This season’s most unexpected fashion statement? The morning under-eye look

I was completely exhausted this morning. The alarm went off for the fourth time and my legs refused to follow the strict and already irritated commands of my brain, which knows that we need to act as a team if we want to overcome this epic obstacle called waking up. Yesterday was the same and tomorrow will be too. The dark circles under my eyes have doubled over the past month, and the reasons behind that would already exceed an entire A4 page. That is all you need to know. But when I step outside, I do not get the sense that everyone looks fresh, rested, healthy, and cheerful. Instead, the world around me seems to respond in a strangely positive and collective way to my personal struggles. Trends are no different, and at this point it is hard to tell whether the phenomenon created the trend or the other way around. The eternal mystery of which came first, the chicken or the egg, suddenly has serious competition.

We already know that when it comes to TikTok micro beauty trends like strawberry makeup, latte makeup, glass skin, or soap nails, they can be both fun and completely draining. But judging by the latest trends, the freshest one is exactly that. Exhaustion. A puffy face, dark circles, and that overall look of someone who slept two hours after a brutal exam have become an aesthetic many of us have willingly embraced lately. But why?

As always, when something on the internet suddenly goes super viral, there are layers, undertones, and references behind it. The first reason is the one you would expect if you followed simple logic. Many of us are genuinely tired. Covering up dark circles is yet another task on the list, the world feels bleak, and pretending everything is fine often clashes with what is actually happening around us.

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The second reason is tied to the growing popularity of lower blepharoplasty or surgical tightening of the lower eyelids, a procedure that removes excess fat and skin under the eyes. I believe people should do whatever they want with their faces, but I have to point out that under eye bags are a completely normal biological feature. For some, they appear due to age and a lack of collagen, while for others they are simply genetic. The same is true for dark circles. Sometimes they are caused by thin epidermis and more visible blood flow, but most of the time they are a predisposition, something you are born with.

It is no surprise that Léa Seydoux has been more viral than ever in recent weeks. Her puffy under eyes are the main thing that makes her so appealing and chic, and the whole just rolled out of bed and did not rest look has a certain French nonchalance to it. But the point is not to present dark circles as more desirable than not having them. Some people simply do not have them. The point is to remind ourselves that we do not have to follow every trend at any cost, and that this particular trend is close to glorifying an unhealthy lifestyle. When did being well rested stop being cool? Maybe somewhere around the global collapse into a post capitalist era?

Another reference that fits easily into this trend is party culture, championed and proudly promoted by none other than our beloved Charli XCX. Once again, alongside the completely opposite soft cubing phenomenon that is gaining traction just as quickly, staying out until morning in a packed club has made a comeback, and rave culture has never been stronger. The next day, all you need to reign as queen of this trend is to keep wearing your smudged eyeliner, the one you probably slept in for a few hours if that counts as sleep at all, and voilà, looking tired has never been more chic. Kate Moss might be another reason fatigue has returned to the center of the beauty world. Back in the nineties, she helped establish and nurture that I forgot to take off my makeup look, and makeup artists are still trying to recreate it in the most effortless and natural way possible.

On the opposite end of the rave drained, party manic aesthetic, there is something softer and almost tender. It is the idea that sleepiness can be cute, that a face still marked by the morning carries a special kind of warmth. And no one knows how to capitalize on a trend faster than RHODE. The RHODE Pocket Blush in the shade Sleepy Girl delivers that gentle, slightly flushed tint that gives the impression that you just woke up, without effort or performance. Along with it came under eye patches that mimic the look of dark circles, which sends its own message that tiredness can be an aesthetic category too.

I am apparently at the very top of the trendsetter ladder these days, and maybe someone should warn Hailey Bieber that she is in for a fierce battle for the throne if trends keep heading in this direction. From living an ordinary life to being exhausted, it feels like trends are spiraling out of control and becoming more bizarre, and I cannot keep up with them, at least not willingly. But if you are someone who is tired of questions and sympathetic looks when you show up at the office without makeup, this might finally be your moment because this trend offers something different. Despite all my criticisms, it gives you a chance to embrace the face you find in the mirror each morning, with all the small traces of life it carries.

I do not know what else to tell you except to try to accept that we will be riding the wave of tiredness for a while. Climb aboard if you have the strength.