In this economy, dark circles are chic

In a classic “disappointed but not surprised” moment, dark circles are officially trending. On one hand, under-eye care has become beauty’s new luxury battleground. On the other, a new wave of women online are embracing their fatigue in what’s being dubbed The Tired Girl Face: hollowed cheeks, sunken eyes, dark under-eyes, pale skin and cool-toned lips (concealer lips might be making a comeback—brace yourselves). Much of the hype can be traced to Jenna Ortega’s gothic glam for Wednesday season two, which turned visible weariness into a kind of moodboard.

Who would’ve thought? The one thing we all tried to erase is now being pencilled back on—literally. People are hand-drawing eye bags, proof that irony has come full circle. Somewhere, the ghosts of 2016 makeup with its thick concealer and blinding highlighter are watching this unfold in disbelief.

While a part of me rejoices in relief that people are embracing their ‘flaws’, the other cannot wrap can’t quite process how easily beauty flirts with sickness. When tuberculosis was rampant, its symptoms, like pale skin and rosy cheeks, were aestheticised. Romantic in theory, tragic in practice. Today’s tired-girl aesthetic feels like the modern sequel: less coughing up blood, more coughing up emails.

Fatigue is the universal mood this year. Rather than concealing it, you wear it out proudly. Because the new “It” bags are under-eye bags. It is funny until you realise we built an entire wellness economy around avoiding the very exhaustion that’s now aestheticised. We bought planners to schedule our rest, magnesium to support our sleep and apps to measure it. Instead of resting, we tried to optimise it and now we’ve made the lack of it a beauty trend.