Millennials are putting the “fun” back into “funerals.” And then posting it on TikTok.
Young morticians are taking to the social media platform to share the secrets of the death business.
TikTok users such as Syracuse-based funeral director and embalmer Eileen Hollis and mortuary science student Mimi (@mimithemortician) are among the youngsters gaining thousands of followers by posting all their knowledge about dead bodies and such.
“If you’re seeing this right now, I’d like to formally introduce you to DeathTok,” Mimi, 20, said in one of her recent videos. “I’m here to normalize death care, as I’m a normal 20-year-old girl who is currently about to graduate from mortuary school.”
In another video, Mimi explained that morticians must disinfect and then wash the dead, decaying bodies several times during embalming.
The student gave a little show in one clip where she practiced restoration by putting makeup on a clay model.
As for Hollis, she owns and operates her very own funeral home. She explained to viewers in one TikTok how it can take up to an hour and a half to fully complete the embalming process.
“But that timing can increase based on the condition of the body,” she said. “For example, did they die in the middle of summer? Are they decomposing at a faster rate? Did they go through a really tough illness that left their body with a lot of edema?”
Hollis continued: “Not two bodies are alike, everybody comes to us with different needs.”
In a separate clip, one follower asked if family members want the morticians to shave off the deceased’s pubic hair. The answer: No.
“We don’t shave or wax pubic hair for that matter,” Hollis said. “I wouldn’t dream of waxing a dead human body because their skin is so fragile in the afterlife.”
She also noted that one must ask the family of the deceased if they want their loved one to have facial hair. “If the family decides to leave the facial hair, I will scrub it really good, whether it’s a beard of a mustache or a handlebar mustache, and I will put a little of beard oil in it just to hydrate their life.”
Millennials have started to infiltrate the death business over the last few years and they are killing it.
Lauren J. Bowser, a licensed mortuary practitioner, in Piscataway, NJ, previously told The Post about working in a funeral home and why she decided to take this unique career path.
“I have an old soul,” she said. “Once I realized that I was not scared of the dead and that I could take care of them, I [knew I] was just meant to do it.” She landed her first funeral home job at 16 through her high school career fair.
Bowser also believed that because Generation Y is very tech-savvy, they can bring modern elements to funeral services. It’s important to have digital options, such as digital casket catalogs and streaming services so long-distance relatives can “be there” from all over the globe.
“I work in a place where we are carrying on the traditions of great-great-grandparents,” Bowser added. “But if a 98-year-old grandmother dies, her 65-year-old daughter may not use the internet every day, but the 40-year-old granddaughter sure does.”