Strippers have become TikTok’s most unsuspecting beauty and wellness influencers
The rise of StripTok is gaining popularity and not for the reasons you may think. It is, in fact, the make-up and wellness regimes of strippers that are being lapped up by hardcore beauty fans. Dubbed ‘skrippers’ to get around the TikTok guidelines, #SkripperTok currently has 1.2 billion views and counting – many of which are wholesome GRWMs, What’s In My Bag, and Take My Makeup Off ASMR videos.
Baby powder hacks, cutting tampon strings, the importance of probiotics, the best long-lasting make-up products, non-transferable body oils… the list goes on. This is the encyclopaedia of girls’ best-kept beauty secrets all in one hashtag. Spanning from the UK and America to the likes of Copenhagen and Australia, strippers around the world have become the unsuspecting beauty influencer we never knew we needed. So much of women’s well-being is rarely spoken about on the app due to the rise of ‘Clean Girl’ aesthetics and the perfectly polished influencer. But this community of women is giving their advice and life experiences to the internet whilst remaining transparent about the unusual methods they have when it comes to health and beauty. Could #SkripperTok be the tell-all antidote to the elusive ‘Clean Girl’ look no one can really keep up with?
Finally, respect is being put on the names of the girls starting these trends. Tips include contouring with the opposite end of their brush, glueing glitter on with hair mousse, and applying liner over their fake lashes after the glue has dried. They have the best fake tan applicators and scrubbing methods, the shiniest highlighter palettes, and the niftiest primer and setting spray tricks to make your base stick all night.
But it isn’t just the tips that are making these videos so popular. The positives of this trend supersede a shared list of beauty hacks to ultimately humanise dancers in the sex worker industry. A stereotype has long been held against them, and by sitting in front of the camera and chatting through their GRWMs, many questions are being answered in an accessible way. One user, Lana, talks through her different stripper experiences as she does her make-up. She is studying science at university, much to the shock of commenters, and cleared up her job by saying “I’m a stripper. Some people do/ don’t classify that as a sw [sex worker], I do.” She also touches on her plans to be “something in the food industry! Probably a flavour food technologist,” as she applies her setting powder.
Others are verified, being sent PR packages from brands and boasting millions of likes and followers. They are spoofing trends of ballerinas breaking in their ballet pumps by breaking in their Pleasers for example, and even doing their own versions of ASMR videos by counting their money at the end of a shift. With the stereotypes around strippers being broken down by the likes of the film Hustlers, the rise of stars like Blac Chyna, and now TikTokers, it’s high time the beauty and wellness industry started recognising and utilising some of their best influencers.
