By Dana Oliver, Huffington Post
Michelle Phan’s incredible journey from bedroom vlogger to beauty entrepreneur makes us reevaluate every second we spend scrolling through celebrity Instagram feeds. The former art school student, who uploaded her first YouTube makeup tutorial six years ago, has garnered over 5 million YouTube subscribers and nearly one billion video views.
Michelle Phan
With so many eyes on Phan ‘s steady hand and ears tuned into her reassuring voice, it’s no surprise that she was able to turn her passion into a profitable enterprise. She is the founder of FAWN (a YouTube lifestyle network for women), the brains behind the beauty social networking site and sampling program Ipsy and, most recently, Phan launched her own cosmetics line backed by L’Oréal called Em . And she’s accomplished all of this by the age of 26.
Phan may now be a part of the millionaire’s club , but after recently talking to the YouTube guru, we’re convinced she’s the same humble girl she was back in this amateur natural makeup video . Below, she reminisces about her earliest makeup memories, sounds off on “no-makeup” selfies and shares the secrets to her flawless complexion (hint: it involves honey).
On how her love affair with makeup got started… The first time someone applied makeup on me was when I was five years old. It was my mother, of course, and Halloween. I was supposed to dress up as a lion because that was the only costume we had. So she took out her red lipstick and drew this upside down red triangle on my nose and drew three whiskers on my cheeks.
The first time I remember seeing makeup was when I was at my mom’s nail salon. I was three or four years old and I was there during her lunch break while she was putting red lipstick on. So again, I think red is a vibrant, eye-catching color that just grabs your attention.
On how she’s evolved with her fans… I think back then there weren’t a lot of variety of makeup tutorials that were readily available for viewers. So a lot of people were just asking me how to do the basic smokey eye, how to use concealer… those very basic and simple things. As I progressed, my subscribers did with me and they wanted to learn other tricks like how to create a smoldering smokey eye and how to use glitter on the eyes. It was really interesting how I was improving my makeup skills and my subscribers were improving with me.
On the celebrities she wish she could transform… Audrey Hepburn — I would have loved to create a punk-rock look on her. Or Marilyn Monroe. She’s known for her classic red lip, but I’d want to do a more doll-like look. Something really innocent.
On the one beauty product she uses every day… I use sunscreen every single day, even if I’m not going outside in the sun because I’m near a window. I can always get those UV rays on my face, so I always apply sunscreen on my face and neck. It’s like brushing my teeth, I feel weird if I don’t apply sunscreen.
On what she absolutely steers clear of in YouTube videos… Anything that’s very racial I try to stay away from. I try my best not to step on anyone’s toes when it comes to gender, religion or beliefs. I’m very secular when it comes to my videos. It’s all about the makeup.
Read the full article by Dana Oliver, Huffington Post.
