What happened to the beauty gurus of early YouTube?

I have a question for the internet overlords: WHERE DID ALL THE BEAUTY YOUTUBERS GO?

Okay wait I have two questions: WHERE DID ALL THE BEAUTY YOUTUBERS GO, and can we pretty please bring them back?

It was May 20, 2007 when Michelle Phan posted a video on YouTube called 'Natural Looking Makeup Tutorial.'

She didn’t know it at the time, but this gave birth to a new genre of content the world had never seen before.

In the decade to follow, the genre would see the rise and fall of many creators. There would be scandals that would blow the roof off a place. And tutorials that set an entire generation up with bomb-ass makeup skills to a last a lifetime.

This was the big bang of influencer content.

And despite the fact that we're well and truly in the age of influencer culture, there is nothing quite like it today.

The beauty gurus of YouTube were defined by their extremely long-form content, dramatic cut-crease eye makeup tutorials, DIY beauty tips, and product recommendations.

Creators like Nikkie Tutorials, Zoella, Jefree Star, James Charles & Shaanxo were among the first to capture the attention and hearts of young girls. How? By tapping into bedroom culture, filming something that was previously private and done solo.

'The typically domestic, bedroom settings in which these tutorials were filmed and viewed, as well as the use of filming techniques like close-ups, encouraged strong bonds of intimacy to develop between viewers and creators,' explains Rachel Berryman, digital influencer researcher at Curtin University, Perth.

I can’t tell you how I first stumbled upon them in my early teens. But I can tell you once I did, I would watch literal hours’ worth of these videos. I was both enamoured and inspired by these gurus and their seemingly effortless ways of developing full glam looks. And I desperately tried (and mostly failed) to recreate them.

That was, until these creators got lost in the landslide of short form content we consume so much of now.

So, what happened?

Capitalism.

Ok, I know that’s my excuse for everything. BUT it’s kind of valid here.

Back then, these creators weren't making content just for views. This made their videos feel authentic because they weren't trying to sell you anything.

But soon, advertisers got their hands on this exploding phenomenon. They realised they could capitalise on the online communities beauty creators had built. And it was game over.

At its peak in 2019, the beauty industry was valued at $532 billion. This number is largely attributed to the YouTube beauty gurus who would influence their subscribers to purchase the products they recommended. YouTube had turned into a giant marketing tool for brands.

This commodification of beauty content changed the genre's target market completely.

The original videos were aimed at tweens and teens like myself at the time. They were relatable because they were about expression, community, and creativity.

I could also walk down to the drugstore and buy a $12 cream blush to try out for my next look with my pocket money, no issue.

Nowadays, creators want to target older audiences who actually have disposable income. And beauty brands are recommending products and giving advice that just isn’t as relatable to preteens today.

Hence the ‘tweens in Sephora buying drunk elephant’ phenomenon.

There were other factors that influenced the downfall of the YouTube beauty guru era.

The dramas and scandals that ended in serious allegations of grooming and racism probably didn’t help.

Then TikTokers came along and basically wiped long-form beauty content off the map.

And now, all we have are old videos of crackle nail polish and bright pink cut-creases to remind us of a time in internet culture that was far more innocent and wholesome.

The experience of YouTube back then felt far more community-based and unified than the social media experience today.

Will we ever experience something so pure again?

One can only wish upon a (Jeffree) Star.

-Sophie, Writer

🎙️ Didn’t get enough? We took an even deeper dive into where the beauty YouTubers went and how the landscape changed on this week’s YAP Podcast. Catch the full conversation here.