 20 works. ao3's counts are... Not the most accurate, so my filtering may have fudged some things around or missed a few pairings on the cusp, which again is why all the visuals here are not meant to show Everything in the most exact manner but function more so as a "general overview" of ficdom. although i did doublecheck the ship counts so the numbers themselves are accurate as of time of collection.

(*i excluded wag ships, reader ships, threesomes to make my life easier although i know this affects numbers for certain players, hc/gm ships, and any otherwise non-NHL Player ship. for ex., this eliminated anna kasterova/evgeni malkin, tyler brown/tyler seguin, and kyle dubas/william nylander, just to name a few)

all ship data was collected march 16, 2023.

PART 1. SC87 ship networking

when i first began this exercise i tried graphing ships for all the first-overall picks from 2003-2022 because i wanted to get an overarching sense of their connections. however, doing so made me realize that sidney crosby was by and far the most-connected node in the graph (and basically all hrpf in general) with a degree of 11, and that he was centering one huge component to which only two ships failed to connect (op/kj and slaf/xhekaj). basically:

so then i was like, right! let me instead use sidney crosby as my sole starting node, map out all ships with 20+ works from him specifically, take the players he connects to and map out their corresponding ships (excluding sid) and just keep iterating until i basically reach a final child node. through this, i yielded 112 ships and 98 unique players, with my final connecting node coming 9 degrees of separation away through brady tkachuk ↔ tim stützle/quinn hughes. unfortunately i can't actually host this little code snippet anywhere lol but i also wrote an input to check the pathways between any two players which was kind of fun:

here is the actual network graph with colors from automatically generated clustering, which doesn't really mean much but i thought was one nice way of presenting it. the edge width refers to the sum of fics for each ship and the node size refers to the degree, or number of ships, for each player.

i then also joined my player set with a dataset that included draft year, drafted team, position, etc... and through that color-coded the graph with the team each player was originally drafted to (i always struggle between using current team and draft team because which one matters more is super contextual, but... using draft team made my life easier this time so i hope it's still interesting.) here i only included colors for 13 teams that had 3+ players each:

→ [full-size graph]

we can do a bit more analysis based on this specific sidcros network, like which players are the "most-shipped" or overviewing cross-team shipping tendencies:

but! of course, not ALL big hrpf ships lead back to sc87. using him as a central node essentially just helped me filter out excess "noise" when searching for relationship tags on ao3, because now i could exclude anyone connected to him at all (note: the relationship fics from my set equaled upward of 19,000 works, accounting for 60.4% of the entire men's hockey rpf archive) and hit other significant tags more efficiently.

through this method, i singled out a new set of 76 ships and 134 unique players (notice the significant decrease in overlap), which i then combined with my sid ships to create one massive set of Hockey Ships With Over 20+ Works On Ao3 that i could analyze holistically. no idea if this makes any sense but bear with me:

PART 2. general ship insights

i won't bore people with endlessly listing out ship rankings but here's the previous top chart with the new ships slotted in:

now for some overall player analysis!

first i wanted to look at how attributes like draft round, nationality, and position (F/D/G) are represented in the player set.

the nationality distribution is pretty close to all active nhl players this season, so there aren't major disparities there. however, the vast majority of players 1) were drafted in the first round and 2) are mostly forwards, with the forwards also seemingly reflecting the general philosophy of faster development/higher recent-round representation. we can take this overview a step further and actually examine the fic averages for each characteristic as a proxy for measuring shippability/ficdom popularity.

first, i scatterplotted all players by their draft pick and number of fic to (try and) show the heavy skew toward top picks (inspired by the gar draft pick value curve and other similar plots). this is... well, limited in many ways, and if i had an actually adequately large dataset i could specifically plot averages per distinct pick number and try to present something there, but the problem is that a lot of these later pick numbers only have like one player so there's way too much variance LOL.

but just for the sake of this exercise i excluded j.benn as an outlier and grouped fic averages by round (left below). again, noting the sample sizes, let's just say that first rounders on average seem to have the most fic written about them, even if it's not a particularly shocking insight. we can also try creating a histogram for "shippability" by draft year, binning here for every 2 years, to see which draft years appear to have had the most success (right below). note the peaks around 2005 and 2015, aka the sc87 and cm97 ~Generational Years~ 🤔

i've also been interested in figuring out which positions are commonly preferred—since centers are so often the faces of a franchise and are essentially the most sought-after position, and since goalies occupy a positionally static role/are less oriented toward contact (and the presumed homoeroticness thereof) in the way skaters are, is that reflected in the fic metrics as well? turns out: yes.

some ship analysis

learning more about player data in a vacuum is fun, but we also have all of this relationship data that lets us examine how different characteristics interact with each other, which is meaningful as well! for example, we know that forwards are heavily represented in the dataset, but is center4center the most common combination? or is there love for a franchise center and his beloved winger or the team's dependable 1d?

(fought for my life trying to figure out how to map this properly so please accept a horrible bar chart instead) as it turns out, the most common combination is centers/wingers, followed afterward by centers/centers. i don't know whether this really means much to me because i'd like to dissect the combos even further (is C/C more often 1C 2C or cross-team rivalry 1C shipping? are C/W usually linemates? etc.) but 🤷‍♀️ here's a graph.

i also distributed ships by their nationality combination, displaying to the surprise of no one a heavy preference (a whopping 66.4%!) for north american-exclusive shipping. i also thought stacking by "draft year" (= averaging the draft year between both players for each ship) offered some interesting insight into usa4usa shipping having slightly younger representation. also i do think usa/germany being singlehandedly driven up this chart by one family is remarkable and hilarious LOL.

also in the realm of draft year analysis, i wanted to look at draft year differences and whether fandom preferences seem to lie by way of same-age-ish pairings and In-Class Bicycling so to speak. graphing ships by these differences spanned a range of 20 years, with the oldest "age" (draft) difference being 20 years between zdeno chara and charlie mcavoy. overall, of 175 ships with a drafted player, 60.5% were drafted within 2 years of each other (18.2% in the same draft), and only 5% had a draft difference of 10 or more years.

then, of those 32 ships drafted within the same year, i distributed their counts by year to see which draft classes featured the biggest in-class clusters, leading us again to the Famed Class of 2015:

closing thoughts

i'll stop here :saluting_face: something else i had on the agenda that i don't really know how to adequately explore with this dataset is basically stanley cup champion stuff, e.g. looking at players and ships and fic counts from winning teams and how/whether a sort of "winning bias" has been trending down as of late (see the relative success of ships from teams like phi/ana compared to tbl/stl)—temporal data is so particular and difficult to wrangle with ao3 though so i'll have to let this one percolate a little bit.

finally, another thing (!) that i love examining is captaincy and how it often helps inform shippability; C/A/guyswithletters shipping obviously generously overlaps with being drafted early, high-impact players, some positional stuff like Young Star Center having the role foisted onto him, etc. and many of these aspects are immediately identifiable in top ships like 8771, 1634, 1386... just to name a few obvious ones. unfortch i don't really have the time or space to look at that here but it's something i'm still interested in maybe expanding on, and i also never ended up collecting actual skater *performance* data which would be super fun to eventually get to, e.g. mapping ficdom output to not just background identifiers like draft year/pick but also 1) actual tangible evaluations of player goals/points/(salary?!?)/etc. and 2) some dimension of draft outperformance/underperformance, which is pertinent for scenarios like late-round picks who have defied career expectations (see outlier jbenn having a shit ton of lifetime fic) AND early-round picks whose trajectories have not panned out as expected for whatever reason; often the ~tragic~ frustration of being a bust actually invites more narrative focus and scrutiny, but at the same time ficdom trends have pointed themselves to being attracted to many historic, talented, generational, and so on players, who more often than not are also winners, which potentially posits a need for some sustained line of access/visibility to high-expectation players significantly before they're regarded as "busts" in order to organically grow and generate initial interest that can survive the renewed reality of their situation. but who knows

again, i don't know whether any of this even makes sense or is interesting to literally anyone at all, but i personally enjoyed just dicking around graphing shit and getting to join a ton of tables together for absolutely no reason lol. that's all!

[hjnxx]

doesn’t it make you feel bad? having full control. she woke up and you ruined her. now she’s hurting and you hide your hands. it’s your fault. it’s your fault. it’s our fault. FEB 2022.

on february fourteenth twenty twenty - two, hijinxx would release their second extended play addiction: take down on all streaming platforms.

five tracks to the ep’s name, the group would come back after two months since their previous digital release sweet juice, the song acting as a segue into the new body of work.

ahyeon is credited across the board on the ep, from lyrics to composition to the final arrangements. #ahyeonfirstwin! it did spark a lot of fans worried about her being already so overworked… but she was quick to assure fans that her passion could never be draining to her.

take down is described as the first breaking point. if sweet juice is them indulging themselves to their fill, answering the call and falling to their respective demise, take down is the first inkling of something truly wrong. it’s the weird gut feeling when things are too still for the actions you’ve committed, sinking to nestle in your stomach to fester slowly. slowly do you begin to realize what you’ve done and the first thing you do is panic as your actions cannot be undone. your prayers go unanswered and your begging falls on deaf ears. the consequences are yours and yours alone to bear. still, you blame outside forces on the choices you made with your own two hands.

each song can yet again be interpreted as a look into each entity’s experience through their respective turbulent time. in order, as well. with ahyeon vowing to topple each obstacle in take down to yuina’s confession during the bridge of chasing dreams, the girls then come together to collectively blame love as their reason out. and isn’t it so convenient to always have a way out?

STYLING & COMMENTARY.

the idea was to show the slow progression of deterioration due to lack of self - regulation. the outfits start in their usual coordinated but detailed to each member fashion, but as they perform more and more stages, each entity slowly begins to become sluggish—shown through ripped seams or loosely draped fabric. of course, in order, the changes were noticeable in yuina first, then eunji, followed then by micha and ahyeon.

the stage outfits began to get progressively ‘worse’ alongside their performances. previously sharp angles turned into sloppier with each stage, the formations falling apart more and more. makeup would look as if a toddler had been given the liberty of head mua and hair stylist. it would leave netizens divided until a fan would take it upon themselves to string a cohesive in-lore timeline, a thread that would soon cement itself as an great fandom reference for new fans. the account, an anonymous user by the name of jinxedtwice would even be acknowledged by the girls themselves, leaving fans to wonder how the person knew so much.

COMEBACK SUMMARY.

comeback on valentine’s day with a dark sound about the consequences of overindulgence? don’t mind if i doooo… trixx welcomed the concept with open arms! (un)happy trended the highest that month as fans used the song to post their own ruined makeup looks for the rest of the month, even breaking into local territory. in total, their comeback boasted six wins, including a show! music core win. and speaking of mucore..

did we tell you that yuina was selected as a host? no? well now you know! she was chosen to replace minju in november the previous year after the actress would step down for personal reasons and quick to become a fan favorite for her quick with and facial reactions. and she would soon claim netizen’s hearts once again as she would breakdown before announcing her group’s win on the show.

[taisoleil]

The 5H is trends/cult favs before it goes mainstream. Venus is beauty/makeup.

5H Venuses:

Zsa Zsa Gabor had blotting papers in her makeup line before people knew what it was!

“It’s a rice paper, you put it on your face when it’s shiny,” she explained of blotting papers — a product which had yet to reach the mainstream popularity that it has now. This is a new thing we’re putting on the market.”

- Zsa Zsa Gabor

Dorthy Dandridge: Someone Marilyn Monroe took inspiration from! Was considered the “Black Marilyn Monroe”

More about this on my site. My Patreon (Tai Soleil) always gets the details of how the signs and planets work in the houses.

https://www.taisoleil.com/articles/2022/9/6/r1381g8ecx6gv3n50zllw8cvuvn9rw

[happinessismusic]

“Gwen Stefani is the pride and joy of California!” stated Ana Martinez, Producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “Not only is she an acclaimed singer/songwriter and performer, Gwen is also a talented fashion designer and cosmetics mogul. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is ready to welcome not just a girl but a mega talent to the Hollywood Walk of Fame!” added Martinez.

As guest speakers, record label founder and entrepreneur Jimmy Iovine, CEO of the Azoff Company and manager Irving Azoff and country superstar and husband Blake Shelton will join emcee Ellen K for the star unveiling.

A three-time GRAMMY® Award winner, Interscope Records recording artist Gwen Stefani has achieved global success as a singer/songwriter, performer, charismatic frontwoman of No Doubt, and as a multi-platinum solo artist.  Currently, Stefani can be seen as a coach on NBC and Warner Bros. Unscripted Television’s Emmy®-winning series “The Voice.”

Stefani is a trend-setting music and fashion icon with an impressive array of honors: four MTV Video Music Awards, two Billboard Awards, an American Music Award, and a Brit Award.  To date, she’s sold more than 60 million units worldwide, and over ten billion streams, including her debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby.  The four-times platinum album delivered the hit singles “Rich Girl,” “What You Waiting For?” and the No. 1 hit “Hollaback Girl.”

Her sophomore album, The Sweet Escape, featured the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 single “Wind It Up” and the unforgettable anthem “The Sweet Escape.”  Her critically praised latest album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart and includes her powerful No. 1 single “Used to Love You.”

In 2020, Stefani had two No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with husband Blake Shelton, “Nobody But You” and “Happy Anywhere.”   Stefani released the new song “True Babe” in June ahead of a series of major festival performances in for the U.K. and Europe this summer.

Before the music there was makeup. Stefani’s passion for makeup was integral in the launch of her beauty brand GXVE in early 2022. The clean, high-performance cosmetics collection is inspired by Stefani’s iconic looks and created for the community of makeup lovers who find their inspiration, individuality and self-expression through artistry.

One of pop culture’s most magnetic style icons, Stefani is one of the first artists to brilliantly merge music stardom into a series of global lifestyle brands including her fashion-forward clothing line, L.A.M.B., sister label Harajuku Lovers and her eyewear line gx by Gwen Stefani.

Stefani continues to make giving back a focus in her life supporting several charities and foundations.

Source: SHE’S JUST A GIRL GETTING A STAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME! GLOBAL MUSIC ICON GWEN STEFANI TO BE HONORED ON OCTOBER 19TH IN CELEBRATION OF HER BIRTHDAY MONTH - Hollywood Walk of Fame

[shefanispeculator]

Evening Headliner

Gwen Stefani

A three-time GRAMMY® Award winner, Gwen Stefani has achieved global success as a singer/songwriter, performer, charismatic frontwoman of No Doubt, and as a multi-platinum solo artist.  

Stefani is a trend-setting music and fashion icon with an impressive array of honors: four MTV Video Music Awards, two Billboard Awards, an American Music Award, and a Brit Award.  To date, she’s sold more than 60 million units worldwide, and over ten billion streams, including her debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby.  The four-times platinum album delivered the hit singles “Rich Girl,” “What You Waiting For?” and the No. 1 hit “Hollaback Girl.”  

Her sophomore album, The Sweet Escape, featured the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 single “Wind It Up” and the unforgettable anthem “The Sweet Escape.”  Her critically praised latest album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart and includes her powerful No. 1 single “Used to Love You.”  

In 2020, Stefani had two No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with husband Blake Shelton, “Nobody But You” and “Happy Anywhere.”   Stefani released the new song “True Babe” in June ahead of a series of major festival performances in for the U.K. and Europe this summer.

Before the music there was makeup. Stefani’s passion for makeup was integral in the launch of her beauty brand GXVE in early 2022. The clean, high-performance cosmetics collection is inspired by Stefani’s iconic looks and created for the community of makeup lovers who find their inspiration, individuality and self-expression through artistry.

One of pop culture’s most magnetic style icons, Stefani is one of the first artists to brilliantly merge music stardom into a series of global lifestyle brands including her fashion-forward clothing line, L.A.M.B., sister label Harajuku Lovers and her eyewear line gx by Gwen Stefani. 

Stefani continues to make giving back a focus in her life supporting several charities and foundations. 

[thelargefrye]

EXILE HER STAFF

EXILE HER staff is made up of some great and creative women who make sure that the soloist is successful within the idol world.

MANAGER KIM EUNJI

eunji has been your manager since you debuted in 2018. many IXLUVS love her for how well she looks after you and how serious she takes her job. you’ve described your relationship with eunji as a sibling relationships, and you view her as a wise older sister, often asking her for advice. many sasaengs are actually scared of her because of how intimidating she is.

IXLUVS actually have an inside joke about how she use to be a high school gangster that was in with the wrong crowd and so she became your manager to become better.

MANAGER KANG HANUEL

your second manger, she became apart of the team during 2020. at first a lot of IXLUVS were shocked about you getting a new manager and actually thought that eunji quit. however, you were quick to tell fans that eunji did not quit, but haneul simply joined the team to help her with managing all your schedules.

when you had your fight with hongjoong, she was the one who suggested you take some time to yourself. almost lost her job when she punched the new producer, dawn, once she found out she had been stealing your stuff AND caused the fight between you and hongjoong.

STYLIST HANAKO MIRA

the woman behind all your iconic styles. a fashion icon herself, mira has been the stylist for several idols before joining your team in 2019 and has been with you ever since. your relationship with your stylist is like that of a rich aunt and her niece she loves to spoil. it’s thanks to her that you have been able to find your personal style and not afraid to try new things.

MAKE - UP ARTIST CHLOE KIM

chloe was originally hired by KQ as an assistant stylist for ATEEZ and worked with them for their debut and SAY MY NAME before being transferred over to your team during your STARRY NIGHT promotions as a lead stylist. chloe was only suppose to help with that comeback; however, she hit it off so well with you that she put in a request to be on your team permanently.

since then she has worked with you and fans often love watching the two of you interact. you often teasing her and her threatening you to not ruin your makeup as if you did, she was not retouching it.

CHOREOGRAPHER ARA KIM

the mastermind behind some of your dances. she along with BBTRIPPIN have come up with most of your dances. her dream was to be an idol but a knee injury stopped her. she recently trended on tiktok thanks to her dance videos. while the two of you aren’t extremely close, you do talk to each other and share your troubles with one another over dinners.

here’s a list of your songs that she has choreographed: GASHINA, HEROINE, TWIT, RING X RING, FEARLESS, MAGO, 28 REASONS, and SIREN.

BODYGUARD ANGIE WILDE

every IXLUV loves her cause she’s a GIANT WOMAN. she’s 6’3 and has every single sasaeng and anti quaking in their boots. she was hired to be your bodyguard after you almost got mobbed at the airport. since she was hired, fans love watching the two of you interact like a mother bear and her little cub because no matter how tall you are, she WILL always be taller. sorry i don’t make the rules.

BODYGUARD KIM WONIL

wonil is the newest addition to your team, having joined in mid-2022. ixluvs have ever really seen his full face, but have definitely seen his tattoos and love them. was very awkward when he first joined to not just you, but around the other staff as well. you often tease him like a younger sister and he’s been warming up to you and the rest of your team recently.

[dehalogenase]

idk if any poc of color experience this too but i often forget that im not white. my self-image is at least 75% whiter than i actually am. maybe a little bit (w)asian too but that isn’t as clear as the white self.

there have been a few times where i surprised myself in the mirror. it was pretty clearly a racial surprise. i just…looked more mexican than i remembered.

identity-wise, i think having friends who share your label is more important than having friends who necessarily look like you. gender-wise, my manhood and womanhood are pretty defined by the way my friends present(ed) themselves. i think ethnicity is the same, basically.

when i dress up or do my makeup i am engaging in a conversation between myself, the beauty standards i prescribe to, and the presentation of people around me.

on the one hand i have these faded memories of mexican women, all much older than i am now: my aunts at family reunions, almost-purple dyed hair, tattooed-on eyebrows, just-too-light foundation grasping at whiteness. on the other hand i have the flood of tiktok starlets delivered to me by the algorithm. their presentation is amalgamated across years of obsessive trend-watching and self-surveillance. when i see them i feel like i know exactly what they looked like in 2020 and 2022, in August of 2019. in my peer groups i have mostly millennial, white, queer women. i don’t know if i want to look like them. the conversation i have with these modes of presentation tends towards mimicry. i never know what is and what isn’t possible. i could probably be read as a New England Lesbian if i really tried. i doubt i could ever make myself look like the girls i try to model my fashion off of. frustratingly, i don’t think i could pull off mexican beauty either, primarily because i don’t have enough data to know how to fit myself into it!

this all leaves me very confused and when i close my eyes i don’t really know how i am perceived. that might be the most frustrating part. if i knew how other people saw me i could start to dial things in. it becomes pretty easy, subverting expectation or conforming to them makes it possible to control how others see me. I will keep doggedly looking in the mirror until i finally see someone i recognize. until that happens, i can try to befriend more latinas and maybe watch AOC more often. it’s embarrassing not knowing what race i am, i promise i’m trying to cut it out.

[maybirdie]

Horizon Asks

Thanks for the tags @singingkestrel and @meg-noel-art !

1. ride or die ship (your otp): Ereloy. As if that’s news to anyone lmao

2. most annoying ship: I see y’all trying to start drama, I’m not falling for it lmao. Oh wait actually...Talanah/Amadis 🤣

3. second favourite ship: Between Kotallo/Talanah and Abadund/Morlund. One for spicy, one for sweet. Also Petra and like, most of the women in the game

4. favourite platonic relationship: I love the big brother/little sis vibes between Beta and Erend even though we never see them interact really. I love that she mentions that he makes her laugh. Also Aloy and Gildun - obsessed.

5. underrated ship: Drakka/Yarra - LISTEN I KNOW but it’s the ultimate enemies to lovers and I love them. Also Avad/Ersa....starcrossed lovers ftw

6. overrated ship: more instigating I see

7. one thing i would change in canon: One? LMAO. So many things post-HZD. Particularly the way Erend got shafted and how many threads got dropped (we didn’t get a post-Daunt makeup scene? Really??). Also Talanah should have been an official GAIA gang member, hands down. And I’ll be honest, the way romance for Aloy was handled in general.

8. something canon did right: The entire arc of HZD is masterful and perfect and it’s been a long time since I’ve been that gripped by a mystery in any media. It was always going to be hard to top, but I would love if the next game reverted back to that kind of storytelling vs the “doing too much” trend of HFW

9. a thing i'm proud of creating for the fandom: A hard choice, but I think I have to pick Love Games just because it was such a labor of love between myself and @sorbetowl​. I had a blast collaborating with such a talented artist and friend! For that reason I’m SUPER excited to be working on the upcoming VN, Focus on the Heart - already such an amazing experience!

10. a character who is perfect to me (wouldn't change a thing): GILDUN GILDUN GILDUN GILDUN GILDUN

11. the character i relate to the most and why: Definitely Erend. There’s a reason I ship him with Aloy lol. I guess there are pieces of both of them I relate to hard - Aloy’s impatience with rude people/social situations and her love for solitude, Erend’s self-consciousness and sense of responsibility for keeping everyone happy and feeling good. The combo of them hits real close to home.

12. character(-s) i hate the most and why: Tilda was a really tough character for me for personal reasons. She’s a wonderfully crafted villain but she also makes my skin craaaaawl. Which I suppose is exactly what she’s meant to do, so well done Guerrilla 😂

13. something i've learned from the fandom: God so much. I rolled into the Ereloy discord totally clueless back in April 2022, and feel like I have so much useless lore in my head now (and I’m not anywhere near some of the real lore people I know). But beyond lore, I’ve really learned how important empathy and putting yourself in other’s shoes can be. It’s amazing how many new friends I’ve made from being open to other people’s POVs, and how much I’ve seen people hurt each other because they’re not open to it.

14. three tags i seek out on ao3: Sensual Fingerblasting (iykyk), There Was Only One Bed, Sparring as Foreplay

15. a song i strongly associate with my otp/favourite character: Slowly by Olivia Dean, Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon cause what better Friends to Lovers song is there?

tagging: No pressure tags!! Also sorry if this is a repeat for anyone. @souls-that-have-senses, @sorbetowl, @imamandajulius, @emtazer, @brekkie-e, @cranialgames, @nerd-artist, @xxxhellfireravenxxx 

[playgirlnaeemah]

Indie sleaze resurgence:

The addiction to escapism through expression. In a time of complete disarray, the sense of a doomsday approaching how will this reflect on current trends? Indie Sleaze seems to be completely back in the streets of New York; dark makeup, drugs rapid in youth groups, glittery sequin skirts, the party culture itself, etc. The transition of dark punk aesthetics seen in recent seasons is here to stay but transitioning to the trends once seen in 2006-2012. In 2022, Stylist Naomi May dismissed the resurgence of Indie sleaze as false as she believes the key figures are not rapid in media the way they once were, as well as quoting the body positivity movement stopping such a trend from happening. But I disagree, I believe figures like The Dare and Charlie XCX’s push of club culture to come back, are pushing these trends. As well as making body positivity this allows for the trend to be more accessible. 2008 and 2024’s recessions reflect the youth’s popularizing thrifting and partying. Checking posh in NYC on a Tuesday night will find you in the middle of the most random clubs you’d think of. Is that not the point? Is indie sleaze not just a movement of finding escapism in the scary world people once lived in, is this history not repeating itself?

This is actually my first blog post here hope this makes sense and these are actually photos from an indie sleaze party I threw <33

[influencer-agency123]

Top TikTok Influencers in Dubai

TikTok audience soars in the land of luxury, fascination, and rich cultural diversity; Dubai, like the skyscrapers that kiss the heavens. TikTokholics, cheer! Electrifying desert safaris, the latest fashion trends, jaw-dropping theme parks, thrilling make-up tutorials, humorous pranks, tasty cuisine, fitness regimes, and more- the top TikTok influencers in Dubai, UAE let the city’s futuristic charm meet TikTok’s dynamic energy. They represent the country’s unique vibe through the window of their TikTok account.  They provide us with dynamic, and varied content.  On the other hand, they help brands reach untapped markets and strengthen their user affinity.

Marketing science from the research center; The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, reliably signified that the best way for brands to grow is by getting new users on board. Hence, brands need to reach and appeal to more people in the market, particularly those who are competitors’ buyers.

TikTok is a platform that is principally driven by an algorithm, unlike other social networks that are modeled by followers, so accounts without many followers can quickly gain traction if the content they create is interesting to the masses. Hence, it is advisable to connect with our TikTok influencer marketing strategists to find the right influencer for your campaign.

In 2024, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia have the highest TikTok reach, with approximately 140% of their populations aged 18 and older using the platform. This translates to 68.6% overall adult reach for the UAE and 78.3% for Saudi Arabia (According to Statista).

As per DataReportal, TikTok had 10.73 million users aged 18 and above in the United Arab Emirates in early 2024.

Now, that we know the significance of the TikTok platform, let us understand who precisely are the Top TikTokers in the UAE.

Who are TikTok influencers in Dubai, UAE? 

TikTok is an addictive user-friendly platform, implying audiences stay using this network for a long time. Top TikTok influencers in the MENA and Gulf region are one of the major reasons behind this. They post frequently on their TikTok account and thereby have gained massive popularity. They share short-form videos spanning various arenas, like; entertainment, food, fitness, comedy, dance, beauty, health, lifestyle, and more. Moreover these top influencers have a strong connections with influencer marketing agency in Dubai to get premium brand collaborations.

Furthermore, the most followed TikTokers in United Arab Emirates change consumer behaviour, shape trends and ultimately build digital communities. Now let us move on to the most authentic list of TikTok Instagrammers in the Middle East.

List of Top TikTok Influencers in Dubai, UAE 

1. Ghaith Marwan  

USP: Ghaith Marwan keeps communications lively and fun with challenges by using prevalent TikTok trends, and memes.

About the Best TikTok Influencer in Dubai: Ghaith Marwan, shares cherished and downright fun experiences on his TikTok account.  The top TikTok creator was awarded the Kids Choice Award in 2023 and the YouTube Trailblazer Award in 2022.

He covers a wide range of topics, like; interviews and vlogs on fashion and travel. He has promoted various restaurants. He also raised awareness about social matters and advocated for righteousness.

2. Sara Alwari

USP: Drives luxurious cars to travel across the Middle East and embrace the traditions of diverse cultures.

About the Best TikTok Influencer in Dubai: Here we have wonderful Sara Alwari, a 23-year-old clinical nutritionist thriving on TikTok! She provides enjoyable narratives in her daily life. Her content rolls around from modeling, food, makeup, pranks, encounters, exercise staples, and traveling. She is also a certified personal trainer. She married prevalent Syrian TikToker Ghaith Marwan in 2023.

3. Nora and Khalid 

USP: They blend cultural education with enjoyable content, making them relatable and engaging for an extensive audience.

About the Best TikTok Influencer in the UAE: Nora and Khalid provide a beautiful combination

 of diverse cultures, as Nora Achmaoui, is Moroccan born and raised in Germany, and Khalid, is from Palestine. Their content reflects the love for adventure, home décor, entrepreneurship and fashion. Nora Achmaoui is also a business expert, author, coach, and speaker who talks about social issues. The top Emirati TikTokers have worked with Fenty Beauty, JW Anderson, Versace, Lacoste, Nissan, etc. The couple engages in many activities like; cooking, attending celebrations and exclusive events, and pranking each other.

4. Mohammad Hindash

USP: His gift of creating styles that are both high-fashion and easy to attain, combining artistic skills with exhaustive knowledge of beauty trends makes him stand out.

About the TikTok star in Dubai: Mohammed Hindash is an award-winning Jordanian-Palestinian makeup artist, entrepreneur and TikTok influencer in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He is well-known for publishing cosmetic product reviews and tutorials on his MHindash channel. His content is inspired by the comic books he read throughout his teenage years. He creates beauty portraits while studying at the Visual Communication - Studio Art, American University in Dubai. He won the Sheikha Manal Young Artist Award for Fine Arts.  His work has been represented in over 20 gallery exhibitions, including the SIKKA Art Fair. He has creative and state-of-the-art thinking in cosmetics.  He has worked with brands like MAC Cosmetic Middle East, Chanel, Charlotte Tilbury, Fenty Beauty, etc.

5.    Sherin Amara

USP: she is famous for her dance concerts and lip-syncs

About the TikTok influencer in the GCC: Sherin Ammara is a Syrian-born content creator who has efficaciously established herself in the beauty, make-up, and lifestyle industry.  Her posts include; challenges, beauty tutorials, unboxing diverse beauty and fashion products, dance performances, lip-syncs, and comedy videos. She has collaborated with well-known brands like; Makeup Forever and Sephora.

6. Shahad Hassan

USP: Shahad Hassan is known for providing makeup looks using reasonably priced products.

About the TikTok influencer: Shahad Hassan, born on 11 July 1996 in Sweden is one of the top TikTok influencers in Dubai, who shares videos about beauty, lifestyle, family, challenges, food, etc. She shares content studio sessions, represents diverse outfits, and provides makeup looks using reasonably priced products. She promotes discounts and offers on numerous brands, encouraging her followers to take benefit of special deals. She created her YouTube channel on September 16, 2018. She has collaborated with brands like; She glam official & Nyx cosmetics Arabia. She unambiguously outshines at hijab-style fashion. She has a high engagement rate on TikTok 4.97%.

7. Aliona and Yazan

USP: Very high engagement rate.

About the TikTok influencer: Aliona and Yazan are some of the best Emirati TikTokers. Aliona is a public speaker and writer of "The Self-Powered Life" and an enthusiastic Political science student. Yazan is a civil engineer who bagged numerous managerial certifications. Both of them, have a strong influence on both female and male audiences (72% Females and 27% Males) and have collaborated with Ralph Lauren, Dove, Dyson Arabia, YSL Beauty, Baruni Fashion, Dee Closet, Huawei, etc. The top TikTokers in Dubai make public appearances at exclusive events, representing numerous designer outfits. The brand Aliona Cosmetics is their pride She has a very high engagement rate of around 8.93%.

8. Sherin Ammara

USP: Sherin Ammara is a Makeup pundit!

About the Emirati Influencer: Sherin Ammara is a fashion and beauty TikTok influencer known for her unique outfits and dashing makeup looks. She shares beauty tutorials, vlogs on latest fashion trends as well as provide great product recommendations. She collaborated with brands like; L'Oreal Paris, La Roche-Posay, Sephora Middle East, Nyx Cosmetics Arabia, etc. They epitomize an extraordinary talent for making short films. Moreover, her high engagement is astounding of 7.04%.

Conclusion: 

The biggest influencers on TikTok in GCC have become good cohorts for brands that are seeking increased awareness, credibility, sales, and ROI.

Within the UAE bionetwork and around, we custom-build TikTok influencer marketing campaigns that match the right maneuvers with the right storytellers to achieve the highest ROI. We are a full-cycle influencer marketing agency producing meaningful stories, purposeful engagements, experiences, and strategic content. With our exclusive, professional, and enduring influencer marketing expertise, we create the most candid influences to deliver the results you desire. 

[panfritoo]

Ozempic Bitches

In the 90's fashion magazines were the authoritative voice behind fashion and beauty trends, but behind the aspirational glossy spreads there lies a less glamorous ascetic lifestyle. Coke, Cigarettes, and coffee were the ultimate diet of the decade. This nihilistic breakfast, with stimulants at the top of the food pyramid, kept Manhattan energized and in shape.

During the 90s heroin had increasingly become more accessible and the fashion industry was controversially involved in glamorizing drug use by praising models with the gaunt, hollow- cheeked appearance associated with drug addiction. Iconic models like Kate Moss and Jaime King epitomized this era of "heroin chic.” Emaciated features, pale skin, and boyish lean bodies became the ideal standard of beauty in the fashion industry promoting toxic beauty expectations and trivializing drug addiction. Although these beauty norms were prominent in the modelling world, they had trickle-down effects on generations to come as pictures from that era continued to circulate through the internet decades after. I should quote the infamous Kate Moss line which traumatized a generation of girls with eating disorders: “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”. The first time I hopped on a scale was at the age of 9 at the dietitian's office. I was raised by my grandmother whose tragic wartime experiences gave her the habit of overfeeding me 'for when the bad times come'. This made me a chubby kid, and painfully self-aware of my body from a young age. Since then, I have taken part in every form of diet, exercise and method of losing weight. I remember searching for the word 'thinspo' on Tumblr before going to bed. The vast array of images of thigh gaps and slender girls in Brandy Melville's 'one size' clothing soothed my hunger and encouraged restricting eating behavior. To this day I cannot erase the knowledge I gained about calories, every time I sit down to eat, I see numbers, not food.

In 2015, there was a significant change in the ideal body type. It all started with Kim Kardashian's iconic 2015 Paper magazine cover, which featured her naked resting a champagne glass on her ass. This sparked what is now known as the Kardashian effect, which brought black-body types and extreme hourglass shapes into the spotlight. As a result, social media went crazy about slim-thick aesthetics, full breasts, and booties. It's worth noting that Brazilian Butt Lift surgeries (BBLs) rose in popularity to unprecedented levels in 2015. That is not to say that although this trend celebrated women's curves it was healthy. Like any other trend, it sets high expectations for women on how to look and many young women felt the need to go through cosmetic procedures to fit the beauty standards.

Fast forward to 2022, the New York Post made headlines with its controversial article "Bye Bye Booty: Heroin Chic is Back" commenting on how celebrities and YK2 fashion are bringing back skinny silhouettes. The article created an outcry on Twitter for wrongly treating female bodies as trends perpetuating body-image issues for each generation of women.

Most of social media platforms have banned the search 'thinspo', but similar trends on TikTok such as ‘fitspo’, ‘what I eat in a day’, and ‘girl dinner’ continue to promote toxic diet culture. Additionally, the reemergence of "Tumblr girls" and "indie sleaze" aesthetic idolizes pre- adolescent bodies and messy makeup of the heroin chic era. Even members of the Kardashian klan seem to have embarked on a simultaneous weight loss journey and there are speculations of them removing their implants even if they deny having gotten any procedures in the first place. For instance, before the 2023 Met Gala, Kim Kardashian openly spoke on the red carpet about all the dietary decisions she had to undergo to lose 16 pounds in three weeks to fit into the famous Marlin Monroe's 'Happy Birthday dress'. Or this year's Schiaparelli show, Kylie Jenner stunned in a V-neck dress that accentuated her trimmed-down silhouette.

Besides the tabloid commentary, there is something critical to be examined about the changes in the Kardashian body. Scott Disick famously said in a KUWTK episode that if the Kardashians lose their butts, they lose their money, signifying the relevance of their looks to their brand identity. Changes in the appearance of the Kardashians have societal repercussions on what we choose as the feminine ideal body type.

But the Kardashians are not the only ones shrinking, the cause for many of the celebrity weight loss transformations is due to Ozempic. In a short period of time, this medication has become a buzzword on social media and probably the elixir Hollywood has been longing for. Ozempic is a drug used to treat type-2 diabetes, but it also is a miracle drug for weight loss due to its appetite-suppressant effects. I was prescribed Ozempic in 2021 before its massive commercialization, its effects were extreme appetite reduction, I could go 7 hours or more without experiencing hunger and become instantly full after one bite. Although this might seem like a relief to some people, the fact is that I missed being hungry. So much of our culture revolves around eating and I missed being able to enjoy food. Nevertheless, Ozempic is a hot and heavy drug in places like Los Angeles, and many people are getting it prescribed off-label or in the black market for vanity purposes. Public figures such as Oprah Winfrey and Elon Musk have been open about their usage of

Ozempic or Wegovy, an alternative brand. After years of recognizing that larger bodies are also beautiful, this drug offers the miracle of easily losing weight and ignoring what is so difficult to accept.

The effects of this trend on skinnier bodies is already having negative effects. Tom Quinn, Director of External Affairs at Beat Eating Disorders organizations stated in an article “Between April 2021 and March 2022, Beat provided 3 times the amount of support sessions in comparison to pre- pandemic levels”. And in 2023 the UK saw a 50% increase in the number of young women going to the hospital for eating disorders.

The treatment of bodies as trends is a concerning aspect of society. There seems to be a pendulum effect in which standards of beauty and desirability constantly shift, often swinging from one extreme to another. This phenomenon leads to the rejection of previous ideals and the adoption of new ones, perpetuating a cycle of unrealistic and ever-changing expectations leaving women feeling pressured to conform to the latest standards. We are at a point where women are no longer buying these fads. We have continuously seen female bodies being categorized as either 'celebrated' or 'shamed' by arbitrary canons. Photoshopped curves and Face App faces will continue to roam on our feeds, but social media has also helped with the democratization of media representation, bringing into the spotlight different kinds of bodies. It is important that we take responsibility for the kind of content we consume and support brands, models and influencers making a difference by actually keeping it real.

[rotteneldritchhorror]

Hoping and praying all the time that the whole “pre-shower makeup” trend sticks around forever to replace the experimentation of 2020-2022 lockdown so people always have an outlet to freely experiment with new weirder styles of makeup that they can maybe include in their normal makeup routine one day

We as humans crave creative freedom and experimentation and I need there to be a microcosm of what lockdowns were for that that people can do in daily life so they don’t get stuck in the routine of only using makeup to look pretty and cover up imperfections rather than using it to express themselves creatively and to experiment with new styles, as well as opening them up to not judging other people who wear and express like that in their regular life

It breeds creativity and lessens judgement towards alternative people or just towards people experimenting more publicly

[la-cocotte-de-paris]

Hi!

3. Do you feel your age?

7. Which fashion trends did you love?

8. Which fashion trends did you hate?

Hey hey!

3. Do you feel your age?

HELL NO I feel 20 at most. Maybe 21?? Not 23 lmfao and being 23 so far has been weird. This whole year was weird tbh. Too many downs and a few very high ups. Also the idea that next year I turn 24 sickens me and terrifies me. However when I was in France and chatting with new people from all over the world, I realised most people in my age range (and probably everyone in general) feel at least 2-3 years younger than they actually are due to COVID, given many countries had restrictions and lockdowns either continuously or frequently over a three-year period or so. So that explains the not being able to register my actual age, at least partially.

7. Which fashion trends did you love?

It's funny bc usually I hate the current fashion trends but this year I felt like I was actually aligning w them by chance?? I loooooooved the dark feminine trends (including makeup) really catching fire. And the old money looks, and also the long black winter coats. Gorgeous. The chunky heeled Mary Jane shoes was also a trend I adored (and actually participated in lmao).

8. Which fashion trends did you hate?

Hmm I'm sure there were many but oddly enough I can't think of any rn?? Maybe some of the Y2K revival but not all of it? I thought some of it was a vibe. There was one person (influencer tbh rip) I followed on ig and their style changed a lot - I really dislike it now (I think it's hideous actually and imma say that out loud - their hair doesn't suit them, they wear clothes at least five sizes too big for them and they can't pull off the look at all, some colours they wear a lot look gaudy on them or don't complement their natural appearance...) but hey whatever makes one happy. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Tbh idk why I still follow them - I don't find any of their content interesting and haven't for ages.

In terms of makeup (adding makeup bc sometimes that helps bring a fashion look together) however I do find the over-blush kinda clownish lmao - mind you I didn't see much of it in Ireland or France (the parts I was in, at least). It can be cute but you gotta know what you're doing. And I've never liked freckles so doing the faux freckles on the face never made sense to me - but that was more 2022 and maybe early 2023 I think? I'll update if I can think of fashion specifically.

Thank you for asking!! <333 Sorry for the long answer ahahaha -_-" :P

End of Year Meme