Spending millions on influencer vacations is so passé, does Tarte know?

If you've been on TikTok for the past few weeks, you may have heard about the influencer trip to Dubai sponsored and fully paid for by Tarte Cosmetics.

Although brand trips for influencers are not uncommon, many were shocked to see how much the makeup brand was willing to spend on invited influencers.

In January, some of our favorite makeup influencers, including Alix Earle, Rutgers alum Ahnesti Monet McMichael and their plus ones, were all flown out to Dubai in first class by Emirates.

Dubai is one of the most expensive countries in the world, so it isn't uncommon for someone to spend a pretty penny on a basic flight and hotel room.

With the #TrippinWithTarte, each influencer documented their entire trip, showing off how much the makeup brand spoiled them.

The purpose of the trip was to advertise Tarte’s new foundation that's being launched on February 10. But it's hard to tell what the influencers were promoting and if the trip was even beneficial to Tarte.

Back in the day, when YouTube was all the rave, it seemed like brand trips were happening every week. Tarte has hosted more than 20 luxurious trips for influencers since 2015.

Even Tarte’s CEO and founder Maureen Kelly admitted that Tarte focuses its marketing on building relationships rather than the regular, run-of-the-mill makeup commercials on TV or YouTube.

Despite Tarte’s past extravagant trips, many fans could not believe the extent of the expenses for this particular trip to Dubai.

TikToker @jackmacbarstool made a video questioning the logistics of the trip, which accumulated almost a million likes. In the video, he explained that a round trip, for one person, on Emirates first class is approximately $22,000.

Including the fact that each influencer was allowed a plus one, the flights per influencer accumulated to around $44,000. For 29 influencers altogether and their plus one, the flight cost was around $1,276,000, which seems absurdly expensive for a free influencer vacation.

Jack then noted the hotel that they were staying at, the Ritz Carlton Ras Al Khaimah in Dubi, for the private suites they had booked could cost thousands a night.

Besides the financials of the trip, it seemed as though many of the influencers weren’t exactly "influencing" the right products.

The majority of the time, when the internet stars were creating "get ready with me" videos throughout the trip — they used and promoted a variety of makeup products.

From the Charlotte Tilbury Holywood Contour Wand to Refy lipstick, it seemed as though they were pushing every product except Tarte.

Many thought the influencers were making a mockery of the brand, considering Tarte coughed up so much money for a brand trip to promote its products.

Only using a Tarte product here and there, the influencers didn’t seem to care whether or not they fulfilled their presumed contracts.

Tarte was extremely popular back in the day with revolutionary products such as the Shape Tape Concealer and the Amazonian Clay Foundation. Its prime was 2016, but nowadays, it's rare to find a Tarte product in someone’s makeup bag.

Although it's on the decline, Tarte is continuously paying for extravagant brand trips, which are now considered old-fashioned. Generation Z is so used to products being pushed down its throats that they can see right through a brand trip and what the company's agenda is.

The company isn’t just taking influencers on an over-the-top vacation for fun, there's a clear motive behind it to promote products. Even if it worked a few years ago, this obvious advertisement is easily spotted and dismissed by the new generation.

Many people suspected that Tarte even realized the trip was a failure because right after, there was a new job posting for the director of brand marketing at Tarte.

Tarte, along with many once-popular makeup brands, needs to adapt to the new generation — otherwise, it will be unable to stop its ongoing fade into irrelevance.