The music thumps through the neon green lights of the Galaxy Lounge. The melodies flow like the waves 18 decks below our feet in languages we’ve glimpsed this week for hours at a time: German’s harsh inflections, French’s romantic murmurs, Spanish’s playful tongue twisters and English’s comforting familiarity unite strangers on the dance floor.
Camden Douthwright and I meet in the middle of the ocean somewhere between London and Amsterdam. The 19-year-old Canadian intrigues me: what’s an ex-TikToker fluent in reggaeton doing on a northern European cruise halfway through the fall semester? I breathlessly ask him this exact question when the turntables freeze. Sitting on the floor of MSC Preziosa’s arcade with a slice of pizza in hand, Douthwright’s ready to peel back the mask.
Her Campus (HC): What are you known for on TikTok?
Camden Douthwright (CD): I’m the face mask guy. People hype me up for trying different skincare masks and peeling them off my face.
HC: How did you get started? What made you post your first video?
CD: My parents put a face mask in my Christmas stocking. I recorded a video of me peeling it off for no reason. It got 10,000 views. I thought, “Okay, wait; this might be how the algorithm works,” so I went out and bought a lot of face masks. The videos kept getting more and more popular.
One day at 3 a.m., I put in colored contacts I’d bought for Halloween and recorded a video of myself peeling off a charcoal face mask. I woke up the next morning to a million views and comments from people all over the world. I was starting a trend. I’d post a video of me peeling off a face mask — that was literally it — once a week.
HC: How much of TikTok do you think is creative versus formulaic?
CD: Smaller accounts on TikTok are all creative until TikTok’s algorithm decides their account will go viral because they’ve been posting consistently. The lucky ones go viral for what they’re passionate about, whereas unlucky ones (like me) go viral for random content that doesn’t reflect their interests.
There was a lot more strategy behind my content as my account grew. I knew the combination of trending sounds and my videos went through the algorithm really well. If videos under a sound I liked were getting a lot of views within 12 hours, I knew it was possible for my video to go viral. I wouldn’t post a video if I knew it wouldn’t reach 100,000 likes. I followed this formula for five months.
HC: You’ve been called “the real-life Adrien Agreste.” What role did your resemblance to the cartoon character play in your popularity?
CD: With my blond hair and green eyes (and the added charcoal face mask), people thought I looked like Cat Noir from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. The fact that I unknowingly made myself look like his doppelganger was a major contributor to my success. Most of my fan base was 13 to 16-year-old female Miraculous Ladybug fans from Latin America, Spain, Germany and France.
HC: You’ve taken a break from posting and deleted almost all of your videos. What triggered this step back?
CD: A group of girls recognized me at a mall asking if I was the face mask thirst trap guy from TikTok. I was so embarrassed because that content didn’t reflect who I really was. I stopped posting when I moved to Spain and became busy acclimating to my new life.
HC: And then you tried to change your content.
CD: Yeah, and I flopped. My travel videos and fit checks weren’t performing in the way I was used to. I’ve lost some followers from not posting my face mask videos, but I’m honestly okay with that. I had my 15 minutes of fame. I’m happier pursuing my true passions. My popularity on TikTok has opened so many doors for me professionally. I’ve gotten to meet people I look up to, travel the world, and make money (through external sources) — I made a total of three cents from TikTok itself.
HC: What’s your end goal from all of this? Are you going down the influencer path?
CD: I see myself fulfilled by a combination of my business and influencer career paths. I love planning affordable trips. I thrive on finding cheap flights, cheap hotels, and enjoyable ways to immerse myself in different cultures. I’m currently on a two-month Europe tour that costs under $5,000 (CAD). I’d love to start my own business that helps university students figure out financially feasible ways to study abroad.
HC: Your Instagram feed screams global influencer. How have you been able to travel so much?
CD: I’m enrolled in a fully online, four-year business degree. The cost of living abroad is roughly the same as the cost of living where my university is located. Why stay home when I can study in Spain? I fell in love with Spanish culture. I now spend half my time there and half my time in Canada.
And a week on this cruise ship. You can find Douthwright on Instagram, TikTok, and at airports around the world.
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