Move over tomato girl summer, US model and entrepreneur Hailey Bieber has ushered in strawberry girl summer by showcasing a pink, freckled and sun-kissed makeup look that people can’t get enough of. When Bieber says “jump”, her cult following asks “how high?” Case in point: #HaileyBieber has 25.2 billion views on TikTok and #strawberrygirlmakeup has more than 512K views on the short-form video app.
Following Bieber’s post, Google searches for “strawberry girl” in the UK surged on 6 August. Bieber’s Instagram post amassed 2.6 million likes and her second selfie series two days later has racked up more than 2.5 million likes. Not to mention, her TikTok of her everyday strawberry makeup has achieved more than 7.7 million views in just three days. Following her TikTok, creators such as Danielle Marcan and brands such as Nudestix have already embraced the trend.
Is Bieber’s strawberry makeup look a marketing ploy? Commentators are guessing that her beauty brand Rhode (she is the founder and creative director) is launching cream blushes. If so, this is genius marketing and an excellent way to build hype around a potential product launch.
@haileybieber Everday Strawberry Makeup 🍓💋
It girls rule TikTok
While It girls such as Bella Hadid and Sofia Richie Grainge have so far ruled TikTok (Hadid’s Bella Effect ushered in the weird-girl aesthetic and Grainge is the face behind the resurgence of the old money trend), Bieber is the one to watch when it comes to beauty trends. After all, she was named the most popular beauty icon in 2022. It makes sense, given she introduced the glazed donut nails manicure (#HaileyBiebernails has more than 643 million TikTok views) and she also embraced beauty aesthetics such as “I’m cold” and latte makeup.
Bieber’s influence remains stronger than any drama she has been involved with that could potentially have seen her “cancelled”. In 2022, she introduced the “brownie glazed lips” look – however, she was criticised for appropriating this from Black and Latino communities. Then, of course, there’s the long and somewhat ongoing feud with Selena Gomez. For those unaware, Gomez previously dated Bieber’s now husband, Justin Bieber. They made headlines earlier this year when Bieber was accused of bullying and throwing shade at Gomez. Bieber lost roughly one million followers due to this – but nevertheless, she has persisted, even if she continues to get trolled in the comments section of her content.
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Bieber has 50 million followers on Instagram, 11.1 million on TikTok and slightly more than two million on YouTube. Not to mention, Rhode has more than 770,000 Instagram followers. The company launched in 2022 and was made available in the UK in May. The brand reached the eight-figure sales mark within 11 days of launching.
Although Bieber is mainly a beauty icon, her outfits don’t go unnoticed. In Lyst’s Q2 report, jorts were noted as a trending term and the Agolde Jorts were ranked the sixth hottest product. Bieber was credited as one of those who embraced the trend.
As a “nepo baby” (her father is actor Stephen Baldwin), Bieber is familiar with the spotlight and began modelling in her teens – but marrying the Canadian musician in 2018 truly catapulted her into newfound stardom. Thanks to her fashion and beauty looks, she has become a Gen Z icon.
US socialites such as Bieber, Grainge and the Hadid sisters are global trendsetters, but there’s not quite yet a UK equivalent who has the same influence. Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham, Naomi Campbell and Alexa Chung are all legendary fashion icons – but not for Gen Z.
The ones to watch in the UK are TikToker Madeline Argy (who is dating Central Cee), models Lila Moss, Kenza and Stella Jones, Heartstopper star Yasmin Finney, model Mia Regan, TV personality Sophie Habboo, actor Iris Law and model and TikToker Lola Clark.
By Caroline Edwards, CORQ news and features writer. Picture credit: Hailey Bieber via Instagram
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