The fascination with UFOs and aliens has been on the rise in recent times, and it’s not just the Pentagon that’s obsessed with it. With the US military shooting down the UFO and the Pentagon teaming up with a Harvard expert to publicly state that an alien mothership could be out there watching us, aliens have become a significant part of the zeitgeist this year. In fact, at the upcoming Revolve festival during Coachella’s first weekend, influencers will have the chance to pose with a fifteen-foot submerged UFO, according to the event’s press release.
As alien fascination sees a resurgence in pop culture, it has also made its way into the beauty world through literal motifs and alien makeup aesthetics, as well as general space references. Kitschy green cartoon aliens are the latest symbol of the year 2000 to find a range of beauty products, from nail decals to face masks. Anne Moyer, the store manager of PaintLab, notes that “the little aliens on our nails look very similar to what me and my friends had on our binders and t-shirts in the early 2000s. With the Y2K references, there’s a certain nostalgia at play.”
Orly’s Y2K era-inspired Lisa Frank collection, featuring Zoomer and Zorbit, Lisa Frank’s alien characters, has been a best seller. Tal Pink, VP of business development at Orly, notes that “there is enduring ’90s nostalgia, and the ’90s were about aliens, conspiracies and ‘The X-Files.”
Aliens have also entered the skin care world, with K-beauty brand The Cream Shop’s green alien collection. It includes a comical alien sheet mask, acne patches in alien faces and UFO designs, a compact mirror, and a sleeping mask.
The beauty world has embraced a broader “aliencore” aesthetic that evokes a combination of 21st century futuristic sci-fi looks, shiny colors, and avant-garde design. For example, Mugler’s cult early aughts Alien fragrance is seeing an upswing thanks to both PerfumeTok and its campaign featuring Willow Smith as an “alien goddess” in a glittering fashion and beauty look.
The “Aliencore” trend has been popular across a range of beauty categories, including makeup, nails, and even skin care via brands that promise “baby foreign skin”. The trend of “alien nails” has been driven by celebrity nail artists, such as Tom Bachik, who coined the term when he described the futuristic nail look he did on Anne Hathaway in March.
Alien obsession is becoming more than just a random trend, and marketers see it as a way to cope with uncertain times. According to Rachaelle Villa, The Crème Shop’s digital marketing director, “We see a renewed interest in alien motifs when things in our current world feel uncertain. We tend to want to think about other worlds, be more experimental with our beauty and fashion, and lean towards color and playful looks during difficult or uncertain times.”
In conclusion, the resurgence of fascination with aliens and UFOs has taken the beauty industry by storm, with green cartoon aliens and alien motifs becoming the latest symbol of the year 2000. The broader “aliencore” aesthetic has grown in popularity among Gen-Z and Millennials with brands promising “baby foreign skin” becoming highly sought after. Aliens represent a trend that is more than just a random trend. It serves as a way for people to cope with difficult and uncertain times by thinking about a world beyond ours. With that said, it is clear that the fascination with aliens and UFOs is not something that will be going away anytime soon.
