{"id":18272,"date":"2022-02-02T13:04:57","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T09:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/?post_type=articles&p=18272"},"modified":"2022-04-23T13:11:21","modified_gmt":"2022-04-23T09:11:21","slug":"beauty-asmr-psychology","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/beauty-asmr-psychology\/","title":{"rendered":"I Got A Feeling"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

PHOTOGRAPHY ALAINA WALLER<\/strong>
\nWORDS EMILY ALGAR<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"grazia<\/p>\n

They say it starts slowly. A tiny spark; a subtle warmth; a little zap of\u00a0electricity. Maybe even the unassuming glow of a soon-to explode\u00a0firework. And then it spreads \u2013 from the crown of the head to the\u00a0base of the skull, through the neck and all the way down the length\u00a0of the spine. The final feeling is one of gratitude, peace, fuzziness,\u00a0contentment or even euphoria. Some who experience it call it a brain\u00a0orgasm, others just a \u2018weird sensation that feels good\u2019.<\/p>\n

For years it existed as a niche, and sometimes taboo sub-section of\u00a0anonymous internet forums. But now Autonomous Sensory Meridian\u00a0Response (or ASMR) is recognised as a somewhat quantifiable\u00a0physiological response to certain auditory, tactile or visual triggers.<\/p>\n

The term itself was coined in 2010 by Jennifer Allen, who spent\u00a0years Googling her own experience with little to no avail. She\u00a0eventually found an internet post called \u201cWEIRD SENSATION\u00a0FEELS GOOD\u201d that struck a chord. Allen input her own\u00a0thoughts, and a group of equally-confused, albeit awkward\u00a0internet strangers rallied around her. Eventually, she created a\u00a0Facebook group and gave the \u201cweird sensation\u201d a name so that\u00a0people could discuss it without fear, embarrassment or ridicule.\u00a0Allen says she actually landed on a \u201cclinical\u201d sounding name\u00a0because she thought it would take away some of the stigma,\u00a0and enable people to discuss the topic without weird, unusual or\u00a0subverted connotations.<\/p>\n

\"grazia<\/p>\n

THE RELAXATION REVOLUTION<\/strong>
\nScholar, author and ASMR University website founder Dr. Craig\u00a0Richard tells GRAZIA that ASMR can be categorised as a physical\u00a0or psychological sensation \u2013 sometimes both \u2013 triggered by certain\u00a0stimuli. It\u2019s also very dependent on context. He explains that\u00a0there generally needs to be \u201ccalm, focused attention from a person\u00a0deemed as \u2018safe\u2019\u201d. The stimuli comes from their action, be it the\u00a0hushed tones of their voice, slow movements or tiny gestures like\u00a0tapping, sweeping, clicking and brushing.<\/p>\n

ASMR-led content initially planted roots in mainstream internet by\u00a0way of whisper channels, but has since burgeoned across every social\u00a0platform and content category. In 2015, Google reported that they\u00a0had seen 200 percent YoY growth in YouTube searches for ASMR\u00a0between 2014 and 2015. In 2019, Michelob Ultra Beer even leaned\u00a0on the phenomenon for a Super Bowl commercial featuring none\u00a0other than Zo\u00eb Kravitz, whispering softly on a mountainside as she\u00a0slowly poured a glass of organic beer.<\/p>\n

And today, a quick YouTube search serves up millions of results.\u00a0And it\u2019s not just meditative whispers or anonymous tapping \u2013 it\u2019s\u00a0Margot Robbie pouring a glass of Champagne; it\u2019s Gigi Hadid\u00a0slowly zippering a baby onesie; it\u2019s Paris Hilton shucking corn and\u00a0it\u2019s Cardi B stroking a furry cushion. It\u2019s ballooned way beyond that\u00a0initial nervous few \u2013 it\u2019s now a format everyone has tried their hand\u00a0at. ASMR is even one of the leading content pillars on TikTok.<\/p>\n

For influencer and creator Crystal Zeledon, who is known online\u00a0as CrysASMR, her journey into ASMR creation was born out of a\u00a0personal investment. \u201cI discovered ASMR myself back in 2015 and\u00a0I would watch it every night.\u201d She started sharing it on her socials,\u00a0but then when the pandemic picked up, the timing was ripe to lean\u00a0into it more heavily.<\/p>\n

As far as the creative process is concerned, Zeledon explains that it\u00a0depends on the content specifically, but mostly the process is fluid\u00a0and intuitive. \u201cI literally just grab my lights, microphone, camera and\u00a0I set up the background, I make sure I have the props needed, but\u00a0usually I don\u2019t script anything I say or the noises I make,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

And the reception tells her she\u2019s doing something right: \u201cMy\u00a0followers are really amazing… they share how my content helps\u00a0them get a handle on their stress levels. Honestly it just feels good\u00a0to help them while ASMR helps me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"grazia<\/p>\n

MIND-TINGLING BEAUTY FOR THE NEW INFLUENCER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another community ASMR has captured is beauty. On a\u00a0psychological level, Dr. Richard explains that most beauty content,\u00a0especially tutorials and how-tos, are primed to serve as the perfect\u00a0contextual environment for those ever-elusive brain tingles:\u00a0\u201cASMR beauty<\/a> content has the core attributes of most content that\u00a0stimulates ASMR: positive, personal attention from an expert who\u00a0is trying to help you. That person may be a YouTuber showing you\u00a0how to apply mascara, or Bob Ross showing you how to paint \u2013\u00a0both are kind people with expertise who are trying to help you out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not one to miss a beat, Fenty Beauty<\/a> shared an ASMR tutorial\u00a0featuring Amandla Stenberg back in December 2019 that has since\u00a0amassed 3.5 million views.<\/p>\n

It starts with Stenberg softly whispering into the microphone:\u00a0\u201cI will be giving you a Fenty Beauty tutorial that hopefully makes\u00a0you tiiiiingle…\u201d There\u2019s the sweeping of makeup brushes, the\u00a0clicking of stick highlighters, the soft snapping of palettes andgentle fluffing of brow combs. It\u2019s manufactured in the way that you\u00a0can almost audibly register every single individual pigment particle\u00a0moving across her eyelid. Sweep, swoosh, dust… Magic.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s mesmerising, it\u2019s meditative… and for some, it\u2019s quite literally\u00a0electric. There\u2019s also something intimate about it. Beauty content is\u00a0personal by nature: bathroom habits, trade secrets, imagery that\u2019s\u00a0zoomed-in, pores and all. Sometimes it\u2019s filtered, but often it\u2019s raw,\u00a0vulnerable and honest. So when you factor in the mind-melting\u00a0properties of soft whispers, brushes bristling and lipgloss gently\u00a0smacking \u2013 it\u2019s about as intimate as you can get.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this closeness that was tied to the initial perceived oddness\u00a0of ASMR \u2013 the fact it almost had a secretive, sexual aspect to it.\u00a0Is it kinky? Would you scramble for your phone if it accidentally\u00a0started playing on the train?<\/p>\n

But Dr. Richard, who looks at ASMR through a physiological and\u00a0analytical lens, explains that ASMR is no different to any other\u00a0form of recreation or relaxation: \u201cSexualised ASMR content is just a\u00a0sub-genre of ASMR, it is the combination of sexual visuals, sounds\u00a0and behaviours with non sexual ASMR triggers. The unfortunate\u00a0part is that some people see that content and assume that ASMR is\u00a0a sexual thing. That would be like seeing one sexualised yoga video\u00a0and assuming all yoga is about sex… when it\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n

But such is the power of the internet; what was once a little kooky\u00a0is now mainstream. Although like all trends, ASMR also has\u00a0the potential to be corrupted or twisted to serve hits, views and\u00a0clicks without any consideration for its therapeutic power. For\u00a0Dr. Richard this is a normal, and somewhat beneficial thing to an\u00a0extent: \u201cCelebrities often reflect back the popular culture of the\u00a0people, so it makes sense,\u201d Dr. Richards explains, while adding\u00a0that, \u201cmany celebrities find ASMR genuinely beneficial, so they\u00a0are just getting involved in a content movement that has helped\u00a0them in some way.\u201d<\/p>\n

IS ASMR A TREND BECAUSE WE ARE… LONELY?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So yes, for some ASMR is a bit of fun \u2013 a brain massage amongst\u00a0the chaos and doom-scrolling. But it also shows incredible promise\u00a0when it comes to relaxation and mental softness. Dr Richards has\u00a0even published MRI\u2019s obtained by Dartmouth University that\u00a0show changed activity in the brand when ASMR is triggered.\u00a0The medical imagery essentially shows that ASMR-focused\u00a0content can trigger both reward and emotional arousal responses.\u00a0The associated study actually likened it to \u201cpatterns previously\u00a0observed in musical frisson as well as affiliative behaviors.\u201d Is it a\u00a0new frontier in wellness? I guess we\u2019ll soon find out. Plus, Harry\u00a0Styles<\/a> on the Calm app can\u2019t be too far off.<\/p>\n

So we wonder then, are we tuning in for the product\u00a0recommendations, or is there something more to it? Many\u00a0experts and media outlets have chalked ASMR\u2019s popularity up\u00a0to loneliness \u2013 a desperate and innate longing for digital content\u00a0that feels nice… connected, even. Like something that\u2019s designed\u00a0for us, and only us.<\/p>\n

Of course for some, it\u2019s strange… even irritating. But that\u2019s the\u00a0thing with ASMR. Not everyone is lucky enough to experience the\u00a0weird sensation that feels good.<\/p>\n

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