5 TikTok Trends Tested

I, like many my age, downloaded TikTok during quarantine as a joke. I wanted to see what was up with this new version of Vine and get a first-hand look at the corniness of the app. Little did I know I was soon going to find myself spending hours scrolling through this app enthralled by the various hacks, makeup tutorials, clothing recommendations, and funny videos.

As my obsession with TikTok grew, I found myself taking what I was watching and applying it to my everyday life. If TikTok told me to blend my instant coffee to make a whipped coffee beverage, I was going to try it. Fast forward through almost three months of quarantine and here we are. Here are three food, and two beauty TikTok trends I tried so you don’t have to!

1. Cauliflower buffalo wings

This vegan dish caught my attention immediately as I have recently become enthralled by vegan cooking. This take on buffalo chicken nuggets is actually really good but you have to alter the recipe a bit. Overall I would give it a 9/10 though.

So, I began by using a Tasty recipe and then added and changed a few things. Here’s what I came up with:

Ingredients

¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¾ cup milk
1/2 head cauliflower
¼ cup buffalo sauce or hot sauce
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon honey
Siete grain-free tortilla chips (crushed)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450˚F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, add the flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and milk, and stir until well-combined.
Place Siete grain-free tortilla chips in a ZipLock bag and gently hit them to break them into smaller pieces. This is going to be the “breading.” Once completely crushed, transfer to a bowl.
Break the head of cauliflower into florets and add the cauliflower florets to the batter.
Once coated, dip the piece of cauliflower in the crushed tortilla chips.
Arrange the cauliflower on the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, flipping them halfway.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the buffalo sauce, coconut oil, and honey and stir until evenly combined.
Brush the buffalo sauce mixture on the cauliflower and bake for another 20 minutes. Enjoy!

2. 3 ingredient healthy cookies

These three-ingredient cookies are yet another healthy, vegan-friendly recipe that I found on TikTok. I would rate these a 10/10 but you just have to be watchful when they’re in the oven as they burn easily. All you need for this recipe is a banana, oats, and chocolate chips. Begin by preheating your oven to 350˚F. Then mash one large banana in a bowl, add half a cup of rolled oats, and as many chocolate chips as you want. Mix the ingredients and then divide and spoon out small portions for each cookie. Bake for around 10 minutes, take them out to cool, and enjoy!

3. Cauliflower gnocchi

The last TikTok food trend that I tried was the cauliflower gnocchi. These vegan gnocchi alternatives are sold at Trader Joes and honestly, I would give them a 5/10. I tried making them two different ways and I wasn’t extremely impressed either time.

My first go at it, I used the gnocchi as intended, in a pasta-like dish. I served them in a Creamy Tomato Basil Sauce with chicken and a garnish of basil. The issue was that the gnocchi got mushy really quickly and it didn’t feel like I was eating gnocchi. It wasn’t bad by any means, just the texture was not my favorite.

My second attempt was even worse though. I had seen a recipe on TikTok that made the cauliflower gnocchi into a dessert, so of course, I had to try it with the remaining gnocchi. For this recipe, you cook the gnocchi in a buttered pan, mix cinnamon and sugar and add it to the pan, and then create an icing using almond milk and powdered sugar. This sounds really good in theory, but the gnocchi had too prominent of a cauliflower flavor for me to enjoy it. The texture was fine, it felt like a dough, but the flavor was just off. The only way I found it enjoyable to eat was drowned in the frosting. Yes, once absolutely covered in frosting it tasted good, but that’s a lot more sugar than I’d like to be consuming for a supposedly healthy dessert alternative. Overall, this TikTok trend was a dud for me.

4. Moisturize, powder, setting spray, prime, makeup

Next up, I tried a beauty-related TikTok trend. This one intrigued me because it claimed that it would leave me with flawless skin if followed five specific steps when applying my makeup. In order to achieve this poreless skin look, I had to first moisturize, then powder, spray on some setting spray and let it completely dry, then apply primer and then finally use foundation or concealer.

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I would give this trend an 8/10 because yes it worked for me but I can tell it would not work for someone like my sister who has really dry skin. When you add the powder on top of the moisturizer it really mattifies the skin and removes all moisture. This aspect is great during the summer and for those with normal to oily skin, but for individuals with dry skin, this can really emphasize dry patches or texture. Regarding the claim that you will have poreless skin, I would say that it’s true. The only thing I would warn others about is that you just have to be careful with the application of the powder. Too much and you will be looking cakey, not enough and you won’t get the sought out results. Overall, a decent trend to try out though.

5. Faux freckles

The last trend I tried was faux freckles. Now there were many ways I could’ve gone about these but I chose to try out a product by Freck Beauty. Overall I would say I’d rate this trend a 6/10 because yes it’s cute and it works, but in my opinion, it was too tedious of a process to be worth it.

The product I tried from Freck Beauty was called Freck OG. I had seen this product before and thought it was interesting but I finally broke down and bought it when I saw the fake freckle trend continue. I would describe this product as a miniature liquid eyeliner in a brown shade. Honestly, the amount of product you are given is very small but I suppose you wouldn’t be wearing faux freckles every day so it should last you a good amount of time. To use this product all you need to do is lightly dot the applicator onto your face in clusters. I recommend using a beauty blender to further blend out the product so as to create a more natural look. Overall, not a bad product, just this TikTok trend was not meant for me.