Makeup on Social Media
Makeup has gained a lot of attraction all over different social media platforms. Everyone wants to become a ‘makeup guru’. This includes both male and female individuals, people of different races and social class. People are posting videos, watching videos, creating a product, practicing it as a form of art. However, in recent years this new ‘rave’ has gotten a lot of controversies. ‘Makeup Gurus’ like Jeffree Star and Laura Lee are examples of people who have a huge platform that they have gotten through makeup, but also receive a lot of backlash.
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Behind the Scenes
My question is, how does having a platform negatively affect those in the makeup industry?
I recently watched a video in which Jeffree Star explains his earnings and goes more in-depth about his entire company. The audience really gets to see where his love of makeup derives from. He mentions how he started from nothing and now makes hundreds of millions a year. As I watched the video, I was able to see a different side to Jeffree that he has not shown before in his own videos.
Before watching this video, I did not know much about Jeffree Star. I had only heard about him and how hated he was, but I was never drawn to watch his videos. However, after watching this video I watched others as well and I saw that there was a vulnerability that was not shown in his previous videos. I know that being a public figure causes one to have ‘thicker skin’ and create a different persona that they show to the public. But why? Why is this necessary? Why is him having a platform, or anyone in that matter, mean that they have to change who they are? Why does society create this expectation of ‘perfection’, and when it is not achieved, they create backlash?
The Truth
Life in the makeup industry appears to be glamorous because glamour is always shown. Although, the ugly truth is no one sees the negative perspective of having a platform in the makeup industry. People write hate but do not think of how the hate accumulates. No one sees it accumulate. But what happens when the makeup is taken off, the camera is shut off and the reality settles in? The audience will never know.
Image from Pexels