These celebrities have embraced the ‘very demure, very mindful’ TikTok trend

If you’ve been anywhere on the internet in the past week-plus, you may have noticed that suddenly, a whole lot of people want to be “very demure.”

And “very mindful.”

Or, at the very least, to say those words as part of the latest summer trend.

It all started earlier this month when Chicago’s Jools Lebron posted two videos on TikTok in which she used the word “demure” to describe her workplace makeup and hair.

In the first one (see below), the subject was “how to be demure at work.”

“See how I come to work?” Lebron says in the clip, showing off her look. “Very demure. I do my makeup, I lay my wig, I do a little braid. I flat-iron my hair.”

She proceeds to spray a fragrance to complete the look.

“Very demure,” Lebron says. “Very mindful. Let’s not forget to be demure, divas.”

In the second video, Lebron picks up the theme again.

“You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful,” she says. “I don’t come to work with a green cut crease (a style of eyeshadow application). I don’t look like a clown when I go to work. I don’t do too much, I’m very mindful while I’m at work. See how I look very presentable? The way I came to the interview is the way I go to the job.”

“A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job looking like Patty and Selma. Not demure,” Lebron continues. “I’m very modest. I’m very mindful. You see my shirt? Only a little chichi out, not my chocho. Be mindful of why they hired you. Here’s your reality check, diva, what’s the name you’d like me to make it out to?”

Since then, her “demure” and “mindful” sentiments have become all the rage.

People have been jumping on the trend using audio of Lebron’s own voice or simply quoting her in their videos and posts, leading the TikTok star (1.7 million followers) to ink deals with brands like Verizon.

In a follow-up video, Lebron, who was working as a grocery store cashier when she recorded the viral clips, shared how the trend has changed her life.

“Hey, pendeja, maybe you should make the videos,” said Lebron, who is transgender. “Because one day I was playing cashier and making videos on my break and now I’m flying across country to host events and I’m going to be able to finance the rest of my transition.”

Lebron was on Monday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” with guest host RuPaul, one of the celebrities embracing the trend.

“Apparently the trauma that comes from working a retail job gets enough to you that you start saying ‘demure’ on the internet,” she told the “Drag Race” host.

RuPaul deployed the trend in a post promoting Allstora, an author-centered online bookstore co-founded by the the multi-hyphenate:

“See how I’m reading this book? Very demure. I don’t dog-ear pages, I put in a bookmark. And I don’t divulge the ending to my friends. Very considerate. And also, my cell phone is on do not disturb. Very demure. Very mindful.”

Other stars have been picking up Lebron’s lingo, appearing in all kinds of posts espousing their newfound devotion to being “very demure” and “very mindful.”

Here’s a selection, from Jennifer Lopez using it to promote her line of Delola cocktails to Gillian Anderson’s selfie caption; Olivia Rodrigo lip-synching a Lebron clip about “demure” hair length; “You” star Penn Badgley reporting from his last day on set; and both Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis on the set of their upcoming “Freaky Friday” sequel “Freakier Friday.”

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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup.