54 Absurdist makeovers

Absurdist makeovers

Beauty as self-expression is getting experimental.

After a difficult few years for many, beauty consumers are seeking out opportunities to play and experiment. Circus is a new kind of beauty publication that is “not to be taken too seriously.” Announced in September 2021, it celebrates the absurdity and playfulness of beauty. Dazed Beauty called it an “unserious beauty platform for total weirdos.” It features avant-garde looks, from the wacky, such as bedazzled teeth, to the silly, like acrylic toenail art, to the clownish.

“Everything at the minute seems super serious,” Circus creator and editor-inchief Jackson Bowley told i-D. “I just wanted to create a publication that was fun, simple and loud. That, and I wanted to create a beauty magazine that really pushes how we see and what we can do with beauty imagery.”

The beauty looks in Schiaparelli’s 2022 spring/summer collection digital presentation were “suitably surreal,” Vogue reported. Models wore elongated gold-plated nail accessories, umbrella hats, and handbags embellished with faces.

Why it’s interesting Consumers are approaching beauty with a newly liberated attitude of uninhibited self-expression—picking up their makeup brushes not necessarily to look “good” but to have fun, experiment, and test the boundaries of their creativity.