2021 was a weird year for beauty. Like, really bloody weird.
Half of it was spent giving our skin way too much love (five face masks a day because NO RULES) while we were working from home, while the other half brought the return of in-person red carpets and awards ceremonies, as well as a renewed desire to do ALL the fun stuff with our hair our makeup.
Watch: Remember when we went back to our offices? And left our dogs at home? No, they weren't okay! Post continues below.
In between all this, there were of course 29,402 celebrity beauty brand launches, some questionable skincare tutorials, 90s hair made a comeback, and we were blessed with a whole lot of dramatic hair colour transformations from every A-lister, ever.
ANYWAY, the point is that a lot of stuff happened in 2021, so we're going to look back at seven of the most ~memorable~ beauty moments of the year.
Gwyneth Paltrow using sunscreen as a highlighter...
Remember that time Gwynnie gave us all some extremely unhinged and 100 per cent dangerous advice in her Vogue beauty tutorial? Remember?
In case you have subconsciously removed it from your brain, the Goop guru basically shared her $900 'less is more' skincare routine with us - including the bit where she uses sunscreen as... highlighter.
In the clip, she dabbed it sparingly only on her nose and cheekbones, explaining how she's not too much of a head-to-toe SPF kinda gal, and she just likes to place it "where the sun really hits".
It was really fkn dumb. Like, super incorrect. And people were MAD. Especially dermatologists.
There's was also some good ol' fashion greenwashing thrown in there, too.
Want to take yourself back to some of the glorious clap backs? Have a look here.
JLo gaslighting us into believing her skincare secret was olive oil...
Earlier this year Jennifer Lopez launched JLo Beauty™ and tried to make us believe her skin looks the way it does (flawless) because of olive oil and positive affirmations. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Approximately no one believed her, but goodness she tried.
In an interview with The Daily Mail, she said: "I haven't ever had Botox to this day... I'm not that person. I don't have anything against people doing that; it's just not my thing. I'm more about a natural approach to skincare… but I want [my products] to work," she said.
Then there was this response to a comment that suggested she uses cosmetic injectables: "Sorry baby no I haven't ever used [Botox and fillers]. This is what I use I hope you enjoy. Also a joyful heart helps."
A... joyful heart.
Instead of invasive procedures, Lopez said olive oil was, "a secret I’ve used over the years because it really does work."
The whole thing was just really awkward and riddled with dismissiveness and superiority.
Because ageing gracefully isn't embarrassing - but neither are cosmetic procedures. And, olive oil doesn't do s**t.
Everyone on TikTok using lube as a primer.
This was a thing! And I tried it! And it was weird!
For a moment there was a LOT of lube on a lot of faces and no one knew why but we were DOING IT ANYWAY.
The hack basically involved people on TikTok replacing their usual (read: professional) primers with a bottle of lubricant - specifically Durex Play 2-in-1.
While her initial impressions were pretty positive (some of the boxes contained full-sized beauty products, like Le Vernis Nail Lacquer, Rouge Allure lipstick and Chanel N°5 Eau de Hand Cream), as her review continues it just gets more and more bizarre.
For example, as she opens box number nine, she finds a pack of stickers, while box number eight contains a small jewellery-sized dust bag with nothing inside.
Other noteworthy items included a black string bracelet with a plastic 'wax' seal branded with 'CC', a flipbook, and... temporary tattoos.
Instagram's unofficial fashion and beauty watchdog Diet Prada actually discovered that some of the items can be found on eBay, and appear to have been old "gift with purchase" freebies.
The unboxing clip went viral, with more than 41 million views - and judging by the comments, many people were just as angry at the low-budget items being sold for $1,140.
In a follow-up video, Harmon confirmed that CHANEL blocked her before the brand went on to delete its Instagram account.
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What were some of your favourite beauty moments from 2021? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.
Feature image: @gwynethpaltrow @jlo
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