The new year started with a continuation of yet another K-beauty trend. Move over glass skin and honey skin—the new skincare trend out of Korea is called "cloud skin." This month also saw beauty and science come together in the real world through a beauty junkie professor, and a special-effects makeup artist took Instagram by storm.

Chemistry Class Makeup

So this one isn't technically an Instagram trend but, semantics aside, this rainbow chemistry lesson is worth sharing.  It got 30K likes, 5.4K shares, and 589 comments—not bad for a makeup-loving science professor. Debi Gale Mitchell,  a chemistry professor at University of Denver, used her rainbow eye makeup to support her lesson on spectroscopy (the study of how matter interacts with light and radiation. In "English," she chose her colors based on wavelength.) Colors are ordered by wavelength (λ). Longer λ was placed in the inner corner w/ λ decreasing (E ) towards outer corner.  This viral beauty trend gives a whole new meaning to science and beauty. 

Makeup Mask

There could be an argument that most of the trends that go viral on Instagram are not wearable, but we rarely see the art of special-effects makeup. British makeup artist Courteney Jackson posted the now-viral selfie of her peeling off what appears to be her real made-up skin on her Instagram. "At first, I actually didn't like the outcome of it, but posted it to see how people would react to it," Jackson told Allure. Well, react they did. The makeup mask selfie has since been liked almost 30,000 times, and the comments section quickly filled up. Jackson says she absolutely didn't expect the response she has received.

Weird and Wonderful

Taiwanese-born, NYC-based John Yuyi is one of Instagram's most innovative artists, melting social media and luxury fashion through her viral artwork. Known for her social-media inspired temporary tattoos, she revolutionizes the use of everyday items through surreal photography. Dive into the world of John Yuyi—you won't be sorry.

Cloudless Skin 

K-beauty is the gift that doesn't stop giving when it comes to Instagram trends. Sarah Lee and Christine Chang, co-founders of Korean beauty website Glow Recipe, explained to Byrdie the ultimate Korean skin compliment: “It’s when you hear ‘pibu mal ga boh yuh!’ which directly translates to ‘your skin is so cloudless!’” So, glass skin is about a translucent look, honey skin is all about moisture and a high sheen, but cloudless skin is more about the health of the skin rather than how it looks.