“Pomegranate Makeup” Is The Must-Try TikTok Beauty Trend This Summer

In the heart of summer 2024, the blush wave (and sustained attachment to food-focused beauty) continues to explode with new variants. Naturalistic makeup trends that mimic the effect of idle hours under the Tuscan sun, like “strawberry girl” and “tomato red,” have taken over the collective consciousness. Now, the sunkissed glow category is getting a new boost with “pomegranate makeup.” 

Pomegranate makeup is an elevated version of its dewy sister blush trend predecessors. It involves a generous application of the classic summer beauty staple, blush, and spreading the leftover product on your temples, lips, eyelids, and chin to bask in that rosy radiance. Additionally, as the moniker suggests, the flushed appearance aims to emulate its corresponding tart, seed-packed fruit by using a skin-safe felt tip pen to create a soft burst of freckles across the nose and upper cheeks. When complete, the fresh-faced makeup aesthetic should generate an American Girl doll-like effect devised to turn heads. 

The trend is bred from a growing obsession with healthy-looking skin and curating a more efficient and reliable getting-ready routine. The increasing acceptance of natural skin signals a capitulation to the enticing wellness fantasy of building a “better you.” By imitating the effects of sauntering along Kaanapali, Hawaii’s breathtaking sandy shores, consumers are leaning into a sun-exposed aesthetic minus the perennial side effects of radiation exposure. Faux freckles—which have dominated social media filters for the past several years—are an extension of that genuine beauty aesthetic. Pomegranate makeup is also a solution for time-pressed individuals who want to look less “flat” before they rush out the door in the morning, allowing them to feel good about their skin without investing an exorbitant amount of time. 

Moreover, the latest blush product formation innovations and advancements have elevated the eons-long beloved makeup essential to make it fresher and more fun, driving the epic craze. Rhode Skin’s launch of its lightweight glycerin-based pocket blush sent a legion of beauty-engrossed consumers to wait for hours in line on a scalding Manhattan day. Meanwhile, Pixi launched its “Blush On-the-Glow” fit for people with crammed schedules. 

However, the power of celebrity can not be disregarded when discussing the boom of luminescent, blush-brazen makeup. For instance, Rhode-skin founder Hailey Bieber has championed sunburned-passing cheeks - a hallmark of her glazed donut skin aesthetic. Another it-girl of the moment, “Espresso” singer Sabrina Carpenter, has not shied away from incorporating heavily pigmented blush into her on-stage makeup routines. Most recently, stars like Ambika Mod, Jourdan Dunn, and Nicola Coughlin poured into the lush grass courts at Wimbledon, as they fully leaned into the glimmering, rosy cheek trend to add a pop of color on gloomy London days.