Can you give yourself a temporary facelift with tape and elastic?

The hack
Beauty enthusiasts – and supermodel Bella Hadid – are reportedly using face tape and elastic to temporarily tighten their skin.

The promise
This old Hollywood hack has made a comeback, and several companies now sell ready-made tape-and-elastic kits. But is it a toxic TikTok trend too far?

The test
Not only does this trend perpetuate unrealistic ideals, it also culturally appropriates Asian features, which has become an unwelcome trend in cosmetic surgery. Still, I’m curious to know why it’s popular, so here goes. One method uses specific face tapes on an elastic band hidden in your hair and gives ultra-dramatic effects (as seen on TikTok). Lifted? Undoubtedly. But I also look like an entirely different ethnicity. The other (more old-school) way is to lift the face with beauty tape applied in the hairline near the eyes. Once my hair is around my face, the tape isn’t visible, and gives the “snatched” effect that Bella Hadid reportedly favours.

The verdict
A hard no. It’s super uncomfortable. And each time I let my face return to its usual resting position, it felt lacking in a way I didn’t feel before. It’s similar to the way we feel seeing filtered images of ourselves. Frankly, this is the kind of hack that women, in particular, could do without.