These Women are Applying ‘100 Layers of Makeup’ & It’s Frightening

A new ‘beauty’ trend called ‘100 layers of makeup’ recently took over the internet and it’s as horrifying as can be.

Being a beauty blogger myself, my YouTube feed is a jargon of all things beauty – DIY, hair hacks, 100 ways to take the perfect Instagram shot. I’ve gotta confess – sometimes, contouring techniques show up in my dreams too.

Jeely, a YouTube Vlogger, showed up on my feed about a week ago. Her claim to fame? The ability to be funny while keeping a straight face – and doing something that had never been done before i.e. putting 100 layers of foundation on her face.

A layer of liquid foundation is usually enough to keep you through the day – but NOT for Jeely. She puts on 10, 20, 40 – and needs to use a hairdryer to actually set her foundation, in between shots. Somewhere between looking like a potato, and worrying about her face melting off, she does the impossible. Hour after hour, her right hand continues to blend and pat this god awful foundation and we can’t help but look at the dramatics.

Jeely, who says she has too much time on her hands, confirms my theory that she’s going through an existential crisis. She says: “I have 100 layers of foundation on…what am I doing with my life?”

It doesn’t end there. She uses toilet paper to dab her foundation smeared face, finding red blotches on her skin. After a thorough cleanse (I suggest 100 showers), her skin looks fine – and her spirit, unbeaten.

100 Layers of Crazy

The damage has been done. She’s started a tag game I didn’t see coming. Meet Vlogger Nicole Skyes, who not only wants to do a similar challenge for the sheer absurdity of it, but also to figure out how many coats of matte lipstick are actually beneath the most coveted lip colour of all times.

Here’s her video:

She starts slow, and soon we’re lapsing hyperactively through 20, 40... 80 coats. Soon she is bored, puts on headphones, and like any good YouTuber, keeps on going. 118 applications later, she says – “don’t try this at home, kids”.

I sense she has trouble, like serious trouble, moving her lips. “I feel like a duck. But I am gonna keep using it till about 200 applications.”

(What is it about YouTube and commitment?)

Finally, the video is about to end. It feels absolutely cruel, she says, after stopping at 212 applications.

The Kylie Lip Jenner kit still has 6-7 coats of madness left in it....

But I don’t. I skip towards the end, and watch a nightmare come to life.

“It feels like I deep-fried my lips”, says Skyes, as she uses a tweezer to get off the thickest, ugliest layer of lip colour I’ve seen in a long time.

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And then came the Ultimate 100 Coats of Things by Jenna Marbles. Note: I’m not saying it’s ultimate, that’s the name of the video. Vlogger Jenna, known for her sense of humour, is trying 100 layers of foundation, 100 eyelashes (the fakes ones, yes!), 100 coats of glitter nail polish and 100 layers of a fake tan spray (on her freaking arm).

Here’s a glimpse of that madness:

7 minutes in, she had 50 eyelashes on each eye and it’s making me cringe. I am thankful for my eyes, but I literally can’t watch this video. Yet I play it in the background.

Jenna agrees – “A lot of my soul is dead,” – as she goes on and makes me wonder what pills she’s on. 99 layers in she’s delirious, and admits this was the experiment.

“I don’t think my face will ever feel clean again,” Jenna confesses at the end of the video, and I agree.

She took about 7 hours to film this – lost the ability to talk, emote – and her boyfriend Julian’s voice is that of sanity.

The videos are still multiplying by the day.

Here are my final thoughts on this:

First of all, this is a huge waste of money. But then, all these Vloggers probably got enough hits to buy all this makeup again.

Secondly, it is really ironical to see “beauty products” make you feel – how should I put it lightly? – disgusting.

My video project is on-hold, indefinitely.

I am not touching my makeup for at least a week.

What do you think about 100 Layers? Would you ever do it? Tell us on Twitter @thequint. Manavi Siddhanti is a beauty and lifestyle blogger (www.beforbeauty.com), who will be found without makeup, embracing her dark circles after watching these videos.