Beauty Is More Than Skin Deep
by Miguel Mejia
When it comes to the world of beauty, there is no shortage of colors, shapes, and sizes. Naturally in the 21st century, when one wants to acquire information about anything, they often turn to the internet. Just like make-up, the internet has no shortage of options for anyone seeking beauty advice. Online there is a whole community of beauty experts and enthusiast that share their knowledge of make-up, hair, and nails. Throughout the years, this community has transformed from a small obscure and at times taboo community to an economic and influence powerhouse on the internet.
It is hard to determine which platform the beauty community originated on, but the platform that is prevalent in the community is YouTube. That is where you can find the channels of major stakeholders of this community, such as Jeffery Star, Patrick Starrr, James Charles, Nikkie Tutorials, and Manny Mua. These are not the only stakeholder in the community, but these members collectively have 62.9 million followers on YouTube alone. These stakeholders do not just limit themselves to YouTube, but they also cross over to other social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Tik Tok. All of these members have mastered Transmedia Navigation in order to keep views engaged on their channels or other platforms.
The driving force behind the existence of these channels, blogs, and other forms of beauty is learning. These blog/vlogs pass on knowledge of beauty; this can range from tutorials of applying make-up, tutorials of how to style hair, reviews of beauty products, and prosthetic enhancing products. The expansiveness of the community leaves the viewers with no shortage of options. Many of these beauty influencers have years of professional background experience whether that is hair, make-up, or nails. Having that type of background gives these stakeholders creditability. Creditability is further gained in the stylistic way the vlogs are filmed. The style can be described as a long-form. On average tutorials can take anywhere from 20 -30 minutes with little to no cuts. Using this style of long-form, lets the creator not only pass on their knowledge but also demonstrate their skill. It is important for a creator’s creditability to not only have knowledge in beauty but also demonstrate particular skills in beauty.
The concepts of learning beauty is not new, but traditionally the brokers of this knowledge have been beauty or cosmetology schools. Now in the digital media age, these gatekeepers of knowledge have been surpassed by anyone with an internet connection. This allows viewers to deviate from a strict learning curriculum and instead focus on beauty issues that are more interesting or more prevalent to them. For instance, after talking to Roxy also known as roxy_thebarber on Instagram, she said,
“When I have a problem or issue that I have never faced before, I can turn to barbers online that might have faced similar troubles. I also have a chat group that consists of other barbers from around the world, many of whom I have never met before in person but was introduced to them in online barber forms. I can post a picture of a client’s hair and they offer useful feedback and tips on how to improve the hairstyle or just easier and more helpful ways to obtain the same look.”
The sharing of knowledge is not a one way street of YouTubers and viewers, but instead is a collective of knowledge that is shared amongst one another. This sharing of knowledge can be observed in many comment sections of videos. Many viewers actively participate by commenting the helpful tips that they know. Participation does not have to entail creating one’s own content or sharing helpful beauty tips. By commenting, sharing, liking, or even viewing any of the content the creators post online, the viewer is participating.
Talking to Anna S. and Treyphosa W., both of whom subscribe and follow major beauty influencers, never create their own content, but often share and like videos that they find interesting. Treyphosa has even gone as far as to share content that she may not like herself but knows that a friend might find it interesting or useful. Participation can also be found offline in the real world. In many cases, major stakeholders such as Jeffery Star, Patrick Starr, James Charles, have their beauty product line. Anna said, “ If I really like the content that an influencer is putting out, I will go out and buy some of their products to help support them.” Buying someone’s beauty products is not the only way one can help support a beauty creator monetarily. Most content creators do not have their own beauty line, but some do have a Patreon account. Patreon is a way for fans to send money to creators in an effort to help support and grown their platforms. Treyphosa who is an African American woman says “I try to support African American creators because they do not have enough representation in the beauty community. So sometimes, I support their Patreon page so they can keep creating content.”
Another notable way to exchange money for actual knowledge that has grown in popularity is MasterClass.com. This website connects its users to notable masters of crafts in specific fields. When it comes to beauty, MasterClass offers classes by the world-renowned make-up artist Mario Dedivanovic whose most notable client is Kim Kardashian. In his classes, he teaches how to apply make-up and has introduced many new techniques to the beauty community including techniques of contouring and baking. More critical knowledge he teaches in his program includes how to read skin tone and types, as well as how different skin types react to make-up. He also goes over the iconic looks that he has created in the past with celebrities. His MasterClass is not the only way he participates in the beauty community; he helps foster growth and a sense of community by doing guest appearances on other beauty creators’ platforms. When Mario is making a guest appearance, he discusses make-up and gives out helpful pointers to people who have less experience than him.
Support in this community is not just monetary, or liking and sharing content, but often with creators, collaborations is a form of helping support each other. Creators often appear on one other influencer’s channels. This helps drive traffic and views to one another’s channels by broadening their viewership base. Some of the most viewed videos on a creator’s channel are often collaborations with other notable beauty creators. Collaboration with creators is not always with other beauty creators; often celebrities will appear in these collab videos. The focus always remains on beauty, make-up products, or styles. Regardless of the who the collaboration pair is, by combining forces, they both bring more traffic to the beauty community. In other cases, influencers with major platforms highlight or “plug” other creators. James Charles, who has 23.4 million subscribers on his Youtube page alone, creates a sense of community in the beauty industry as he forms a following group referred to as the “Sisterhood.” Ending each of his videos, James Charles will highlight and shoutout one of his followers, also called “Sisters,” while encouraging others to join the family by following and subscribing. This helps foster and grow channels that otherwise might go unnoticed.
Growth and support of the beauty community have grown and expanded offline. Often beauty influencers attend conventions or trade shows. These shows provide an opportunity where fans and creators can meet for the first time in person. Knowledge is also shared freely at these events, as creators show off their skill and tips to a live audience. These shows also foster collaborations with other creators. Beauty tips are not the only type of knowledge that is exchanged; the knowledge of navigating and interacting with social media is a vital skill that is highlighted at these conventions and trade shows. Roxy the Barber often attends Barber-cons where she gains knowledge and skill relating to cutting hair, but also gains insight into how to properly use and navigate social media. Roxy explained,
“I am good at cutting hair, but now what can make or break a barber is their social media. I have business cards but my true business card is my social media accounts. It’s my portfolio, it shows the world who I am”
To be a good barber, hair-stylist, or make-up artist, one may not just be an expert in their craft, but one also must obtain the new literacy of navigating social media.
An outsider persepctive may see the beauty community as a shallow pursuit of surface beauty. That is not the case, as the beauty community is expressive and encompasses a large number of members, naturally, the political and social issues that are prevalent in today’s society find themselves in the beauty community. Creators often use their large platforms to call awareness to civil issues. Issues ranging widely from LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, police brutality, child trafficking, or just simply reminding people to go vote can find a voice on these platforms. Every one of these causes deserves to be brought to the forefront and highlighted in communities. Thanks to these beauty creators and their large platforms, they have not only brought about awareness but have also influenced change. In my research, I found that even though a beauty creator may not have millions of followers, they are still able to bring change or awareness to civil issues.
A notable beauty creator that has brought about change is Roxy or roxy_thebarber. Roxy, a barber from Lodi, CA, engages civically in her community by offering free haircuts for kids. Before Roxy was a barber, she worked at a school, where she would encounter underprivileged youth. She would often work with kids that lived under the poverty line or in trouble home situations. Kids living in these conditions often lacked self-confidence and would show signs of insecurities. She noted,
“ I would see kids feeling low and down, but a notable change could be seen in them after getting a haircut. They would often come to school eager to show it off to their friends as it boosted their self-confidence. That is why I always cut children’s hair for free. No matter what your income level is, my barber’s chair is always open for children”
Roxy may not have the biggest following, but she still is able to engage with the community through beauty. What may seem like a small, insignifciant impact on the community proves to be impactful because it is meaningful to these underprivileged children.
The beauty community is a safe space where people can come and share their knowledge and skills of how to apply make-up, cut/style hair, or know what beauty products are worth buying, but it also much more than that. It is a community that fosters growth and learning, a place no matter what size, shape, color, ethnicity, sex, or economic status you are, you are always welcome. I ask Treyphosa, Anna, and Roxy, “what does the beauty community mean to you?”
Treyphosa — “I am an artist and I love to paint; it is the way I can express myself. When it comes to my make-up and hair, it is another medium for me to express myself to the world, that sometimes I am unable to do in my art.”
Anna — “ I know I don’t need make-up, and I am comfortable in the way that I look. But sometimes I need that self-confidence that make-up gives me, where I can go out and conquer the day.”
Roxy — “Cutting hair is the way I feed my kids, it’s the way I keep a roof over our heads, but it is also the way I leave good impact on this earth.”
