I have a long and complicated relationship with Shane and his channel: I came across it a few times when I was a young teen and pure, innocent Sally was horrified at the outrageous and shocking comedy sketches I saw.
I spent a long time avoiding his content after that, but from what I know, it seemed like controversy followed him like a bad smell for many years.
I heard from others about his eating disorder video, and later his coming-out video. And he made so many apologies for his early videos between then and now that I don’t think anyone could miss all of them.
I started taking notice of his channel again a few years ago when he started making conspiracy theory videos.
It was at this point I decided to move on from his early videos. The Shane I see now is more mature, wise and dedicated to making good, slightly less controversial content.
The early 2010’s felt like a world away, we all made questionable choices then. I saw no reason to hold the things he said and did against him. Because guess what, as an audience we encouraged him and enjoyed that kind of humour when we were young and uninformed.
Now I tend to avoid controversy like it’s a public toilet at the beach, and unfortunately, Shane Dawson seems to get his head flushed pretty regularly. Earlier this year, the ‘Shane Dawson is Over Party’ hashtag trended on Twitter after people brought up inappropriate comments he made four years ago about his cat. People jumped on the opportunity, and brought up other questionable tweets he had made in the past.
I get it, we support these people and they find success in their audience’s trust and loyalty. I also get the fact that we shouldn’t give racist, sexist or generally horrible people a platform to preach on. But I don’t think that’s what Shane is anymore.
To me, Shane has become a champion of self-love, acceptance and mental health awareness. He has become a wiser, more sensible person, and for these reasons I also respect his latest investigation into the beauty community.
His documentaries have always seemed carefully crafted and contain a variety of opinions and sources, and he has taken a risky step putting himself at the centre of the latest one.
Not only is this never-seen-before insight into the YouTube beauty community, but also signifies a big journey for Shane.
Shane struggles with Body Dysmorphia, and has trouble with his self-esteem. This palette and collection symbolise a big risk for Shane: opening himself up to his audience and to a wider community that thrives on conflict and competition.
The business meeting, the shade names and even the shades themselves are so personal to Shane.
I’m not a very confident person either, and I tend to shy away from vibrantly-coloured makeup in favour of flat/neutral tones that help me blend into the background. Let’s hope this makeup collection is a chance for both me and Shane to step out of our comfort zones!