By: Kat Rodriguez
I get inspired by a lot of beauty influencers on YouTube by their makeup techniques and how they play with multiple different colors in creative ways; they also inspire me to follow my dreams of becoming a makeup artist. But at times they can have a negative impact on myself and other viewers by their drama, past racist remarks, and mistakes they’ve made that end up coming back to bite them.
Jeffree Star is a beauty influencer that does makeup tutorials, reviews on makeup products and also has a million dollar makeup company that is called “Jeffree Star Cosmetics”. Jeffree is a huge controversial YouTuber because he has a history of racial remarks and scandals with celebrities.
Jeffree Star had a video of him saying The N-word with a hard R multiple times, which received huge amounts of backlash.
According to an article by Macaela Mackenzie from Alurre.com, Star addressed the seriousness of the disgusting, vile, nasty and embarrassing comments he's made in the past. Jeffree says, "I think that racism is a very serious subject — especially in today’s world, I’m embarrassed as a person because that is not what I’ve ever stood for," he said. "I’m all about self-expression, self-worth, and self-love.”
The article also mentions that Star said he was depressed, angry at the world, and seeking attention as a teen. Jeffree stated, "The main problem I think with growing up and with looking a certain way and looking different is that you don’t understand why people don’t accept you. I was a very angry child," he says. "If you take one thing from this video, please do not make the same mistakes I did," he told fans.
After all, Jeffree has finally learned from his mistakes and realized that he needs to set an example for his fans.
But Jeffree Star isn't the only beauty influencer who has made some mistakes. Laura Lee is a beauty youtuber who does makeup reviews, makeup tutorials and she has also have been able to create her own makeup brand and launch her own palette. But she recently had some old tweets rise to the surface which I have personally seen all over the internet and I can say they are horrible and disgusting. This scandal caused her to lose nearly half a million of her subscribers.
I get inspired by a lot of beauty influencers on YouTube by their makeup techniques and how they play with multiple different colors in creative ways; they also inspire me to follow my dreams of becoming a makeup artist. But at times they can have a negative impact on myself and other viewers by their drama, past racist remarks, and mistakes they’ve made that end up coming back to bite them.
Jeffree Star is a beauty influencer that does makeup tutorials, reviews on makeup products and also has a million dollar makeup company that is called “Jeffree Star Cosmetics”. Jeffree is a huge controversial YouTuber because he has a history of racial remarks and scandals with celebrities.
Jeffree Star had a video of him saying The N-word with a hard R multiple times, which received huge amounts of backlash.
According to an article by Macaela Mackenzie from Alurre.com, Star addressed the seriousness of the disgusting, vile, nasty and embarrassing comments he's made in the past. Jeffree says, "I think that racism is a very serious subject — especially in today’s world, I’m embarrassed as a person because that is not what I’ve ever stood for," he said. "I’m all about self-expression, self-worth, and self-love.”
The article also mentions that Star said he was depressed, angry at the world, and seeking attention as a teen. Jeffree stated, "The main problem I think with growing up and with looking a certain way and looking different is that you don’t understand why people don’t accept you. I was a very angry child," he says. "If you take one thing from this video, please do not make the same mistakes I did," he told fans.
After all, Jeffree has finally learned from his mistakes and realized that he needs to set an example for his fans.
But Jeffree Star isn't the only beauty influencer who has made some mistakes. Laura Lee is a beauty youtuber who does makeup reviews, makeup tutorials and she has also have been able to create her own makeup brand and launch her own palette. But she recently had some old tweets rise to the surface which I have personally seen all over the internet and I can say they are horrible and disgusting. This scandal caused her to lose nearly half a million of her subscribers.
According to an article by Abby Ohlheiser from The Washington Post, “Lee quickly deleted all of her tweets, and she did not respond to multiple emailed Washington Post requests for comments. On Twitter, she has said two particularly viral racist tweets attributed to her are “fake,” but she has not disputed that she tweeted, “tip for all black people, if you pull your pants up you can run from the police faster #you're welcome” in 2012. She also posted several fat-shaming tweets in 2013.”
Laura Lee later on posted an apology video with the intro to the video showing Lee sobbing. In the video she says “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry to you guys. I’m so sorry for disappointing you. It hurts me so bad to disappoint you all who have supported me for so many years. I know that I’m better than that person.” The video received backlash and was made into a joke since her apology seemed fake and not genuine.
But beauty influencers aren't the only ones ones who have made racist remarks. A beauty brand by the name of Kat Von D has also been considered as racist and disgusting after posting a picture of a woman holding up a concealer with a cotton field in the background, captioning it, “Let Lock-It Concealer do all the hard work for you.”
Many consumers and fans of Kat Von D brand are very disgusted and disappointed, and people were left confused and wondering if it was a joke about slavery.The post received backlash and ended up being removed.
I personally think all these racial scandals with beauty influencers and makeup brands are very disappointing and heartbreaking, especially seeing this from beauty influencers I look up to and make-up brands that I personally use every day.
My dream is to become a makeup artist and a beauty influencer. I want to create and build my own makeup brand because i would love to provide makeup that can be used on many different skin tones and just be very diverse compared to other makeup brands today.
Ultimately I just want to be able to spread positivity by showing that makeup is used to enhance your beauty and not to cover up who you are.
Laura Lee later on posted an apology video with the intro to the video showing Lee sobbing. In the video she says “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry to you guys. I’m so sorry for disappointing you. It hurts me so bad to disappoint you all who have supported me for so many years. I know that I’m better than that person.” The video received backlash and was made into a joke since her apology seemed fake and not genuine.
But beauty influencers aren't the only ones ones who have made racist remarks. A beauty brand by the name of Kat Von D has also been considered as racist and disgusting after posting a picture of a woman holding up a concealer with a cotton field in the background, captioning it, “Let Lock-It Concealer do all the hard work for you.”
Many consumers and fans of Kat Von D brand are very disgusted and disappointed, and people were left confused and wondering if it was a joke about slavery.The post received backlash and ended up being removed.
I personally think all these racial scandals with beauty influencers and makeup brands are very disappointing and heartbreaking, especially seeing this from beauty influencers I look up to and make-up brands that I personally use every day.
My dream is to become a makeup artist and a beauty influencer. I want to create and build my own makeup brand because i would love to provide makeup that can be used on many different skin tones and just be very diverse compared to other makeup brands today.
Ultimately I just want to be able to spread positivity by showing that makeup is used to enhance your beauty and not to cover up who you are.