This latest craze flooding social media channels draws inspiration from"Uncanny Valley." In essence, participants are attempting to emulate the appearance of a human but with a twist—not quite human, more like a creepy NPC character from a video game.
@makeupbyevelin Replying to @0_0angel7_7 #uncannyvalley #makeup ♬ Brutus (Instrumental) - The Buttress
@alkiiwii UNCANNY VALLEY #uncannyvalley #uncannyvalleymakeup #uncannyvalleyeffect ♬ original sound - Amiceaa
From Oddity Central:
The term uncanny valley is used to describe the hypothesized uncomfortable feeling triggered by seeing an entity appearing almost human but not quite so. It is used mainly in relation to humanoid androids that try to mimic our look and mannerisms to perfection but don’t quite succeed. These days, the phrase is going viral on TikTok thanks to a new makeup trend used to transform fleshy humans into creepy cyborgs. The trend is believed to have been sparked by Zara (@alkiiwii), a TikTok user who transformed herself with layers of foundation, concealer, eyeliner, and mascara. Her viral video tagged with #uncannyvalleymakeup has been viewed and shared tens of millions of times, inspiring other makeup enthusiasts to post their own takes on the trend.
“This gives me goosebumps,” one TikTok user said, while another admitted that “THIS is uncanny valley”.
Although Zara’s video, in which she even lipsyncs the lines of an android from the popular video game ‘Detroit: Become Human’, is still considered the creepiest version of uncanny valley makeup, there are plenty of others out there to check out. Just be warned that some of them can be unsettling.
