I Was Brave Enough To Try The Rainbow Beauty Trend In Public

Instagram is a breeding ground for the boldest of beauty trends. With so many double-tap worthy looks on the app, it can be hard to tell if some looks are truly achievable. Rainbow makeup is the latest confounding trend to infiltrate world of Instagram beauty. Bright hues seem perfect for summer festivals, but are they realistic for day-to-day wear?

My ever-expanding makeup collection and the growing number of rainbow products and tutorials on social media made me wonder if I could do this, too. I'm not a makeup artist by any means, but that made this experiment so much more appealing. How easy would it be to screw these up?

I picked four of the most interesting rainbow trends to try and rated them according to how likely I'd wear them out without the pressure of an experiment. My biggest fear going into this was that these bold looks would serve as an invitation for conversation. Being trapped in an awkward chat with a stranger on public transit is one of my (many) worst nightmares. I didn't want to give anyone the impression that I have a sunny disposition, because they'd just end up sorely disappointed.

Here's what happened when I set out to find out if a regular gal who admittedly owns too many makeup brushes could pull off this bold beauty trend.

I started this experiment with what I thought would be the least jarring of the trends. I decided to take inspiration from one of the first makeup tutorials I ever watched: a seven-year old rainbow eyeshadow tutorial from XSparkage. I started with Urban Decay's Primer Potion on the lids and then worked my way through the color spectrum using Sephora's Color Anthology Palette. I couldn't fit all of the colors on my lids, so I added Maybelline's Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner Pencil in Polished Amethyst to my waterline and blended it down into my bottom lash line. I used a soft brown shadow from the Morphe 35T palette to get a seamless transition in the crease, and finished the look with a nude lipstick—because it all felt very loud. 

Before I got to the office, I felt like this look was VERY dramatic, but this was not the reaction I received from my coworkers—some of them couldn't even tell that I had done anything different to my face. Looking back at the pictures, I think I could've amped it up WAY more. I would definitely do some variation on this look again since it looked more toned down than I realized.

Rating: 🌈🌈🌈🌈

Next up, rainbow brows. I was very nervous about this one. I just figured out how to fill in my brows in a way that I like, so this extra step was freaking me out. Naturally, I searched for a tutorial to rescue me from my worry and Kristen Leanne's was the winner. I filled in my brows as normal using ColourPop's Brow Pencil in Black 'n Brown. Then, I used an angled liner brush and the forest green, blue and purple shades from the Sephora Color Anthology palette to add some color. To finish it off, I added a quick swipe of Maybelline's Brow Drama Sculpting Mascara to keep them in place. I felt like I looked like Ronald McDonald's Sister and was convinced that everyone was staring at me on my way to work.

Turns out, I was being a big dramatic baby. Surprise! Literally no one noticed because the colors were barely visible. My brows just appeared a little darker than usual. Even though this look didn't end up being as a big of a deal as I made it out to be, I still wouldn't do it again. I don't think that the payoff was worth all the extra work it took to get ready.

Rating: 🌈🌈

Since the famed Bitter Lace Beauty highlight is sold out, I settled for rainbow freckles as my third look. I knew this would be a lot more noticeable than my first two failed attempts, so I expected to get a lot of stares for this one. I wanted to get this right, so I checked out two tutorials before getting started. The first, from Dominique D'Angelo, helped me figured out which color palette I was going to use. The other, from Glam & Gore, is helpful if you're trying to create a natural freckle pattern. This was a largely unnecessary concern of mine since my freckles were navy blue, pink, purple and metallic gold. The real tip-off that these freckles weren't real was totally going to be that they didn't follow a natural pattern, right?

I used Jeffree Star Cosmetics Velour Liquid Lipstick in Abused; ColourPop Cosmetics Ultra Satin Lipsticks in Marshmallow and Molly; and Kylie Cosmetics Matte Metal Lipstick in King K on a thin liner brush—I just made small dots along my cheekbones and nose. By the time I was done, I felt like Lunette from the "The Big Comfy Couch," who I've always loved, but not necessarily as a beauty muse. Most of these lip colors are known for their staying power, so I wasn't super-concerned with them fading throughout the day. They held on and I decided this look wasn't so bad. I probably wouldn't try it again, but I did like how it looked in pictures.

Rating: 🌈🌈🌈

Do I look miserable in these photos? That's because I was. I really, really, really hated this one. But all the other looks were so tame, that I felt like I really needed to go for it on the last day. For this look, I primed my lips with ColourPop's Lippie Primer and lined them with Rimmel London 1000 Kisses Lasting Finish Lip Liner in Natural. Counter clockwise from red, I used Kylie Cosmetics Matte Lipstick in Mary Jo K; Maybelline's Color Blur Cream Matte Lip Pencil in Orange Ya Glad, a mixture of Nivea Lip Balm with some yellow eyeshadow, topped with Kylie Cosmetic Metal Matte Lipstick in King K; Nivea Lip Balm mixed with a shimmery green shadow; Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipstick in Abused; and ColourPop Ultra Satin Lipstick in Marshmallow. I kept the rest of my look super simple because honestly, I didn't have time for anything else.

This was the day that my nightmare was realized. I was one stop away from work when someone got on the train and told me that my makeup was cool and then asked if I was going to be in a parade. Just the pointless parade of my life, sir.

When I walked into the office, I was greeted with a "What happened to your lips?" The green and purple are so cool-toned compared to the blue, that from far away, it just kind of looked like I had very strategically fallen on my face. Perfect. Every girl's dream is for her makeup to make her look as if she's had a tragic accident. Another coworker told me that my bottom lip looked very cold, which made me think I probably looked like every wannabe actress who's been cast as a motionless drowning victim on "Criminal Minds."

I was hoping that the colors would fade so much while eating lunch that I'd be forced to take the rest of it off, but guess what? That shit didn't move. All of these brands officially have the chicken nugget stamp of approval, because they would not budge, no matter how much I wanted them to. I definitely wouldn't do this one again.

Rating: 🌈

Some people drink coffee or go work out in the morning as a way to kickstart their day. Sitting down to do my makeup is my version of an early cycling class or caffeine jolt. Taking a different approach to my beauty routine, especially one that was outside of my comfort zone, made me feel more creative. I also realized that I'm much less bold with my beauty routine than I've been giving myself credit for. Sure, I wear more makeup than the average person—but it always skews more natural than anything else, even if I don't think so. This experiment gave me a new perspective on some of the products I own. I have a few lip colors that I've been unsure of, but now that I've worn six different colors at once, I'm more open to experimenting with others.

All in all, I think rainbow beauty is probably a trend best appreciated on Instagram, but I don't see why an extra splash of color can't be added to your beauty routine. In the end, trying these bold makeup looks was not as big of deal as I anticipated. This experiment confirmed something that I always sort of knew. People are paying far less attention to you than you think. No one cares if you're wearing a bold lip color, super sparkly eye shadow or a fiercely sculpted contour at 7 in the morning. Your makeup choices are best paired with a DGAF attitude.