Makeup Girls Feed the YouTube Need for Cosmetic Tips

It’s always nice to see content that is clearly female-oriented do well online, especially while browsing the otherwise boob shot-heavy listings of the YouTube Most Viewed pages. That’s where I discovered Aubrey of Fafinettex3, an amateur makeup artist racking up huge views with her how-to demos, some six months ago. But she’s not the only one. There’s a huge audience out there in search of tips and tricks on the complicated art of cosmetics, and a few other notable personalities feeding their need.

Lauren Luke of Panacea81 has been around for two years this June, and is possibly the most successful of the makeup girls, writing a weekly column for the Guardian and using her fame to launch a new makeup line. Her emphasis is on encouraging women of all ages to experiment with color, and while her videos run on the long side — 13 minutes, easily — she’s very thorough in her explanation of products applied and techniques used.

User julieg713 has been around since December 2006 but only really started popping in the last few months. Her focus is less on the overall look and more on specific elements, especially eye make-up, with several different takes on the smoky eye look. She’s also really really into fancy manicures, creating designs that occasionally verge on poor taste. But she’s fun and energetic on camera, and her slogan (“Beauty Tip No. 1: Smile!”) is hard to resist.

However, my personal favorite is Leesha of xsparkage. It’s not that her sensibility is dramatically different from the others, or that she’s better in front of the camera, but that she adds variation to her videos. Not only does she have the standard how-to tutorials and demos, but she also does 1-minute Quick Tips that prove to be just as informative as the full-length clips. The blunt truth is this: Of all the makeup videos I’ve watched on YouTube, the one that’s actually proven to be the most useful is this quick tip on how to keep your lipstick or gloss from smearing on your teeth. (Maybe this is secret knowledge most girls acquired at high school slumber parties, but at the slumber parties I had in high school, we watched The X-Files.)

The success of all these women clearly illustrates that what we have here is an untapped market, but it’s hard to imagine a corporate-sponsored series making any headway with this audience. After all, it’s not just the personalities behind these videos that helps them connect with viewers — it’s the styles represented.