My mum and I bought our first concealers together in 2018 and right now, hers is sat, untouched, at the bottom of my makeup bag. It must’ve been an impulsive buy, as I know that she rarely ever wears makeup. In fact, she’s adamant that it, along with extensive skincare products, are just unneeded chemicals we put on our faces. While I am grateful for it now, growing up and not being allowed to wear makeup to school was frustrating. And, crucially, it meant that a lot of what I learnt about makeup and skincare was not from her, but from Vogue: Beauty Secrets. I apply makeup with my fingers because it ‘helps melt it into my skin’ (and because I don’t wash the brushes). I use my nail to sharpen the wing of my eyeliner because that’s what Zoë Kravitz does. I start filling my eyebrows from the middle, not the start, because that’s what Zendaya does.
Originally, I started ‘researching’ this article with the intention to find the actual secret behind this series: a formula that most of the celebrities and influencers follow which makes each video almost identical. I noticed that, overtime, the series’ role as just a promotional or branding opportunity was becoming less thinly veiled. I was going to delve into how the ‘skincare’ and ‘selfcare’ industries have morphed into one, massive, plastic conglomerate now driven solely by consumerism – don’t worry, we will still cover this. But, I was most intrigued about why, despite the inauthenticity being louder than ever, they were still a source of comfort. The act of watching videos that falsely advertised a wellness that can be ‘bought’ was a genuine form of wellness for me; the irony was too heavy to ignore.
But first, the formula. Tracking the videos chronologically, it was painfully obvious that the script-like structure (their prompts) had not changed in years, making them all the more transparent. Barbara Palvin’s (2019) video was a good starting point as I remember this being one of my favourites. While the link to the products she uses are still in the description, she only mentions one name in the video itself. Instead, it’s a quick show of the product and then a focus on how she applies it. Dua Lipa’s (2025), however, is a blatant advert for her own brand that she has recently launched as well as nodding to her ties to YSL, especially the Libre fragrance with which she has an ad campaign. Of course, skincare – and selfcare by extension – as a commodity has always been at the core of these videos, but the focus has now shifted from application tips to just a showcase of different items.
And, it’s not just the skincare brands. The list of topics that every celebrity sticks to when providing commentary to their routine is curated specifically to create an admirable yet relatable personal brand, too:
- Begin with how you got into skincare and makeup. Was it watching your mum do it in the mirror? Was it a form of expression growing up?
- Give a little anecdote of when you made a silly mistake with makeup, and how you’ve learnt from it. Examples include: I used mascara as eyebrow filler growing up, I plucked my eyebrows too thin (bonus points if your world-renowned makeup artist told you to ‘never touch them again’).
- Talk about a specific struggle you’ve had with skin that a specific product now helps you with. It should make you relatable to a niche audience and paint you as an individual. Think ‘USP’.
- Obviously, include your new brand or your largest collaboration with a skincare/makeup company.
- SECRET INGREDIENT BUT MOST IMPORTANT. Include at least one drugstore ‘dupe’ of a high-end make up product that you either bought in an emergency OR that you bought as a 17-year-old and still ‘swear by’ today. The audience must still identify with you.
NOTE: Alterations can be made if they benefit the media persona, like Nara Smith making a lip scrub from scratch in her video (although, it is notable that the honey and coconut oil were still linked in the description).
With this overt display of the formula, the videos and the people started to seem more insincere. They would talk about wellness coming from within while doing an external beauty routine. Their skin-related issues, while completely valid, were solved by having private dermatologists and products worth hundreds of dollars. They promote skincare being a form of self-care and self-expression while the description links the products so you can mirror their exact routine. Yet, watching these videos back, they still had the same pull that they did 5 years ago, which begs the question, is this the point?
Operating in this twilight zone between the genuine and the rehearsed was exactly what has made this series so successful in my eyes. The intention when watching these videos was never to actually recreate their makeup rituals; most people cannot afford the skincare and beauty routines that celebrities have. Instead, I realised that I was always only looking for their tips and tricks, as well as some level of relatability. The products themselves mainly functioned to keep these celebrities safely out of reach but still as something to aim towards, and it worked like a charm. Their distance has fictionalised them. Parroting the same script video after video, they have come to resemble a comfort TV show you seek solace in. This ‘comfort’ doesn’t come from buying the products, but from knowing that each episode will end as it always does, with the finished product placed before you to admire. So, you keep watching. While they preach the overconsumption that is rewriting and hollowing wellness in our generation, then, being aware of it can be enough to still incorporate this series into one’s own wellness routine. Because, as Olivia Roderigo said in her Glossier-sponsored episode, ‘the super-subtle look is what Glossier does best,’ but the same cannot be said for Vogue.