“Cold Girl” Beauty Is TikTok’s Most Baffling Winter Trend

As we venture closer to winter, creators and influencers online have been preparing for the cold months with some seasonally appropriate trends. This has manifested in adorable “I’m cold” makeup tutorials, which show essentially the winterized version of the “sunburn blush” trend that lasted all summer. The idea is to enhance your natural flush with heavy blush to mimic wind-whipped cheeks to go along with your coziest fleeces and furs. Trending over the past couple of weeks, cold-looking makeup tutorials have been posted by beauty creators like Jennie Dimova, Kayla, and Zoe Kim Kenealy.

In her now-viral cold makeup tutorial, Zoe Kim Kenealy started with a matte powder to “get rid of any glow” and then layered on pink and orange blushes. She then adds blush to her nose and above her lip, finishing the look with setting powder to make it look “realistic”, adding a fall lip color, and lightly filling in her eyebrows with a brow pencil.

Now, the “I’m cold” trend has taken on a new sector of the beauty space with TikTokers winterizing their manicures with the Korean blush nails technique. Nail artist @michellekhxn recently posted a tutorial on the “best way to do Korean Blush nails”, calling them “I’m cold nails” last week and the video immediately went viral. Starting with a nude pink gel base, she used liquid latex and an airbrush machine to create a soft pink circular gradient effect. Michelle mixed together acetone, red gel, and pink gel and sprayed in light circular motions before completing the look with a top coat and clear heart 3D nail art.

Michelle’s fans were quick to compare the results to fingers being "trapped my finger in a door". “Me when I slammed my finger in the safe at dollar general,” commented one user. Others compared the final look to the impact that anemia can have on nails. For those without an airbrush tool, one creator suggested using “some eyeshadow or blush on a small makeup brush”.

As temperatures drop, it seems we’re all obsessed with looking even colder than we’re actually feeling, whether that’s through over-blushing your face or jumping on the Korean blush nail trend. With “I’m cold” beauty only gaining steam, we should expect “I’m cold” hair (snowflakes anyone?) and even “I’m cold” pedicures on the horizon.