Latte makeup is summer’s upgrade to Vanilla girl beauty

In case you’re wondering what’s making waves in the beautysphere over on TikTok, there’s a new up-and-comer rising to steal the spotlight. “Latte makeup” or “latte girl makeup” is taking over from where the Vanilla girl left off.

For the uninitiated, the vanilla girl aesthetic was all about luxe, cosy minimalism, centred around airy, neutral colours like white, beige, cream and vanilla. And while it mainly applied to outfits (think: linen shirts, soft bed shorts and cashmere cardigans), the latte girl is bringing bronzy, beachy vibes to your makeup with monochrome caramel, tan, buff and amber shades applied across eyes, cheeks and lips – and you’re outfits, too, if you want to co-ordinate.

Already, #lattemakeup has picked up over 9 million views on TikTok, thanks to creator, Rachel Rigler bringing it to everyone’s attention. “We’re gonna call this ‘latte makeup,’” she said in a video sharing bronzy beauty inspo, that’s picked up over 2 million views since she posted it last week.

“It’s warm and bronzy, milky and effortless,” she summarised, before sharing a top tip to making the whole thing look more natural. Use minimal coverage, she advised. “We’re gonna avoid the nose because I have some freckles on my nose. When you avoid makeup on your nose it gives off the illusion that you’re not wearing as much makeup as you are,” she said.

As for how to recreate the looks referenced in the video, Tanielle Jai, the makeup artist behind a lot of the inspo pics, tapped in to share her expertise. “Hello, I’m Tanielle Jai, I created these makeup looks,” she said in a video posted to her TikTok and Instagram. “They are ‘latte looks’ i.e bronze goddess, summer smoky kind of vibes. So let me tell you how I do these looks,” she said.

She offered a bit of context: “these were mostly for a brand called Cendre, a jewellery brand, and we’re all about those bronze, warm, caramel tones. That’s the key: caramel,” Tanielle explained.