The Beauty Guru Fever

We’ve all witnessed the foolishness; you’re scrolling down your Instagram feed one day, and you come across a video of someone applying his or her makeup with a hardboiled egg. Surprisingly, this is no longer an unfamiliar occurrence. In recent years, the number of so-called “beauty gurus” who have taken to social media platforms has proliferated.

Their influence seems to be as prominent as ever as young people around the world mimic trends in hair, makeup, and clothing, inspired by none other than beauty gurus. Though many of these trends may seem strange at first, they are soon devoured by the youth. It is evident that beauty influencers are transforming youth culture, one BeautyBlender at a time.

A beauty guru is a person who has a passion for some aspect of beauty, such as hair, nails, or most popularly, makeup. On social media platforms, especially YouTube and Instagram, gurus express their zeal for beauty by reviewing cosmetic products, creating hair, nail, and makeup tutorials, sharing their beauty tips and tricks, and most recently, creating challenge videos in which they race to complete their makeup in under a minute, apply a full face of children’s makeup, or complete other goofy tasks.

According to Media Life Magazine, their main demographic is women of ages 14-34, though it is not rare to find a male beauty junkie as well. 17-year-old, self-taught makeup artist James Charles became the first male spokesmodel for cosmetic brand Covergirl in 2016, setting a milestone in upsetting traditional gender roles. Bretman Rock, Jeffree Star, and Angel Merino are a few other well-known names in the community of makeup lovers.

According to YouGov polling firm, one-third of Americans are indifferent to males wearing makeup. This is a significant change from the stigma surrounding boys wearing makeup that we have seen in the past. Together, male beauty influencers help break down the barriers set by society, which discourage boys from dabbling in makeup.

In modern social media, beauty gurus are extremely prevalent on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, with the top beauty vloggers having an average of 2.1 million followers or subscribers, according to TubeFilter. Your own peers are most likely well-acquainted with at least one guru.

This popularity has allowed the impact of newly bred trends to skyrocket as we see young people explore intriguing style choices like feather brows and rainbow eyeliner. Kylie Jenner, a growing personality and trendsetter in the makeup industry, created a daring trend last August when she posed in an Instagram photo clad in jeans with rips on her butt.

At first, many were shocked and confused as to what the appeal of bare-butt jeans was. However, this style was soon adopted and appreciated by many young girls, which was not completely unexpected, considering Jenner’s colossal follower count. Some argue whether the enormous influence that Jenner wields is positively impacting the youth or simply inspiring mindless behavior, such as the popular “Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge,” in which teenagers used the suction from bottles or glasses to swell their lips and mimic Jenner’s famous pout.

Though this dangerous practice is an example of social influence gone awry, the positive aspects of Jenner’s immense influence outweigh the negatives. Though she isn’t exactly changing the world, she is setting an example for the youth in terms of appreciating one’s individuality and straying from the norm when it comes to style, all while building her empire as a young entrepreneur.

Along with setting trends, there has been an increasing number of products being promoted by these beauty influencers lately, whether it be in the form of sponsorships or reviews. One of the most famous examples of these social media-built brands is Huda Beauty. This brand was developed by Huda Kattan, who has been ranked Top Beauty Influencer by Forbes and boasts over 20 million Instagram followers.

Perhaps the most sought-after product in her makeup line is her false lashes, which hordes of makeup lovers, including Kim Kardashian, swear by. The majority of Kattan’s advertising for the brand is done on her Instagram page, which goes to show just how beneficial it can be to use social media as a publicizing platform.

Another brand that has earned much praise from the beauty guru community—and thus has seen a major boost in popularity—is Farsali Care. This skincare brand was created by beauty blogger Farah Dhukai and her husband Sal Ali. Like Huda Beauty, Farsali Care is largely promoted on Instagram, where over one million followers can scroll through the brand’s page and view descriptions, advertisements, and reviews of its products. Dhukai further publicizes Farsali Care to almost two million subscribers on her YouTube channel.

The total revenue of the cosmetic industry was a whopping $62.46 billion in 2016, having risen from $53 billion in 2010, according to statistics portal Statista. During the same period of time, there was a 90 percent increase in the number of beauty channels on YouTube, according to CultureMachines polling firm.

This flourishing market, nurtured by the growing beauty guru trend, has led to a surge in the popularity of products created by beauty gurus. As these products are reviewed and featured in makeup tutorials and circulated within the beauty community, the gurus encourage viewers to succumb to consumerism culture. Given the huge following that this community maintains, it’s no surprise that marketing done by beauty gurus further propels their popularity as well as their products.

Beauty influencers are no strangers to sponsorships, either. From teeth whitening kits to tummy toning tea, there is a vast range of products that companies pay beauty gurus to advertise. Companies often propose sponsorship offers to beauty gurus because of their large following and exposure.

From their questionable style trends to their signature makeup tutorials, beauty gurus have helped us become desensitized to the practices that would have once resulted in reverberating culture shock, such as boys wearing makeup or people sprinkling glitter in their hair.

Pictures and videos demonstrating such distinctive applications appear constantly on various platforms of social media, gaining exposure until they finally begin to inspire young people to take part in creating their own unique style, which gradually leads to a stronger sense of self-identity and love.

This is what sets the youth apart from previous generations: a greater general acceptance of individual flawed beauty, uniqueness, and originality. Beauty gurus have helped us hugely in achieving this, and it seems that they will continue to do so.