Foundation, Mascara, Concealer: How Makeup Became the Internet’s Favorite Way to Explain Relationships
Relationships are hard to explain, but what if you could describe them in makeup language only? That’s exactly what Instagram user @gawdofmemess asked followers to do in a recent post: “Girls, tell me how your relationship is going, but in makeup terms so the boys don’t understand.” The responses were hilarious, painfully relatable, and unexpectedly deep.
This isn’t the first time the trend has gone viral. TikTok creator Ciara O’Connor posed the same question back in April 2024, and Reddit threads dating to last year also tried the challenge. But Instagram’s comment section this week might be the best version yet.
Makeup as the new love language
One user described her relationship like discovering a hidden gem at Sephora: “I have found a product line I never heard about before… all I can say is keep trying new things, ladies!! Those legacy products stand on years of manufacturing experience. I’ve never been so pleased.”
Others were brutally honest. One said: “Upgraded after 15 years and now realise I was covered in shite.” Meanwhile, another compared hers to splurging on glam that doesn’t feel like you: “I got my makeup done for an event, and it was expensive. Everyone is telling me it looks amazing, but I feel uncomfortable and don’t recognize myself. The event started 6 years ago.”
The metaphor works because makeup routines are as personal as relationships. Both can be messy, long-lasting, or even expired.
When foundation turns into relationship goals
According to Instagram comments, foundation analogies came up again and again.
One user kept it sweet: “I just found the perfect foundation shade, I am buying it soon.” Another revealed a struggle: “I’m yet to find a foundation that matches my color. I am done using cheap foundation that doesn’t match.”
However, one user summed up heartbreak in one sentence: “The base set to fast and now isn’t blending.”
Reddit user ItzBreezeyBaby once compared a toxic relationship to expired foundation: “The random palette started giving me a rash, but I couldn’t find my favorite palette, so I kept using it.”
These stories hit because makeup terms like “shade match” and “coverage” translate easily into how relationships succeed, or fail.
Mascara, concealer, and the metaphors that stick
Some took the playful challenge further, attaching their love lives to mascara and concealer.
One described long-term loyalty: “My concealer; I was unsure about it at first, & left it alone… I tried others, but that ONE concealer just kept making itself present, and got better every time… 12 years later… my concealer just comes through for me and it’s ALL I NEED.”
But mascara fans leaned into chaos. A user admitted: “I kept wearing all those cheap mascara brands that made my eyelashes all glued down together… I just recently tried out, just for fun, a high-end mascara brand, and my eyes now sparkle so good that I don’t even know what I’ve been wearing for all those years.”
Even Reddit got poetic about mascara heartbreak: “Wore a new mascara for the first time… it made my eyes tear up a lot, I had to stop using it… until one day unexpectedly it dried out and there was no more product.”
The honesty wrapped in makeup metaphors is exactly why these threads feel so addictive.
