It's all about pearl-inspired beauty in 2022

The year may have only just begun, but we’re already well on the way to becoming the most trendy versions of ourselves thanks to an influx of beauty trends infiltrating our social feeds.

We’ve decided to chop all of our hair off thanks to the ‘liquid bob’ and ‘boy bob’ hair trends, and we’ve accumulated an album’s worth of summer nail art inspiration (with three more seasons to live through).

If you’d like to join us and up the ante on all things trendy and ~cool~, then we suggest hauling ass to your local Spotlight for a handful of pearls to adorn your pretty little face with. Because according to a high volume of recent Pinterest searches, it’s all about pearl-inspired makeup this year. 

You’ve probably seen a few celebs decorate their eyes with pearls during red carpet season *cough* Grimes and Euphoria’s Storm Reid at the 2021 Met Gala *cough*, but as with any beauty trend, pearl-inspired makeup is all up for your interpretation. 

Gigi Hadid teamed up with Patrick Ta to create the Taurean’s birthday party makeup this year. The result? A dramatic, baroque angel vibe that featured luminescent skin, a lengthy stretch of winged eyeliner and tiny pearl gems dotted around Hadid’s baby blue peepers.

Model Paloma Elsesser collaborated with Glossier’s makeup artist Celia Burton to create a floating cat eye consisting of pearls for the beauty brand. The delicately feminine look was accented with the smallest lick of mascara and radiant, natural-looking skin. Pure heaven.

So we suggest getting your hands on a good set of tweezers and skin-safe lash glue (à la the pressed flower makeup trend technique), to fully prepare for the imminent creativity you’re about to unleash on the world. 

Need to get those imaginative juices flowing? The creatives of the Internet collective have done some of the heavy lifting for you, delivering a deluge of pearl-encrusted makeup looks to whet your appetite.

Create focal points in your makeup using touches of luminescent pearls to catch the eye, or amp up the glossy sheen of a wet look hairstyle with some strategically placed in your strands. You could also frame your peepers with a few pearls, or create the most extravagant inner corner highlight anyone’s ever seen.

Scared to go all in? Dot carefully-placed pearls around the face for a more subtle bejeweled gleam. There’s also the option of microscopic pearl beads, perfect for elevating avant-garde eye looks or creating unique shapes. And don’t forget the ears are also fair game (who needs expensive jewellery?), or try matching your pearly eye makeup to your outfit. It’s all up to you. 

Not afraid to toe the line between beauty and art? Then it’s time to pull out your best freehand skills and draw some mind-bending makeup looks on your face. Or why not turn classic beauty moments on their head? Transform a sexy, blown-out smokey eye into a pearly-grey backdrop for a host of metallic-hued black pearls.

After some face-friendly pearls to add to your makeup kit? We recommend:

ColourPop Individual Pearl Face Jewels ($7 at ColourPop Cosmetics); In Your Dreams Clustered Natural Pearls Face Gems ($15 at ASOS); and Uniquely Creative Embellishment Adhesive Silver Pearls ($1.88 at Kogan).

After you’ve created a Euphoria-worthy eye look laden with pearls, why not learn how to nail that flawless base makeup the entire cast have been touting? Here’s how to get the Euphoria makeup ‘no foundation’ look. 

Main image credit: @sandyganzer