My topic will discuss how social media has influenced the beauty industry. YouTube, Instagram and Twitter users use the platforms to gain knowledge from beauty bloggers on what makeup to buy and how to apply it. This has turned the beauty industry on its head and it directly influences how brands market and design their products. Social media has also influenced trends in beauty and allowed viewers to go from amateur to artist.
It all started with Michelle Phan. She is the first beauty blogger (someone who makes tutorials/ runs a beauty account) that made a career off of a beauty blog account. Three years after uploading her first video to YouTube, she was brought on by Lancôme to be the first video makeup artist. This is extremely important because now anyone can get advice from a professional makeup artist without having to go to a cosmetics counter. This information comes from: http://www.refinery29.com/2015/12/99728/beauty-industry-social-media-effect
Along with this explosion of knowledge, there are also “Insta-famous” products. A beauty blogger uses a product that they think is amazing, so another beauty blogger tries it and loves it, so then someone else tries it. Then, their followers try it and love it, causing a frenzy to get the must have product. Brands pay every close attention to this, so they often send PR packages to the well known bloggers in hopes that they’ll love the product and generate sales. So for the brands, it’s free advertisement. This also lead to brand collaborating with YouTubers to create limited edition products. They then show off their collab on their social media (free advertising again) and the product sells out within hours. Some bloggers become so successful that they’re able to launch their own cosmetics line, like Jeffree Star. He’s responsible for the liquid lipstick craze. His brand is sold entirely online and sells out within hours of product being launched and his social media presence is entirely responsible.
So, who is talking? Everyone. Well, everyone in the beauty industry. It’s impossible, I think, to be involved in the beauty industry without knowing at lease something about what’s happening within the beauty community online. Even if you don’t follow what’s happening, just imagine going to the cosmetics counter one day and suddenly your bronzer is now called “contour” all because Kim K starting wearing it on the daily (because no she didn’t discover nor create it). Surely you would ask questions as to why you need to use contour and not bronzer and you would definitely need to ask how to contour. Or imagine the heart break of going to buy the lipstick you’ve used for 20 years only to discover that it was discontinued because that shade isn’t what’s treading online. It is virtually impossible to buy a cosmetic product that hasn’t been reviewed or used in a tutorial somewhere online. And, overall, the conversations that people are having about this influence are seeming to be pretty positive. The one major negative that I have discovered is that people are saying it creates unrealistic beauty standards. Now, I’m not saying that it doesn’t nor am I saying that this isn’t an issue or problematic BUT creating unrealistic beauty standards isn’t new. Print magazines and television have been doing this since their conception. The argument that I have to combat this is that the tutorials that are creating these unrealistic standards are designed to teach the viewer how to do whatever it is that the tutorial aims to teach. So, in theory, the standards are only unrealistic if the viewer does not have the skill set to use the tips and tricks they are being taught. I know that this is problematic because one can go around in circles attacking both sides of the argument. None the less I do not think that the bloggers ever aim to create unrealistic standards; rather they want to share their artistry with the world.