While the ‘sad girl’ aesthetic has been around for a while – rendered popular by Tumblr a decade ago – it's now back on TikTok. On the platform, people are sharing tutorials on how to achieve the perfectly imperfect post-cry look using make-up – the ‘crying girl’ finished result includes eyes lined with silver glittery liner, rosy nose and cheeks, and puffy lips using lip liner and gloss. The trend started with a clip that has gained over 520,000 likes, in which content creator Zoe Kim Kenealy offers a tutorial "for the unstable girlies” to achieve a post-cry look even “if you’re not in the mood to cry.”

Aestheticizing female sadness can be problematic, as it not only perpetuates the well-known Hollywood trope of ‘pretty crying’, but also may to some extent trivialize mental illnesses by glamorizing sadness. While the ‘crying girl’ look isn't a depiction of grief, it comes at a time when people are increasingly seeking authenticity on social media and are sharing less curated content. With research from the CDC finding that 44% of American high school students persistently felt 'sad' or 'hopeless' in 2021, the trend may actually symbolize a wider movement of people seeking support, belonging, and a sense of community on social media rather than through the traditional healthcare system.