Beetlejuice Lips

2024Beauty trend / makeup challengesemi-active

Also known as: Zebra Lips · #beetlejuicelips

Beetlejuice Lips is a 2024 TikTok makeup trend where creators apply bright lipstick and black eyeshadow dust over scrunched lips to create striped patterns mimicking Beetlejuice's suit, popularized by Adrianna Kalisz in September 2024.

Beetlejuice Lips is a makeup trend that took over TikTok in late summer 2024, where creators apply a bright lip color and dust black eyeshadow over scrunched lips to create a cracked, striped pattern inspired by Beetlejuice's iconic suit. The trend went viral after creator Adrianna Kalisz posted her version in September 2024, but quickly sparked controversy when it became clear the technique fails on lips with filler, inadvertently exposing influencers who hadn't been transparent about cosmetic procedures2.

beauty trend memestiktok memeschallenge memesinfluencer mockery memeshidden identity memes

Overview

The Beetlejuice Lips look works like crackle nail polish for your mouth. You start with a bright matte lip color, usually green or purple, then scrunch your lips tight to create natural crease lines. While holding that scrunch, you dust black eyeshadow or dark powder into the folds. When you relax your lips into a smile, the dark pigment sits inside the creases while the bright base color shows through, creating a striped or crackled pattern that mirrors the vertical black-and-white stripes of Beetlejuice's suit3.

The whole thing hinges on one physical requirement: your lips need deep natural creases for the dark powder to settle into. That detail is what turned a fun Halloween makeup trick into one of 2024's spiciest beauty controversies1.

The technique itself predates the Beetlejuice branding. On July 30, 2024, Portuguese makeup artist and TikTok creator Luara Reisinger posted a video demonstrating the striped lip effect, which she called "zebra lips." Reisinger credited fellow creator Carol Barragana as her inspiration2.

The rebrand to "Beetlejuice Lips" came on September 5, 2024, when TikToker Adrianna Kalisz (known as @_hello_adri) uploaded her own version set to "Say My Name" from Beetlejuice The Musical. In the video, Kalisz applies chartreuse green eye paint to her lips, scrunches them, dusts black eyeshadow into the creases, and smiles to reveal the striped pattern1. She credited Reisinger in her caption. The timing lined up perfectly with the U.S. release of *Beetlejuice Beetlejuice* on September 6, and the video exploded, reaching over 42.8 million views and 4.9 million likes3.

Origin & Background

Platform
TikTok (technique by Luara Reisinger), TikTok (viral spread by Adrianna Kalisz)
Key People
Luara Reisinger, Adrianna Kalisz
Date
2024

The technique itself predates the Beetlejuice branding. On July 30, 2024, Portuguese makeup artist and TikTok creator Luara Reisinger posted a video demonstrating the striped lip effect, which she called "zebra lips." Reisinger credited fellow creator Carol Barragana as her inspiration.

The rebrand to "Beetlejuice Lips" came on September 5, 2024, when TikToker Adrianna Kalisz (known as @_hello_adri) uploaded her own version set to "Say My Name" from Beetlejuice The Musical. In the video, Kalisz applies chartreuse green eye paint to her lips, scrunches them, dusts black eyeshadow into the creases, and smiles to reveal the striped pattern. She credited Reisinger in her caption. The timing lined up perfectly with the U.S. release of *Beetlejuice Beetlejuice* on September 6, and the video exploded, reaching over 42.8 million views and 4.9 million likes.

How It Spread

The challenge spread fast across BeautyTok. Creators like Sydner Purl, NikkieTutorials, and itisabelbedoyaa (who posted a tutorial on September 12, 2024, earning over 130,000 likes) jumped on the trend. But the real drama started when high-profile beauty influencers couldn't make it work.

On September 8, 2024, Jeffree Star posted his attempt. Instead of dramatic stripes, his lips just turned into a smudgy black mess. "Um, have we been duped? What the fuck," he said in the video, which pulled in over 25 million views. Commenters quickly identified the problem: lip filler. Star's injections had smoothed out the natural lip creases that the technique depends on. Star replied to the top comment explaining the issue with a simple "Hahaha facts".

That clip cracked the trend wide open. A London-based makeup artist posted a video saying, "My new guilty pleasure is watching beauty influencers with too much lip filler try Beetlejuice lips," which racked up nearly 9 million views. TikToker @sarcasm.generator made a viral response video addressing influencers who claimed the trick "doesn't work," and creator @natalieroseisuppose posted a side-by-side compilation of filler-having creators failing versus Kalisz's clean result.

Robbie Roe, a 28-year-old graphic designer and musician, posted a video that landed nearly 4 million views and over 430,000 likes, saying: "There's something kind of beautiful about there being a beauty trend that's only for people who don't have fillers". Beauty creator @jacattack commented on Star's video: "It's because [of] lip filler! I had mine dissolved and now all my lip wrinkles are back!"

The timing with Halloween supercharged the trend. Pinterest searches for Beetlejuice-inspired makeup and costumes surged over 300%, Google searches for "Beetlejuice outfits" spiked 809%, and "Beetlejuice makeup" jumped 488%.

How to Use This Meme

The Beetlejuice Lips technique is pretty straightforward, though results depend heavily on your natural lip texture:

1

Apply a bright matte lip gloss or liquid lipstick. Green and purple are the classic choices, but any vibrant color works as the base.

2

While the base is still slightly wet, scrunch your lips together as tightly as possible to create deep wrinkle lines.

3

With your lips still scrunched, lightly dust black eyeshadow or dark powder over the surface. A light touch is key.

4

Relax your lips and smile. The dark pigment should sit in the creases while the bright base color shows through, creating the signature striped or crackled look.

Cultural Impact

Beetlejuice Lips hit a nerve that went well beyond Halloween costumes. The trend became an accidental litmus test for lip filler, forcing a conversation about transparency in the beauty influencer industry.

Mashable's coverage framed the trend as a rare pushback against the normalization of cosmetic procedures on social media. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, minimally invasive procedures grew 7% in 2023, with over 25 million procedures performed. Dermal fillers alone grew 4%, reaching 3.2 million. The report noted that Botox had become so normalized that "patients mention it as casually as running an errand to the store or post office".

NBC News had previously uncovered in 2022 that influencers on TikTok were being offered cheap cosmetic procedures in exchange for promotion, creating what amounted to a plastic surgery feedback loop. Business of Fashion raised similar concerns about the "casualizing" of injectables, citing risks from unlicensed practitioners and counterfeit products.

Multiple aesthetics professionals weighed in on the trend. Dr. Jasmin Taher of Visage Clinic explained that overfilling stretches the lips and eliminates the natural lines, known as lip prints, that are "a unique and integral part of your anatomy, much like fingerprints". Dr. Vincent Wong from Vindoc Aesthetics offered a different angle, noting it was "interesting to see that lip creases, which are often deemed as an 'imperfection' by many, is now an acceptable beauty trend". Dr. Ahmed El Muntasar clarified that not everyone who fails the challenge has filler, as hydration levels and natural skin thickness also play a role.

The trend also connected to a growing wave of makeup looks that celebrate natural facial texture. In 2023, makeup artist Netta Székely dusted gold eyeshadow over a model's eye wrinkles (7.8 million views), and creator Mei Pang layered color over nose crinkles (nearly 16 million views). TikTok creator Buket Berçe Kobal extended the Beetlejuice look by adding a nose scrunch component.

Fun Facts

Luara Reisinger's original version used the name "zebra lips" (from the Portuguese "boca craquelada de zebra"), and the Beetlejuice rebranding only happened because Kalisz set her video to Beetlejuice musical music during the film's release window.

Jeffree Star's failed attempt actually helped the trend go more viral than the original video, with his 25 million views drawing attention back to Kalisz's clip.

Dr. Taher noted that people who've had filler can still achieve the look if they dissolve their current filler and opt for a more conservative approach that preserves natural lip lines.

The trend represented a rare inversion on BeautyTok, where a look was easier to achieve *without* cosmetic enhancement rather than with it.

Hydration affects results too. According to Dr. El Muntasar, you're more likely to get clean stripes when slightly dehydrated, since lip lines are more visible when hydration levels drop.

Derivatives & Variations

Nose Scrunch Component

— TikToker Buket Berçe Kobal expanded the lip technique to include nose crinkles, pushing the Beetlejuice look further up the face[1].

"Botox-Repellent" Eye Makeup

— Adrianna Kalisz reposted her own version of eye makeup using the same crease-highlighting principle around the eyes, doubling down on the anti-filler message[1].

Filler Fail Compilations

— Creator @natalieroseisuppose and others compiled side-by-side videos of influencers with filler failing the trend versus natural-lipped creators nailing it, turning the challenge into a spectator sport[4].

Tutorial Variations

— itisabelbedoyaa posted a step-by-step tutorial version on September 12, 2024, showing different color combinations and application methods[5].

Frequently Asked Questions

Beetlejuice Lips

2024Beauty trend / makeup challengesemi-active

Also known as: Zebra Lips · #beetlejuicelips

Beetlejuice Lips is a 2024 TikTok makeup trend where creators apply bright lipstick and black eyeshadow dust over scrunched lips to create striped patterns mimicking Beetlejuice's suit, popularized by Adrianna Kalisz in September 2024.

Beetlejuice Lips is a makeup trend that took over TikTok in late summer 2024, where creators apply a bright lip color and dust black eyeshadow over scrunched lips to create a cracked, striped pattern inspired by Beetlejuice's iconic suit. The trend went viral after creator Adrianna Kalisz posted her version in September 2024, but quickly sparked controversy when it became clear the technique fails on lips with filler, inadvertently exposing influencers who hadn't been transparent about cosmetic procedures.

beauty trend memes tiktok memes challenge memes influencer mockery memes hidden identity memes

Overview

The Beetlejuice Lips look works like crackle nail polish for your mouth. You start with a bright matte lip color, usually green or purple, then scrunch your lips tight to create natural crease lines. While holding that scrunch, you dust black eyeshadow or dark powder into the folds. When you relax your lips into a smile, the dark pigment sits inside the creases while the bright base color shows through, creating a striped or crackled pattern that mirrors the vertical black-and-white stripes of Beetlejuice's suit.

The whole thing hinges on one physical requirement: your lips need deep natural creases for the dark powder to settle into. That detail is what turned a fun Halloween makeup trick into one of 2024's spiciest beauty controversies.

The technique itself predates the Beetlejuice branding. On July 30, 2024, Portuguese makeup artist and TikTok creator Luara Reisinger posted a video demonstrating the striped lip effect, which she called "zebra lips." Reisinger credited fellow creator Carol Barragana as her inspiration.

The rebrand to "Beetlejuice Lips" came on September 5, 2024, when TikToker Adrianna Kalisz (known as @_hello_adri) uploaded her own version set to "Say My Name" from Beetlejuice The Musical. In the video, Kalisz applies chartreuse green eye paint to her lips, scrunches them, dusts black eyeshadow into the creases, and smiles to reveal the striped pattern. She credited Reisinger in her caption. The timing lined up perfectly with the U.S. release of *Beetlejuice Beetlejuice* on September 6, and the video exploded, reaching over 42.8 million views and 4.9 million likes.

Origin & Background

Platform
TikTok (technique by Luara Reisinger), TikTok (viral spread by Adrianna Kalisz)
Key People
Luara Reisinger, Adrianna Kalisz
Date
2024

The technique itself predates the Beetlejuice branding. On July 30, 2024, Portuguese makeup artist and TikTok creator Luara Reisinger posted a video demonstrating the striped lip effect, which she called "zebra lips." Reisinger credited fellow creator Carol Barragana as her inspiration.

The rebrand to "Beetlejuice Lips" came on September 5, 2024, when TikToker Adrianna Kalisz (known as @_hello_adri) uploaded her own version set to "Say My Name" from Beetlejuice The Musical. In the video, Kalisz applies chartreuse green eye paint to her lips, scrunches them, dusts black eyeshadow into the creases, and smiles to reveal the striped pattern. She credited Reisinger in her caption. The timing lined up perfectly with the U.S. release of *Beetlejuice Beetlejuice* on September 6, and the video exploded, reaching over 42.8 million views and 4.9 million likes.

How It Spread

The challenge spread fast across BeautyTok. Creators like Sydner Purl, NikkieTutorials, and itisabelbedoyaa (who posted a tutorial on September 12, 2024, earning over 130,000 likes) jumped on the trend. But the real drama started when high-profile beauty influencers couldn't make it work.

On September 8, 2024, Jeffree Star posted his attempt. Instead of dramatic stripes, his lips just turned into a smudgy black mess. "Um, have we been duped? What the fuck," he said in the video, which pulled in over 25 million views. Commenters quickly identified the problem: lip filler. Star's injections had smoothed out the natural lip creases that the technique depends on. Star replied to the top comment explaining the issue with a simple "Hahaha facts".

That clip cracked the trend wide open. A London-based makeup artist posted a video saying, "My new guilty pleasure is watching beauty influencers with too much lip filler try Beetlejuice lips," which racked up nearly 9 million views. TikToker @sarcasm.generator made a viral response video addressing influencers who claimed the trick "doesn't work," and creator @natalieroseisuppose posted a side-by-side compilation of filler-having creators failing versus Kalisz's clean result.

Robbie Roe, a 28-year-old graphic designer and musician, posted a video that landed nearly 4 million views and over 430,000 likes, saying: "There's something kind of beautiful about there being a beauty trend that's only for people who don't have fillers". Beauty creator @jacattack commented on Star's video: "It's because [of] lip filler! I had mine dissolved and now all my lip wrinkles are back!"

The timing with Halloween supercharged the trend. Pinterest searches for Beetlejuice-inspired makeup and costumes surged over 300%, Google searches for "Beetlejuice outfits" spiked 809%, and "Beetlejuice makeup" jumped 488%.

How to Use This Meme

The Beetlejuice Lips technique is pretty straightforward, though results depend heavily on your natural lip texture:

1

Apply a bright matte lip gloss or liquid lipstick. Green and purple are the classic choices, but any vibrant color works as the base.

2

While the base is still slightly wet, scrunch your lips together as tightly as possible to create deep wrinkle lines.

3

With your lips still scrunched, lightly dust black eyeshadow or dark powder over the surface. A light touch is key.

4

Relax your lips and smile. The dark pigment should sit in the creases while the bright base color shows through, creating the signature striped or crackled look.

Cultural Impact

Beetlejuice Lips hit a nerve that went well beyond Halloween costumes. The trend became an accidental litmus test for lip filler, forcing a conversation about transparency in the beauty influencer industry.

Mashable's coverage framed the trend as a rare pushback against the normalization of cosmetic procedures on social media. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, minimally invasive procedures grew 7% in 2023, with over 25 million procedures performed. Dermal fillers alone grew 4%, reaching 3.2 million. The report noted that Botox had become so normalized that "patients mention it as casually as running an errand to the store or post office".

NBC News had previously uncovered in 2022 that influencers on TikTok were being offered cheap cosmetic procedures in exchange for promotion, creating what amounted to a plastic surgery feedback loop. Business of Fashion raised similar concerns about the "casualizing" of injectables, citing risks from unlicensed practitioners and counterfeit products.

Multiple aesthetics professionals weighed in on the trend. Dr. Jasmin Taher of Visage Clinic explained that overfilling stretches the lips and eliminates the natural lines, known as lip prints, that are "a unique and integral part of your anatomy, much like fingerprints". Dr. Vincent Wong from Vindoc Aesthetics offered a different angle, noting it was "interesting to see that lip creases, which are often deemed as an 'imperfection' by many, is now an acceptable beauty trend". Dr. Ahmed El Muntasar clarified that not everyone who fails the challenge has filler, as hydration levels and natural skin thickness also play a role.

The trend also connected to a growing wave of makeup looks that celebrate natural facial texture. In 2023, makeup artist Netta Székely dusted gold eyeshadow over a model's eye wrinkles (7.8 million views), and creator Mei Pang layered color over nose crinkles (nearly 16 million views). TikTok creator Buket Berçe Kobal extended the Beetlejuice look by adding a nose scrunch component.

Fun Facts

Luara Reisinger's original version used the name "zebra lips" (from the Portuguese "boca craquelada de zebra"), and the Beetlejuice rebranding only happened because Kalisz set her video to Beetlejuice musical music during the film's release window.

Jeffree Star's failed attempt actually helped the trend go more viral than the original video, with his 25 million views drawing attention back to Kalisz's clip.

Dr. Taher noted that people who've had filler can still achieve the look if they dissolve their current filler and opt for a more conservative approach that preserves natural lip lines.

The trend represented a rare inversion on BeautyTok, where a look was easier to achieve *without* cosmetic enhancement rather than with it.

Hydration affects results too. According to Dr. El Muntasar, you're more likely to get clean stripes when slightly dehydrated, since lip lines are more visible when hydration levels drop.

Derivatives & Variations

Nose Scrunch Component

— TikToker Buket Berçe Kobal expanded the lip technique to include nose crinkles, pushing the Beetlejuice look further up the face[1].

"Botox-Repellent" Eye Makeup

— Adrianna Kalisz reposted her own version of eye makeup using the same crease-highlighting principle around the eyes, doubling down on the anti-filler message[1].

Filler Fail Compilations

— Creator @natalieroseisuppose and others compiled side-by-side videos of influencers with filler failing the trend versus natural-lipped creators nailing it, turning the challenge into a spectator sport[4].

Tutorial Variations

— itisabelbedoyaa posted a step-by-step tutorial version on September 12, 2024, showing different color combinations and application methods[5].

Frequently Asked Questions