In the midst of all the chaos and terror that is happening in this world today, I just need to say: most of the time, I do not understand makeup challenges.

Makeup is my hobby. I spend entirely too much of my time looking at makeup products I could never dream of affording. I have the Sephora and Ulta store layouts for home and school memorized so I can be in and out in a given time. I will walk out of a store with at least one arm full of swatches, knowing the difference between Ruby Woo and Russian Red. I have Instagram post notifications set up on my phone for makeup news accounts. I keep up with the makeup addiction and I watch countless YouTube videos.

I was exposed to beauty guru videos through some of the YouTuber personalities I had been watching for years. Although the twinkly lights and the iMovie sound effects at first turned me off, the tutorials themselves were more than helpful. These videos were always entertaining and although my daytime smokey eye more often resembled a black eye, it provided a stepping stone on which to build my next attempt. They always provided inspiration. I always looked forward to the newest videos from my favorite bloggers and popular videos from smaller channels.

Then came the viral makeup challenge.

These have always been around, but I think it has been with the advent of Instagram that has brought the tide of these challenges to a wider audience. There just might be more challenges going around right now.

I am not entirely against the concept of the makeup challenge. I think these challenges encourage creativity and, in some rare cases, practicality. After all, these are all in the name of fun. However, just because you can do something doesn't necessarily mean you should do something. Also, these are called challenges.. so are there ever any winners or is everyone who participates a winner? How does that work?

The practical challenges include the $20 Makeup Challenge and the three and the five Minute Makeup Challenges. The $20 Makeup Challenge preaches the glories of how to achieve a full face of makeup by using only products from the drugstore that total together to $20. My wallet wishes I would do that challenge. The three and five-minute makeup challenges are pretty relatable because most people can relate to running late and only having about three to five minutes to put on their makeup before getting out the door.

The Boyfriend/Husband/Significant Other Does My Makeup challenge starts off my list of discussion. This one is just purely entertaining. Putting makeup in the hands in the hands of an individual who often has no idea to do with said item can lead to some interesting results. That is why these challenges are filmed and have gained so many views on YouTube.

The full face using only highlighters challenge is something I found utterly bizarre.

I have to admit I saw the original video and was stunned. The more I looked at it, the more I couldn't help but think Halloween costume. After all, the trend says that the brighter the highlight, the better. Highlight to the gods every day if that's what you do. I can't help but think of how much product is used and sold for daily wear but also to be used for these challenges if one does not have a highlighter collection. How much is hype to sell a product?

Hey but strobing is still on trend right?

The full face of liquid lipsticks challenge completely stumps me. Known for their long lasting staying power, liquid lipstick will minimally come off your lips, but dries extremely quickly (if you have the right formula). Not all lipstick is safe for use around the eyes and hypoallergenic. So why, in the name of fun, would you use liquid lipstick for an entire face of makeup?

Recently, the 100 layers of products such as liquid lipstick, foundation, nail polish, mascara, etc. challenge has gone viral. I just cannot get over the waste of product and the amount of time and effort spent to apply and remove said product. It makes for great entertainment value, but it hurts my soul thinking about how drying that liquid lipstick must be and how clogged their pores must be from the excessive layers of foundation.

So why are these so popular? Because they appear to be fun and well, they're popular. These challenges go viral and rake in views and traffic for brands, pages, and channels. Every few weeks, there's a new challenge and the excitement of the initial challenges wears off. It loses its appeal.

When it comes down to it, makeup challenges are fun to watch, but for me as a viewer who most of the time takes things entirely too seriously, these videos become less enjoyable when they become more absurd and borderline unsafe.