Across all social media platforms, DIY homemade slime has been trending for months. Many people might be wondering what these slimes are, how they are made, and why they even became popular in the first place. Luckily, I am familiar with the homemade slime, because my littlest sister has been making slime since the beginning of the school year! By having secondhand (and some firsthand) knowledge about what goes into the projects, I would like to help give the whole social media world information about this crazy trend.

First thing's first, people are dying to know how this trend even started happening. When I ask my younger sister how she found out about this, she told me she saw YouTube videos and Instagram posts of how people play with the slime. After that, she dug further into the internet to find out what ingredients went into slime so that she could make her own and give some to her friends.

We found out that in order to make slime, you need a few simple ingredients that you can find in grocery and arts and crafts stores. The main ingredients in slime are white glue, borax, shaving cream, and corn starch. In most of my sister's creations, and other slimes I've seen, food dye, acrylic paint, sparkles, and tiny foam balls are also common.

Once you start playing with slime, you'll realize why it has become such a huge trend among adolescents (for the most part) in these past several months. Experts say that this sort of slime can be very therapeutic though, and I agree. Some believe that playing with this slime correlates to the feeling of an ASMR experience. ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response, is basically a tingly or satisfying feeling one gets that can be triggered by actions such as light acoustics, or watching something precise happen, just as a few examples.

From my own personal experience playing with slime, I think it is so neat how you can maneuver it into any shape and it virtually never breaks apart. I understand why people feel so relaxed when they play with slime; it is like a stress ball and bubble wrap mixed together, but able to be morphed into any shape. It is soft, flexible, and when it is laying on the table it is just asking to be touched, folded, and poked. It is even more fun when air bubbles get trapped inside, and squeezing the slime releases a popping noise.

Next time you're in a store and stumble across the basic ingredients I listed above, trust me, buy them. As a disclaimer though, once you start making slime, you will never want to stop! After you make your first few slimes, you may realize they came out too sticky or not fluffy enough, but eventually, you'll learn that adding more borax or shaving cream will help make your slime feel extra perfect.

The fun never stops when it comes to homemade slime. My sister has been into this trend for months. Her friends always ask her to make "mixing videos" to see how the slime formed to its final state, or to show them pictures. Some friends will barter with my sister and give her a glue bottle so that she can make them their own personal slime. There is an account on Instagram right now called @slay._.slimee if you're interested in seeing how the madness happens!