Cowboy copper hair, blueberry milk nails, villain make-up, toffee nut latte highlights – the web trend cycle is speeding up infinitely and if TikTok and the wonder press were your only sources of knowledge, you’d be forgiven for pondering that everybody was chopping and changing their look every two days. But how a lot of these online trends are reaching outside the digital world and onto the streets? How are people actually doing their make-up and hair after they exit? Photographer Rae Martins Ashton headed back to their hometown, Grimsby, to capture nightlife within the North East and the timeless going out beauty look. Here they describe their experience. 

Born in Grimsby within the early 2000s, I’ve lived in southeast England for the vast majority of my life, but I still find nostalgia within the small seaside town. After I head back there for this photo project, locals directed us to Rift Bar – a latest spot in Cleethorpes, supposedly home to the town’s younger generation. With a scarcity of larger club venues, the young people across the world depend on bars and pubs for nightlife culture, that are open as late as 6am across the strip. Lots of these venues, including Rift, are freely connected to one another through back alleys, proving that ID and bag checks are a thing of the south. 

Rift boasts a mixed crowd on the subject of the age of partygoers. While the bulk were young – many freshly 18 – there was also a variety of older people, perhaps drawn by the local DJ playing almost exclusively JLS and Chris Brown. Nevertheless, across the board, the gang were considerably more friendly and unserious than those I’ve captured within the coastal towns of the south. Between the assorted catfights, bouncer rows and belligerent drunks being thrown over the doorway railings by a full crew of venue security guards, the night was equal parts chaotic and entertaining.

When it got here to beauty, the looks, while toned down compared to those seen in big cities, tended to be probably the most done up I’ve found thus far. The complete coverage face beat may be very much in favour, while still being somewhat natural and lowkey. My favourite look of the evening, in fact, being my gorgeous little cousin who was too shy to be photographed! It appears that evidently the make-up looks, alongside wider trends including fashion, were typically a couple of years “behind” the southern region.

I’ll at all times have a large soft spot for northern England, particularly Grimsby town and Cleethorpes, and the cultures that surround it. In the long run, I can only hope to have the chance to further explore and profile the world: the birthplace of blokecore, the house of traditional British beauty, and the very best fish and chips you’ll find within the country.

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