I Tried 5 Glitter Beauty Trends IRL

There's no question about it: Glitter beauty looks, from glitter roots to glitter tears, are stunning, mesmerizing, and statement-making. But the real question is, how practical are glitter beauty looks for day-to-day? I tried five different glitter beauty trends to see how the internet-popular looks would translate to real life and, let's just say, it was quite a ~sparkling~ experience.

As glitter continues to make it's comeback and prove that it's a staple, more and more glitter-focused beauty looks are becoming popular. If you thought glitter was at it's peak in the early '00s, think again. Nowadays, glitter is appearing everywhere from your cheeks to your eyes to even in the part of your hair. Sure, these looks are uber popular on runways, red carpets, and especially on social media, but do they hold up in real life? Can they be just as glamorous in an office environment or while running errands as they do on Instagram?

So, without further ado, here's what happened when I took glitter roots, glitter lips, glitter lids, and others — the viral glitter beauty looks the internet loves — to my daily life over the span of five days.

Day 1 — Glitter Eye Lids

To start, I wanted to try out a glitter look that's easily the most common from the bunch: Patting glitter on your eyelids to create glittery, light-catching eyes. As a millennial, glitter eyes was a look I have been trying to pull off since 2002. It's effortlessly pretty and places all the attention on your gorgeous peepers. I was desperate to try my hand at a 2016 version with some sparkling loose pigment and loose glitter, but I curious to know how my rendition on the classic early '00s look would be received.

I was prepared for the worst (something along the lines of, "Who do you think you are, Britney Spears?), but I only received compliments all day. A co-worker complimented me on how well I could pull off glitter, and my significant other even noticed (which is rare) and said the sparkles made my eyes look pretty.

Even though my greasy eyelids made the glitter clump in my eye sockets towards the end of the day, I absolutely adored how girly and sparkly the copper glitter made my eyes. Very wearable and, according to my findings, also day-to-day approved.

Day 2 — Glitter Lips

Glitter lips are pretty self-explanatory. You pop some glitter on your lips and rock it like you're a mystical glitter fairy. But if you're makeup shy, you might wipe it off before you actually go out in public in the fear of looking slightly ridiculous and opt for a safe nude lip instead (trust me, I speak from experience).

Now makeup brands and makeup artists are making glitter lips the most covetable lip look around (Pat McGrath, here's looking at you). So, with a renewed sense of inspiration and confidence, I threw on some lip gloss, covered my lips with loose glitter, and took glitter lips to the streets.

When I was sitting at my vanity in the morning, I loved the shiny look of the glitter moving with my lips (clearly, evident from my selfie above). But I slowly but surely realized how impractical it is to wear glitter on your lips. I found myself chewing on the fine glitter even before I left my apartment that morning, and noticed it all around my coffee cup rim, which was after I had an awkward encounter with the barista who was clearly distracted by my lips.

Surprisingly, no one commented on my glitter-covered-lips directly; unsurprisingly, there was no glitter left on my lips after I ate lunch. Because, well, I ate it all with my lunch. The struggles of trendy beauty, amirite?

All in all, glitter lips are great in theory, and perfect for something like a makeup editorial or special event, but I wouldn't recommend it for everyday. Especially not if you have plans to eat.

Day 3 — Glitter Roots

By Day #3, I was feeling pretty confident with my glitter abilities. I pulled off a classic glitter eye, and I even wore a glitter lip. How hard could glitter roots be? Before I could second guess myself, I had lined my hair part with hairspray and poured both fine and chunky glitter in it's wake. It stuck, I brushed the rest of my hair, and spent a day on the town.

I thought the silver glitter at the roots of my strands looked pretty cool, but the reactions I recieved were very mixed. A family friend thought it was "gorgeous," but my sister said it looked like I had "dandruff in the form of glitter." I got some weird looks from strangers, and other strangers came up to me just to compliment me. Although, for what it's worth, the photo I posted on Instagram of my glitter roots did really well for my account.

Based on the reactions I got I can't quite gauge whether or not glitter roots get a check or a minus on everyday wear. On Instagram, it did great! But in real life, the results weren't quite as clear. What was clear was that the glitter in my hair wasn't going anywhere.

Day 4 — Glitter Highlighter

After experiencing glitter roots, I knew glitter highlighter was going to be a walk in the (glitter) park. After all, highlighter is typically glitter-based after all, so my plan was just to amplify it with some loose glitter in a contrasting color to make it stand-out, yet still blend in with the rest of my makeup look. So I did just that with my favorite shiny shades in my highlighter palette and some golden yellow glitter on top.

This look was easily my favorite glitter look I tired during the experiment, and my friends and family also seemed to like it. My friends complimented me, and my mom thought my look was fun and creative. The look was definitely safe compared to the other daring glitter looks I tried, which made it perfectly suitable for everyday.

Day 5 — Glitter Tears

To wrap up this glitter beauty experiment, I wanted to try a look that was less common than the others but just as fabulously glittery and trendy: glitter tears. Having appeared on the likes of Elle Fanning and Suki Waterhouse earlier this year, glitter tears quickly gained popularity for being both glam and grungy, and, well, for being another creative way to wear glitter since sparkly dust is clearly irresistible at the moment. So, I tried it out with craft glitter, sparkling pigment, and glitter eyeliner.

To create the look, I basically poured all of those aforementioned products right underneath my lash line and let it do it's thing. I ended up with a look I personally like to call, "unicorn sucker punch in both eyes." Don't I look like I got smacked by something super sparkly and bruised through yellow and orange glitter? I honestly loved the look and how fun it was, but I didn't exactly get positive reactions when I went out that day to run some errands.

The people I was around must have been nice enough to not comment on my glitter tears look, but once I met with my mom later in the afternoon, she was pretty frank about how she felt: "what is that under your eyes? Did you do that on purpose?" She doesn't get it, obviously. While I can't deny the cool girl factor of glitter tears, I think it may be too out there for everyday.

After this experiment, I can honestly say I have a renewed appreciation for glitter. It's fun, it's undeniably pretty in any way, shape, or form, and it's a great way to step out of your beauty comfort zone. Although some of these viral glitter beauty looks may be too over-the-top and out-there for everyday, they're creative and gorgeous no matter if you wear them to the grocery store or a special event.

So whether you're the person that would wear glitter on any average day or you're not, there's no denying that glitter is a statement-making element to any beauty look — no matter how you wear it!

Images: Melodi Erdogan