What on earth is a beat face? We reveal the meaning

You know you’re getting old when you have to google the definition of a slang term. To keep you ahead of the game (and decipher what your teenage kids are on about), we thought we’d share one we’ve been hearing a lot of lately in the beauty world: ‘beat face’.
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Urban Dictionary defines the term as:
“When the make up applied to a person's face is so powerful and amazing that it makes them look truly stunning. 'Beat' can also be used to describe any variety of things, not just one's face. The term is popular among makeup enthusiasts and the gay community.”
So even though it sounds more like your face should look beaten, battered and bruised, it’s actually quite the opposite
According to makeup artist Tatiana Ward, the term has been around since the 70's.
“It’s a term that became popular in drag culture, and I really don’t know why people would say that a face was ‘beat,’ but that phrase has been around for a long time.”
There you have it - the next time your makeup is looking #flawless, you’ve got yourself a ‘beat face’!
Had you heard the term ‘beat face’ before? What slang terms have you had to google?
51 Member Comments
I did a Google search to find out what "full beat" means after hearing a makeup YouTuber use the term, and this article appeared. I often find myself searching the Internet to find out what all the slang terms mean.
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Never heard of it lol
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Never liked that saying
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Beat face? sounds more like the look of someone who just got punched in the face
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Very interesting article. Love reading things like these. Beauty heaven has some really great informative articles. looks sick
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Never heard of this - sounds like a rap/hip hop term!!!
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Well I must say i have never heard of the term before now.
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Well one is forever learning aren't we.
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I've never heard of this term before and in my opinion, it sounds rather ridiculous.
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Always something new
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OMG, y'all really need to watch some RuPaul Drag Race. Seriously. WERK!
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Thats my lesson for the day!
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I haven't heard of that term before but it sounded like it implied something abusive :S
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I have never heard of this term before
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I never heard for this slang before.
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Thank goodness that you keep us in the loop, BH.
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No idea of most modern usage these days.
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Sounds deadly! (Urban Dictionary is on my favourites bar)
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I hadn't really heard of this term before either.
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Nope, never heard of this one!
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I think I'm now officially old :p
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Interesting but I wouldn't use it
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It's a new one for me!
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I haven't heard of the term 'beat face'. Its sounds quite trendy. I know about beat face though and will definitely be bringing it up in conversation. I like to know what these terms mean its interesting.
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I've heard it on Ru Paul's show but didn't really know what it meant. The last word I looked up on Urban Dictionary was THOT lol
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