The trend of putting glitter on body parts has reached a dangerous apex. The trend has reached all possible places outside the body, and then it went internally—on the tongue. But the glitter tongue trend isn’t healthy, and shows to what extent people are taking to be risqué fashionable.
The problem with glitter is that it isn’t edible. It’s made of plastic. The body can’t break that down properly. It can cause gastrointestinal problems, and glitter is full of bacteria. It also gets caught in the teeth, and can be abrasive, as Daily Mail reported.
“Eating small amounts of glitter, which are made of tiny plastic pieces, every once in a while isn’t harmful, but there’s always risks with anything. In this case, a stomachache,” Andrea Whittle, a makeup artist at KARMA Salon, tells Bustle.
But the look is popular at festivals. It started by accident, from an Australian makeup artist who accidentally got glitter on her tongue, and shared the look with her Instagram followers. She was attempting to make glitter lips, but shifted to the tongue as the glittery center of attention. “I got glitter on my tongue, so I thought I would embrace it and make it the main focus!!” said Jacinta Vukovic via the infamous Instagram post. Her Instagram page is full of incredible glossy lip looks. She also posts special effects makeup and hairstyle creations.
“It’s pretty but i can’t imagine that it’s safe,” commented Instagram user wickedlydia. That seems to be a consensus on why this trend couldn’t last without some essential changes.
Dr. Adam Simon, chief medical officer at Push Doctor, recommends edible glitter, a recent product of food-based ingredients, according to Daily Mail. Even cake decoration glitter is a recommended substitute. Allure magazine also recommends an environmental friendly glitter, so if you use real glitter and it goes back into nature, it won’t be a danger to the environment.
“In my personal opinion, this trend will be around as long as it takes to digest glitter,” predicted Whittle.
Although Vukovic is credited with the trend, according fashion magazines, Instagram holds photos dated as far back as 2013 under the #glittertongue hashtag. Vukovic’s Aug. 15 post has quite some predecessors. It seems the fashion trend took years to finally catch on, and Vukovic may have served as the final catalyst.