In an age where the world seems to spin faster and faster every year, hot beauty trends come and go, but the pressure on women to maintain ridiculously high beauty standards seems to remain constant. Since the dawn of time, women have been under pressure to meet unrealistic beauty standards set by societal norms.
Historically, the ideal woman has always presented her perfect self, often for the benefit of her husband. If this notion sounds like something from the 1950s, it is, and a new trend on TikTok called “Morning Makeup Removal” carries the same connotations.
By 2025, it seems we’ve moved on from those outdated notions, but an emerging trend on TikTok suggests otherwise. The morning makeup removal ritual is a self-imposed beauty regimen that eerily echoes the rigid beauty expectations of the past, only now it’s fueled by social media, product overconsumption, and an insatiable obsession with self-optimization.
“While expressing oneself through daily beauty can be fulfilling and enjoyable for some, conforming to ever-changing and often extreme beauty standards can feel like a step backwards in terms of self-acceptance and a sense of not being liberated from societal pressures to perform feminine,” Dr. Philippa Diederichs, a body image expert and professor of psychology at the University of the West of England, told L’OFFICIEL USA. “The key question is whether individuals have a real choice or if they are forced to participate for fear of not conforming to societal expectations of beauty.”
The trend has gained widespread attention on TikTok, where influencers apply a ton of beauty products before bed and “remove” them the next morning, claiming that the habit helps them wake up looking refreshed and flawless. Products used to remove makeup in the morning include, but are not limited to: silk headbands, mouth bandages, eye masks, anti-wrinkle patches, face masks, multiple layers of moisturizer, other skincare products, and even chin straps.
At first glance, the trend seems so extreme that it feels like a satire, as if it was inspired by a weird SNL skit or TV show. For anyone who’s watched Euphoria, the morning hair-loss routine may bring back memories of Cassie Howard’s infamous 4 a.m. self-care ritual — an exhausting, multi-step process she endured in hopes of catching the attention of the show’s man of the hour (and villain), Nate Jacobs.
At the time, viewers seemed to agree that her behavior was obsessive and unhealthy. So what’s changed when we start doing the same thing? Social media has a way of making extreme beauty regimens feel like a quest, not a warning.