In a digital world where beauty routines are polished, planned, and perfectly curated, Hope Bailey is bringing a breath of fresh, and much needed chaos, to our algorithms. The Manchester-based makeup and fashion content creator has carved out a niche style, known for her viral “GRWM on the go” videos where she applies makeup while walking the streets of her city. Yes, really. Full face. In motion, make up application.
Her bold approach hasn’t just turned heads, it’s built a loyal following on TikTok (@hope.bailey27) and Instagram (@hope.bailey), where her audience is obsessed with her creativity, relatability, and slightly wild but oh-so-fun energy. And it’s not just makeup anymore. More recently, she’s taken things a step further with her “hair on the go” series, which, at one point, involved her literally washing her hair mid-commute.
“I was so late to work one day that I had no choice but to do my makeup while walking,” Hope laughs. “Someone else caught it on video and posted their POV – it went viral with something like 10 million views! All the comments were like, ‘Who is this diva?’ So I did it again the next day, filmed it myself, and it just took off from there.”
Since that first accidental viral moment, she’s posted over 100 “get ready with me” videos on the go, each more creative than the last. But her love of beauty didn’t start on TikTok, it’s truly been a lifelong passion. Growing up in a house full of girls, she was always raiding her mum and older sister’s makeup bags, and spent hours watching YouTube tutorials, eventually filming her own videos on her mum’s iPad. “I even made fake braces and vlogged the whole thing,” she says. “It makes sense now that this is what I do.”
That sense of fun, freedom, and originality runs through everything she creates. Whether she’s doing eyeliner on a moving bus or showing off a heatless curling hack, her content always has a spark of something unique; “I love thinking outside the box,” she says. “It’s a challenge for me to keep coming up with fresh, crazy ideas. And I have to give a lot of credit to my mum, she’s a retired hairdresser and helps me come up with loads of my hair videos.”
But what means the most to Hope isn’t the numbers or the viral hits, it’s the community she’s built along the way. “It’s so heartwarming to read lovely comments and to have people come up to me in public. It’s a really surreal feeling when you realise it’s not just numbers on a screen – these are real people watching and supporting you.”
When asked what advice she’d give to aspiring creators or anyone looking to express themselves through beauty, Hope keeps it grounded: “Just be yourself. Follow what feels natural and express your personality in your own way. Everyone’s different and that’s what makes it beautiful. Coming up with your own identity is way more rewarding than trying to do what everyone else is doing.”
As for the beauty items she can’t live without? “Ooh, that’s tough!” she says. “Lip liner, because you can use it for everything – as blush, eyeliner and lips. Bronzer for that glow, and mascara to pull it all together.”
From fake braces on an iPad to bronzer on the bus, Hope Bailey is a force to be reckoned with. She’s not just creating content, she’s creating moments. Raw, real and ridiculously fun moments. And she’s proving one thing for sure, beauty doesn’t need to be created at a vanity table. Sometimes, it just needs a busy street, a good mirror, and a whole lot of imagination.
In an industry that never slows down, where trends move at lightning speed and originality can be hard to come by, Hope is a refreshing reminder that beauty is about expression, not perfection. Her content breaks the mould and shows that getting ready can be spontaneous, joyful, and entirely your own.
She’s not just riding the wave of change; she’s part of what’s making it. And with every eyeliner flick and heatless curl filmed in motion, she’s carving out a space for creators and beauty lovers who dare to do things a little differently.
