As we end the month of December, we find ourselves in joy and celebration for the holidays, finishing Fall quarter, ending the nightmare of a year that was 2020, and of course, our Spotify Wrapped! What better way to wrap up the year than looking back at your favorite songs that reflect different parts of who you were and bring up certain memories- good or bad. Instead of posting the simple screenshot on Twitter, I thought it’d be much more fun to create art based on some of my favorite art by doing makeup looks inspired by my Spotify Wrapped! So here are my top songs and artists of the year inspiring five makeup looks:
- Taylor Swift: #1 Top Artist, #2 & #3 Top Songs “exile” and “cardigan”
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I generally decided to base the look off of Taylor Swift’s latest (well, not anymore since she suddenly released “evermore”) masterpiece “folklore,” an album that takes us through tales that are somber, tragic, blissful or a combination of all three. Thus, I wanted to reflect the gloominess with a cloudy, dark sky seen through the lenses of my glasses, signifying the various perspectives we are given into her characters’ lives and their vulnerability as we listen. Since there are still glimmers of happiness in “invisible string,” “mirrorball,” “peace,” and others on the album, I lined the tops of my eyebrows with gold leaves as well, which ties in perfectly with the woodsy album cover. “folklore” has been as comforting as my favorite cardigan in my lonely summer to this cold winter, and easily became one of my all-time favorite albums.
- Hippo Campus: #4 Top Artist, #1 Top Song “Way It Goes”
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Hippo Campus is the artist I gravitate to in hard times, especially in the spring and summer when I don’t want to listen to extremely depressing music, but I still want the sadness to be acknowledged alongside melodies that feel like warm, bright, hopeful sunshine. Thus, I wanted my lid space to show a bright orangey-yellow sun, with rays of blue glitter falling down my eyes like the tears shed when I listen. Since much of their music signifies growth and healing to me, “Lord knows you’re trying” in “Way it Goes”, “searching for meaning” in “Vines,” “She’ll be fine on her own” in “Buttercup,” I put blue flowers growing from the glitter rays and sun. Listening to Hippo Campus just makes me feel like everything is going to be ok with the understanding that life sucks sometimes, making this look my more complex and favorite one to play around with.
- Aminé: #2 Top Artist
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Basing a look around Aminé’s music was difficult, as I was at a loss on how to incorporate him. Though, I knew I wanted to because he has been an artist I’ve admired for years for his creativity in his music and directing of his videos. I believe the reason I had trouble with this was because he is so authentically and uniquely himself, exuding confidence in his fashion and songs like “Shimmy” and “Yellow,” while simultaneously revealing his struggles and insecurities (namely in his track ones, “Veggies,” “DR. WHOEVER,” and “Burden”). I then realized the best way to go about creating a look around him was to be myself as boldly and confidently as he is; I feel most myself with a nearly bare face (just Glossier skin tint, concealer, and blush) and a bright graphic liner look, where I tied in colors of green like the tennis ball on “Limbo” and pink from the “Compensating” music video. If there is one thing I’ve learned from Aminé, it’s that standing out requires boldness and the ability to be yourself (not to be corny)!
- Conan Gray: #4 Top Song “Maniac”
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This was the song I was genuinely surprised to see on my Spotify Wrapped, as it isn’t one of my favorite songs nor did I think I played it that much, but I will admit it is an aggressively catchy pop song I love singing along to. It gives me naive high school vibes because I just associate the toxic relationships and childish gossip described in the songs with that demographic. I channeled this naivety, “young love,” and pop fun with the glitter freckles (which weren’t caught on picture that well), bright pink blush and the funky flower-like graphic liner. The shape of the liner was also partially inspired by makeup artist Donni Davy’s Euphoria looks, THE show of toxic high school relationships. The neon green color scheme was chosen because, in my head, “maniac” (the word) is associated with excessively bright colors; it just feels unhinged compared to muted tones. I would say I’m embarrassed this made my top songs, but like I said, Conan Gray makes some catchy tunes!
- Kali Uchis: #5 Top Artist
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When I want to feel like the hottest human being that has ever walked planet earth, I listen to Kali Uchis. Her voice, lyrics and sound are incredibly seductive (“Call Me” and “Rush”), but have the recurring statement that you don’t need a man to have that confidence in yourself (“Ridin’ Round” and “After the Storm”). I wanted my look to be sharp and cat-like with the burgundy shadow liner. Though I love her bubblegum pink “Por Vida” album, I thought the reddish tones like in the “Isolation” album cover were more fitting for the sultry vibe I was going for. My look also needed to be glam and make me feel like a million bucks the same way her music does, so I stuck some rhinestones all over my face to feel like an absolute gem. For the lips, I went for one of Kali Uchis’s common looks with a dark liner and a lighter gloss. If looks could kill, this would be it!
While this was a fun way to share my Spotify Wrapped, a huge reason why I wanted to do this was to spark my creativity for makeup again. I will also share my favorite makeup looks on @mariahhh_the_muaaa on Instagram! Even if you’re not the best artist (makeup or otherwise), I highly encourage you make some art based on your Spotify wrapped or otherwise. Let yourself create and remember that there is potential for inspiration everywhere you look.