I joined the online beauty community last year (I had a short-lived YouTube account and did videos for almost a year). When I initially got involved, I found there were a lot of terms and acronyms that I was unfamiliar with. So, I decided to dedicate this blog posting to commonly used beauty terms and acronyms, to help other newbies out there!
Dupe - A term used in the beauty community to identify a lower end (or drugstore brand) product that is either very similar or exactly the same as a product in a higher end line - a 'duplicate', so to speak. The term dupe can also link back to it's other definition of 'to fool or trick'. For example, if you wear a dupe of a MAC lipgloss (a shade of Revlon gloss, for example) to make people think you are actually wearing a MAC gloss when you are not - you are duping people.
ELF - Eyes Lips Face - A cosmetics company
FOTD - Face Of The Day - A trend on makeup vlogs and blogs where the author takes a picture of their makeup that they wore that day.
Haul - A glorified shopping spree. The blogger or vlogger will list out and show all of the things that they purchased.
LE - Limited Edition - This term is used to describe products released with new collections produced by various cosmetic companies (both low end and high end). Usually, you can identify LE products by a special symbol on the packaging, or the letters LE somewhere on the packaging (typically on the label). Limited Edition products do not get added to a company's permanent line - they are around for a limited time only, and then they're gone!
MAC - Make-up Art Cosmetics - A Canadian born makeup company, formed in Toronto in 1984. They are 'high-end' and have dedicated stores, and counters in major department stores around the world.
Monthly Favorites - A blogger/vlogger's listing of most-used or favorite products from the month.
MUFE - Make Up For Ever - A high-end cosmetics company that retails at Sephora.
NARS - A high-end cosmetics company named after its founder, Francois Nars.
NYX - A cosmetics company, named after a Greek goddess of the night, called Nyx (pronounced Nicks). NYX products are available online, and also in drugstores.
OOTD - Outfit Of The Day - A trend on popular beauty and fashion blogs where the blogger takes a picture and describes the outfit they wore that day, or an outfit they bought that day.
Project Ten Pan - A short-lived trend on beauty blogs where-by the blogger/vlogger picks 10 products they will use up before purchasing any new ones. The idea is that you use up something before buying something new, to help save money.
Swatch - A color sample. Usually, a smear or smudge of the product on the back of your hand or inner arm to show the reader/viewer the product color when applied to skin.
Tutorial - A How-To video or blog entry dedicated to instructing the viewer/reader on how to re-create a makeup look, or complete a specific task. For example: tutorials on Lauren Conrad's makeup, or a tutorial on de-potting MAC eye shadows.
I know I have probably missed a few things, but I hope that this listing helps people out! If you can think of any other terms you would like defined, let me know.
Have a great week!
