A few years ago I consumed a lot (ok not that much, but I was a regular watcher of a few Youtubers) of makeup related content and learned from it. Nowadays I feel like everyone is just repeating their existing videos. Everything is done and old so I stopped watching maybe over a year ago.
Is it me personally or is beauty YT still as big as it was in let’s say 2017?
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Everything is a commercial now.
that’s basically what influencers are
There is one very successful YouTuber I used to watch, but everything they do now is an ad for something. It’s always the most AMAZING and WONDERFUL and GASP-WORTHY product in the whole entire world. I don’t even click on their videos anymore because I know it’s just going to be a bunch of product placement.
I stopped consuming that stuff when everyone started using all the filters. Like I can’t see what your makeup looks like under all that blur, and what ends up happening is that the person will look the exact same in every video. One particularly bad offender (who still produces content today) ostensibly swatches all these foundations and other products, and ends up looking exactly the same in every video because of all the filters. It bores me.
As controversial as he is, the only beauty guru on YT I still watch is Jeffree Star.
At the end of the day, he’s the only one I feel like will be completely honest about a product. He has his own money, he’s not trying to kiss up to certain brands and completely shove useless products down your throat for the sake of being an influencer.
He’s also just very himself (to the point he’s gotten in trouble), but it makes him weirdly relatable even at his level of wealth and fame.
Everyone else that I can think of? Not so much.
I think for the big name brands, it’s been played out. I still enjoy the indie makeup youtubers because those are often not the ones I have seen on 14 different channels, tik toks etc.
I have gone back to watching YouTubers. The ones on tiktok feel more sales pushy to me if that makes sense
It makes me kind of sad because back in the day we had so much tutorials and useful stuff but most influencers nowadays just want to become influencers for the sake of receiving free stuff from brands. There’s almost no tutorials anymore, just people who excel in makeup trying out new stuff that was given to them and telling us that we need to buy everything. Nothing feels genuine anymore tbh
Yes!! When I went to college for makeup artistry, most people there were training to be an influencer. It bothered me so much, especially during the special effects lessons because no one was willing to be a model for crazy looks. No one was in it for the love of makeup, and I know the industry is suffering because of it (film and media makeup).
I think the love for makeup YouTubers is slowly dying. Even the OG ones all got caught up in some drama and it’s like, you’re just supposed to do makeup was is Laura Lee sobbing on camera? And James Charles who stole others ideas and continues to abuse his fame. I can go on about this all day! I think the younger gen is more interested in skin care funny enough.
That is so interesting- my SO is in stage/film and BFF a MA. Here in Western Canada there seems to be a certain amount of gatekeeping by older gens in makeup/costuming that is keeping newer members out. But if schools are mostly graduating MA’s that only want to be influencers then I wonder what the real dynamic is. Are they turning to TikTok because they are turned away from film or are the Makeup departments protective because new members drop out of productions to become influencers? Do you have any thoughts?
I think it’s a mix of both! So most people in my class had no interest in film or theatre makeup, but wanted the full qualification. I went to school peak influencer era. They just wanted to do glam looks, and be recognised on instagram for their talents. Obviously to be taken seriously in the industry, if you want to do run ways or work on a shoot, you’ll need to have respect for film, tv and theatre and even experience in that industry because it’s hardcore. Long hours, most of the time a trainee is there to grab products and coffee and clean towel, not pick up a brush for a long time. And as we know the film industry is toxic, so they want someone mature ready to take shit all day long. If someone’s wants to be an influencer that’s good enough to me, it’s the toxicity of it that bothered me!
I think this all the time. It’s such a shame
I agree. An INCREDIBLY small tiktoker I follow admitted she just quit her job to "do this full time’ and it’s like DO WHAT?
They really are relying on immediately getting deals, even when they are not popular at all and don’t put out much value. This girl had a few viral videos and quit her job… SMH.
No one is just making content to be seen. There must be immediate payment.
Idk if we’re talking about the same influencer but I had the same feeling about one I follow who quit her job. I’m happy for her success on social media but it’s really hard to keep watching content when you followed for a specific topic and there’s a shift to constant leisure activities presented as work.
I’m new to it (yet old at almost 40) and I’m doing it just because I love this stupid hobby. I’ll review what I buy, but otherwise it’s just chatty + makeup. Maybe hair sometimes. I just don’t have a daughter to pass this info on to and decided to give it to anyone who wanted it. I definitely prefer the old school tutorial and chatty GRWM videos. There’s a time for product reviews but it’s a bit overloaded this time of year.
I’d like your channel, I’m sure!
Dm me your channel so I can watch, I just want background noise that’s comforting and not shilling products at me. I love that chatter and its comforting to me
Also, a lot of the remaining tutorials are being relabeled because videos that explicitly say “tutorial” in the title get lower views. Most current tutorials are now either packaged as part of a broader GRWM or billed as “X palette review and Y number of looks” or “ Y number of looks with X palette.”
I miss the chatty videos where they’d do makeup. They were so soothing and got me through one of the hardest times in my life. I understand times change but man I hate TikTok
Emilynoel83 still does nice chatty videos. She is still great.
Same with me! Endless hours. I couldn’t go and buy any of the products but I made copious notes (that I never used but that’s another subject). Now I watch Erica Taylor on TikTok
My watching habits have changed. I used to actually watch makeup videos. Now though… If I’m going to watch youtube it’s now things that are more documentary/podcasty/long form documentary types of things now so I can dual task while doing art and homework or doing household chores. I get a lot of my makeup tips in a more short form manner.
I think a lot of other people feel the same way. There’s been a lot of changes in life since 2017 for everyone where you can listen to stuff, but you can’t always be eyeballs focused on a video because of societal expectations. Downtime is a lot less common for everyone because of creep on your time at home from jobs, schools, family and friends.
A lot of makeup youtube requires watching the screen or winds up commanding your attention because they aren’t the best audio narrators. Or the ones who are aren’t the ones you want casually listen to without watching along or with the ability to rewind as they tend to share a lot of info rapidly, and for the most part the people like to watch for their personalities the aren’t really ones I’m gaining my makeup tips from these days because they’re stylistically outdated.
There’s two good exceptions from the Golden era of Youtube: The ones I want to watch for tips like Lisa Eldridge falls under I need to be watching with full attention because that’s more of an educational video even though she speaks slowly but I always learn a lot there. And Alexandria Ryan escapes everyone else even though her style isn’t exactly like mine because I don’t need to see what she’s doing on screen while she’s opening up holiday boxes around Christmas and she’s prevented me from FOMO around the holidays in a big way lmao.
When they started gatekeeping product names and knowledge, that’s when I stopped paying attention because that completely undermines the intention of what the original beauty community was about - profit took precedence over education and connection, and so many people turned into corporate parrots. So damn boring and unfortunate.
I wanted to learn douyin makeup so downloaded xiao hong shu. Not only did they have tutorials of the style I was interested, but there’s plenty of tips and product reviews that reminded me of what YouTube used to be but just in instagram/tik tok format. I can’t fully understand Chinese but they seem pretty genuine and not sponsored as people will just post a new haul for example and do first impressions, reviews.
I think the massive stars and drama, yeah. It is mostly one big advertisement as other’s stated, and there’s very few regular channels I watch where that kind of content actually interests me – they have to hit on particular niches. Otherwise I’m skipping 90% of those videos and watching one 2 minute part probs. Also can’t stand declutters – I get there’s a niche of people who like it, but for me it’s like watching someone sort trash or a gift basket. Actually, that’s what seems to be most popular: A new thing to get hyped about and an old thing to throw away. That seems… bad, for a few reasons.
Outside of those predominant videos, I watch tutorials and you can still find them out there. Robert Welsh when he does something “different” like ghost stories while he does his makeup or dressing as a clown is also great, lol. Those “history of’s” by Lisa Eldridge are also so interesting – more people need to be making videos like that: You can tell she loves it and is knowledgeable. She’s authentic in a sea of “LOOK WHAT GLAMLITE SENT ME!” The fun and diversity in types of videos are lacking.
I’m one of the weirdos who watches declutters, but only from very specific people. I agree the purchase-discard cycle is problematic, but I just like to see what they actually keep. In some ways it’s better than a review. If they’ve got a foundation or a palette that they’ve been using for years and still want to keep, that’s a pretty strong recommendation for it. Also, if they’re getting rid of a bunch of popular items, it helps remind me that I don’t need to buy the shiny new thing. It actually helps me personally curb my spending and be more picky about what I buy.
But yeah, it’s definitely weird. I think most people see that consumerism cycle and rightfully get turned off by it and don’t want to watch, and that’s totally fair.
I hadn’t thought of declutters in that way and I can see the appeal with it a tad better!
It’s totally over. Basically 4 douchebags ruined the fun.
Highly recommend Alexandra Anele for makeup skills
I think they are just finding other platforms. Reels. TikToks.
Yeah they’re on tiktok now.
Now I only like watching their vlogs