YouTube Gets you Covered

With the multitude of makeup brands and an overwhelming number of beauty channels on YouTube, finding the perfect makeup tutorial for a specific look may often be challenging. Join Lifestyle Writer Anthia Chng as she dives into the plethora of YouTube beauty channels and recommends her favourite four.

By Anthia Chng

YouTube has become the platform where both experts and clueless alike can get their beauty fix with its countless free makeup and hair tutorials.

But such convenience comes at a price. Although many of these videos seem useful, there is a chance of coming across unhelpful ones.

In a mascara tutorial titled “MVI 4628” (probably for a format it was uploaded in), YouTube user Yuan Yuan Liang teaches her viewers using vague terms like “big head” and “small head” to refer to her mascara wands.

“If your mascara don’t vibrate, you just vibrate your head like this,” she said in the one-and -a-half minute video, placing her mascara wand near her lashes. After which, she goes on to shake her head in a comical vibrating motion, sparking comments that hurled ridicule and puzzlement at her head movement and seemingly unprofessional tutorial.

Avid YouTube viewer Cherie Lim, 20, a second-year student from NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, agrees that such unhelpful videos are common and that she has stumbled upon many.

“These videos either have problematic filming techniques that make them hard to follow, or they are too basic and unprofessional.”

She added that statistics such as number of views, subscribers and likes matter.

“These are good indicators of how trustable the artists are,” she said.

We’ve come up with a guide on how you can sift the good from the bad, and pick out the most suitable channel for the appropriate occasion:

1. The channel must have been on the Youtube beauty scene for at least five years as a general indication of experience in producing such videos.
2. Do-it-yourself videos are preferred to give a better impression of how the techniques can be applied by viewers themselves, rather than videos where the artists create the look on another person.
3. Preferably, pick a YouTube artist of a similar ethnicity — as a majority of NTU students are Asian, this guide recommends choosing Asian makeup artists. It is advisable to learn from them as they can better understand looks that suit Asian skin tones and features.

Phoon Lijie, 21, a Singapore Institute of Management undergraduate, affirms this. She feels that certain makeup tutorials taught by Caucasians are not suitable for Asians as they have may have different facial features and skin tones.

“Most Asians have flatter features, and darker eye and skin colours, so some colours that complement Caucasians may not work for us.”

4. The artists should preferably be women in order to give a female-oriented, female-centred outlook on beauty. Although there are a few makeup channels led by men, they may not be suitable for women as such artists either apply makeup on a third party or focus on male beauty routines.

Recommended list of channels:

pixiwoo
For makeup: the basics

PHOTO: YOUTUBE/PIXIWOO

This channel has more than 600 uploaded videos, mainly on makeup tutorials ranging from celebrity-inspired looks to Halloween looks. What stands out most is its Basics Playlist segment, which includes more than 50 informative guides on specific makeup techniques.

For example, the video How to Fill in Brows is a step-by-step guide especially for those new to the art of makeup. The 19-minute long tutorial might seem daunting because of its length, but it is worth watching as you learn how to create different brow textures and looks. This channel is ideal for beginners who want to get the basics right.

Michelle Phan
For makeup: from special events to everyday looks

PHOTO: YOUTUBE/MICHELLE PHAN

The channel boasts close to six million subscribers and almost 300 beauty videos. With her first tutorial six years ago, Michelle Phan is an experienced makeup guru who is widely known among YouTubers. Celebrity-inspired and character-inspired looks, namely the Barbie Transformation Tutorial and Lady Gaga Bad Romance Look, are the two most popular, with the first having garnered more than 51 million views.

Glamourous styles aside, Michelle also teaches you to achieve more practical, everyday looks. One example is the Professional Day to Glamorous Nights Out tutorial video. Be it parties, special dates or ordinary school days, Michelle gives you a wide variety of interesting looks to suit the occasion.

Michelle’s videos incorporate products from her own makeup line, Em Cosmetics, which was released last year and is available for international shipping. Instead of emphasising how good her products are, she chooses to inform viewers about how she is using them to achieve a specific look.

bubzbeauty
For hair tutorials

PHOTO: YOUTUBE/BUBZBEAUTY

With more than 80 hair tutorial videos and more than 300 million video views, “bubzbeauty” is a channel you cannot miss. The channel offers many simple yet classy hair tutorials that can be done within minutes. Five Minute Natural Curls: Girl Next Door Look and 6 Quick Summer Hairstyles are examples of types of hair tutorials available on this five-year-old channel. “bubzbeauty” is recommended for those who are looking for quick and easy ways to jazz up their hairstyles.

itsjudytime
For makeup and hair product reviews

PHOTO: YOUTUBE/ITSJUDYTIME

With this channel, one can expect personal, first-hand advice and honest opinions, as if given from the customer’s perspective. Filipino-American Judith Gutierrez Travis, otherwise known as Judy Travis, from beauty channel itsjudytime, does first impression reviews for both makeup and hair products. There are more than 50 such videos, ranging from products such as Revlon Colourstay Foundation and Conair Multi-Size Hot Rollers.

This channel is perfect for those who are interested in popular makeup and hair products but do not have the chance to sample them. Many of the products reviewed are also affordable drugstore brands. Although some are unavailable in Singapore, shipping is available for most of these products.