Make-up artist calls out beauty YouTubers for being unrelatable

With the rise of beauty bloggers and vloggers in Ireland in recent years, what are your thoughts?

Make-up artist calls out beauty YouTubers for being unrelatable

Wayne Goss is a veteren beauty YouTuber, having started his channel back in 2009 as a side project to his career as a professional make-up artist, writes Pam Ryan.

As well as YouTube staples like tutorials, advice videos and make-up hacks, Wayne is no stranger to controversy, having previously called out his fellow beauty vloggers for using live Photoshop in their videos.

In his latest video, How YouTube and Beauty Guru's stopped inspiring us, he explains that he was watching a make-up tutorial when he realised how YouTube has changed in recent years.

"The production quality of it was so high, there had to have been a crew there of at least three, with three different cameras at three different angles and this was just for her main channel. The editing of it as well was done beautifully and while I was watching it I was just thinking other than the beauty of it, how extreme YouTube has become in terms of production. Especially with larger channels, there are people editing the videos, there are people helping with the wording, there is lighting that you can't see and there are multiple cameras at every different angle to create the most beautiful shot.

"We're seeing more and more YouTube channels and beauty channels and we're watching their evolution but the evolution to me is anything but inspiring. It is a room that is the most beautiful vanity room you've ever seen, with every kind of cosmetic behind you that you can think of and it's all the really high end stuff. And then there's your handbags and they're Prada and they're Gucci and they're Chanel and they're Birkins and you're doing 'What's in my handbag' and it's these handbags that I've just mentioned and you're wearing Chanel and I don't find that inspiring at all. I find it the complete opposite, it doesn't inspire me to be better, to strive for more, it just makes me think there is something so fundamentally wrong.

"Now there's nothing wrong with bettering yourself, with progressing farther in your career and often times as you go farther in your career more money comes your way and that's all wonderful things, but the blatantness of it is something that I struggle with when I watch it. Everything about my channel other than the camera I use is the same, the background is still the same, everything is still the same, so when I watch other channels and I see their growth and I see their budget it doesn't inspire me, it just makes me feel very, very uncomfortable because we're watching them become richer and richer and bigger and bigger and their houses are getting larger and larger and I don't think 'oh my god I really need that', it does the opposite I just think 'no', there's something about it that just doesn't sit well with me."

Wayne said he wants to start a conversation and wanted to get feedback from his subscribers on his views.

He received no shortage of responses.

"Thank you for speaking about this. I feel the exact same way."

"It's hard for me to relate to them anymore. Especially all the sponsored videos. I feel like I'm watching an informercial."

"I remember a video from this beauty guru talking about how she organises all her pants. And she had this huuuge closet of stuff, you know how it is. At the end she said "Let me know how you organise your pants!" and the most popular comment read "I have two pairs of pants - one blue and one black. I fold them and put them in my closet." :D :D :D"

"The beauty of YouTube is that you can RELATE and that feeling of a simple friend talking to you from their bedroom..... authenticity and uniqueness are slowly disappearing."

"I started watching youtube in 2006, it was much more real and personable. As soon as money got involved everyone sold their souls for fake relationships, fake face//bodies and fake happiness fake "goal" lifestyles. Social media and money has destroyed creativity. Everyone dresses the same, dances the same, does the same make up...it's sad."

"It seems over the last couple years they have quit teaching and just selling."

"I think a lot of the big Youtubers are quite far removed from the reality of their subscriber's life. They just like to flaunt their wealth and the privileges they get anytime they can. I stop subscribing to some of the big Youtubers because I get bored with their lavish lifestyle and never ending fakery/arrogance they show us. I get that they're successful and want to show it off, but is it really necessary to do it all the time?? I don't think so."

"I just want to watch normal, genuine people apply normal, wearable makeup to normal faces which have varying features and blemishes. I'm so bored of filtered cookie cutter beauty gurus, and the wealth that they flaunt. Good on them to be doing so well, but it's not what I watch youtube for. It's not relatable, and it's not inspiring to me."

"Unfortunately, youtube, like most entertainment, has been utterly tainted by corporations and commercialism. Youtube is no longer a space of creativity; it is now just reality television, aiming to impress viewers with unachievable standards of wealth and beauty. Honestly, I think it's best to understand that like any social media platform, youtubers work meticulously to show us only the highlights of their lives and we should not indulge too much in this kind of content, because it is addictive and damaging to our perceptions of self and the importance of consumer choice."

But not everyone agreed with Wayne.

"It shouldn't bug people that others are getting better, progressing, getting richer, or happy with their blessings!"

"I don't think getting money and being able to create content that is more sleek means they are "fake" or sellouts. I commend them for being able to grow their channels to the point where they generate more income. I think this is a skill. It is entertainment. The judgement that they are less authentic or have changed when they get money is a moot one because they were never "knowable" to anyone in the first place. They always show a small facet of themselves on their videos anyway."

"I love seeing beautiful and luxurious things that I cannot afford and I appreciate youtubers who showcase these things. I personally don't see it as bragging because if I like what I am seeing, then I'll continue watching. If not, I can simply close the video and look for something else that might interest me. To each his own."

You can watch the whole video here.

And in true social media form, other big names joined in on the conversation. Beauty YouTuber Tina Yong, who has 1.6 million subscribers, made a follow up video.

After reading the comments beneath his video, she said she feared she has become a sell-out.

"To some degree I do agree with what Wayne said on his channel that yes, YouTube has changed, the beauty category has changed dramatically. Things are becoming more high production, people are investing in their channels, getting crazy cameras.

"But I also feel that I'm someone that strives to increase the quality of my videos. I always want to better my editing, better my quality of video, but to me I'm just investing in my craft like any other business."

With the rise of beauty bloggers and vloggers in Ireland in recent years, what are your thoughts?

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