By Helena Madonna

In an industry oversaturated with copy-and-paste aesthetics, these pop star divas refuse to be duped. The most iconic stars understand that beauty is how you introduce yourself to the world, before you ever say a word. Through dazzling displays of maximalism, they've become modern-day philosophers of glam.

While mainstream beauty aims to soothe and smooth, these icons exist to disrupt, exaggerate and detonate societal beauty standards. They leave a mark, and a lingering question: what's their secret? The answer lies beyond a single beauty step or product.

It's not just Doechii's intentionally exposed face tape or FKA Twigs' regal skullet. It's Ashnikko’s embrace of the unhinged, Doja Cat's ability to make absurdity beautiful, Rina Sawayama's commitment to glam and Rico Nasty's refusal to tone it down.

Together they remind us that beauty isn't about fitting in – it's about standing out, on your own terms.

READ MORE: Year of the Pop Star

Every stylistic move Doechii makes is deliberate – charged with force, intention and an unshakable boldness. That's why we, and the world, can't stop watching: we never know what version of her our feeds will be blessed with next. Her aesthetic flickers like a mood ring, each look more extreme and intricate than the last.

The lessons we can learn from Doechii are endless, especially for lovers of maximalism. But if there's one takeaway, it is to switch it up often and be loud about it.

Her beauty is a moving target, at times landing on femme, other times androgynous, surreal or street. Like tools of energy, her looks channel power, sex, weirdness or softness, depending on her mood that day. Doechii's looks prove that contradiction breeds beauty. So clash intentionally!

Ashnikko doesn't just break the beauty mold – she chews it up with a wide-open grin and spits it out in battery-acid blue. In an eye-catching display of sharp contrast play, Ashnikko's aesthetic is fetish meets folklore: cyber fairy meets orc princess.

She isn't concerned about being digestible, she's focused on being unforgettable. She's like a Sims character that's glitched its way into reality, swinging a war hammer in a mini skirt.

Ashnikko's beauty choices layer like armour. Beneath the latex, chains, manga silhouettes and Sonny Angel trinkets is a core commitment to challenging the soft, polished norms of femininity. She embraces the notion that beauty doesn't always have to be pretty, and so should you.

With powder blue Hime bangs and neon graphic liner, her looks are often chaotic, aggressive, often a little alien. Follow in her stomper boot footsteps and treat beauty as your alter-ego generator – and your makeup bag as a fantasy toolbox.

No one has made the 'skullet' look more elegant than FKA Twigs. For a cut designed as the anti-glam version of a mullet, she transforms it into something regal, otherworldly and Met Gala worthy. But this hypnotic hallucination of beauty is just a regular Monday for the musician, who relishes in blurring the lines of femininity with doll-like delicacy and android precision.

Like a fallen angel from cyberpunk heaven, FKA Twigs' aesthetic knows how to flaunt, haunt and seduce. Though loud, her looks come to life through tiny detail – fine layered chains, intricately placed rhinestones and gold foil – all designed to pull you closer.

With wispy lashes, porcelain finishes and uncanny lenses, every appearance invites a double take. FKA Twigs doesn't just craft visuals; she creates rituals.

Doja Cat is beauty's most lethal experimentalist. She's not a trend follower, but a trend detonator, treating every aesthetic as something to terrorise and twist. One day she's bald and adorned in Swarovski crystals head-to-toe; the next she's walking the red carpet in a sheer gown flaunting finely illustrated faux tattoos.

Doja has a kink for discomfort play. For her, brows exist to be bleached, drawn on or removed altogether. No lipstick is too dark or too bold and no nail extensions are too long or too sharp. In Doja's rulebook, absurdity is beautiful.

Her beauty choices dare to ask, 'why?', then answer, 'why not?'. She teaches us that a look can be a mirror, a punchline, a threat… or all three. In the world of glam, she's an icon of satire.

There's something beautifully robotic, post-human even, about Rina Sawayama. Each look feels cinematic and high-concept, as if crafted by a cyborg with emotions and impeccable taste.

For Rina, style isn't just something you wear; it's something meticulously engineered. Martial art silhouettes, horn-like hair structures and nails like figurines populate the world she has created, merging dystopian glam with Y2K nostalgia.

Her glam is never messy, every step is perfectly curated: sculpted cheeks enhanced by precisely cut bangs paired with long lassoos made from braided extensions. In true Final Fantasy villain form, Rina reminds us that beauty doesn't have to be passive.

Her walk-in closet of aesthetics draws from J-Pop, drag, sci-fi and vintage Versace – but no matter what she puts on that day, she embodies a beauty that refuses to shrink and uses glam like a declaration.

Rico Nasty isn't here to comfort you – her style comes at you fast, don't flinch. Her aesthetic is femininity with teeth; a splash of ice water that jolts you awake. Every choice she makes is a middle finger to softness and subtly. With rhinestone grills, spiked lashes and blood-spattered smoky eyes, she dares admirers to stare and submit to her rage-fuelled glam.

What can we learn from this Mad Max Bratz Doll? Never tone it down. In fact, turn it all the way up then add studs, claw nails and a candy-coloured wig.

Treat your hair as armour, your texture as rebellion. Shape sculpted braids and gravity-defying spikes until you resemble a mosh-pit escaped anime supervillain.