Part One: Promoting a Positive Image
I want to start off by saying we aren’t here to gossip about beauty gurus and their many flaws, but rather to look at who they are as individuals. I’ve been watching beauty channels for about two and a half years—I’ve seen influencers turn beauty into a career. I’ve seen them build and break relationships, create trends, and create art. When you have a large social platform thinking about your audience is important, yes, but so is integrity and the desire for personal growth. Right now, the beauty community is being bombarded with the following labels:
Manny Mua: The User/ Social ClimberLaura Lee: The Racist
Jaclyn Hill: The Liar
Nakita Dragon: The Fake
Gabriel Zamora: The Exposer/ Troublemaker
Jeffree Star: “Can’t Relate”
These labels are important for a multitude of reasons, the most obvious is that with being a public figure comes a constant responsibility to stimulate positivity with your viewers. If you surround yourself with negativity and drama you won’t be successful in any industry let alone on a very public platform such as YouTube. Beauty Guru’s make their money off of subscribers, content, PR, and sponsorships, unless they have another source of income like their brand and/or cosmetic line. Being a good human is also a very big part that job, so being nasty to others on social media outside of YouTube is unacceptable. Posting apologies after the fact that are clearly not genuine is inexcusable. I am stating this because if I, myself, were to start a channel in this community I would hold myself to that same standard. Beauty isn’t just about reviewing products, it’s also about what’s on the inside. It’s about truly doing what is right.