Michelle Phan Chats Viral Videos, Contouring, Kardashians, and Working with Michelle Obama
Yahoo Beauty chats with the entrepreneur. (Photo: Michelle Phan)
You may roll your eyes at the word “vloggers,” but Michelle Phan proves they’re a force to be reckoned with. Fresh off the launch of her new ICON blogging network, Phan has had quite a year reaching over 1 billion streams on YouTube and a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Tack on her subscription service, Ipsy, which is slated to gross over $120 million, her cosmetics line, beauty contracts, and a book, and you’ve got yourself a megastar. I caught up with Phan to uncover her secrets for success, her take on the makeup trends of the moment, what it was like working with Michelle Obama on Let Girls Learn, and why she feels vloggers are more influential than the Kardashians.
Joanna Douglas: You really worked to set your self apart from other vloggers. What made you want to help up-and-comers with the Icon network?
Michelle Phan: I am taking the knowledge I learned over the past eight years and creating an ecosystem for anyone who wants to follow in my footsteps and achieve the same thing. I am so excited to give people the resources and tools to build their brand. If they want to develop a makeup line, a fashion line, or kitchenware stuff we can make that happen for them, and we can help build out their YouTube channel so that it is authentic to their viewers. If they want to dream big, they can have their own TV show or they have a really cool high production show online.
How can you stand out as a beauty blogger or vlogger nowadays?
One of my friends and colleagues — her name is RAEview — is known for being the “It” girl for luxury beauty products. You don’t just run and buy luxury products, it’s an investment piece so she was able to find this niche market. For those who are shopping online and can’t touch and feel the product, she takes microscopic shots of fibers on the mascara, she tells you the texture, and illustrates every single detail. We just developed a travel show with her where she travels around the world and reviews luxury things — not just beauty products.
What made you initially join YouTube?
I am an early adopter whenever there is a new platform. In 2007 I decided to upload beauty tutorials to YouTube because I noticed how followers on my blog wanted more beauty tips. I knew that this was the place to showcase my work and my creativity.
Did you ever think it would amount to you having one billion streams?
YouTube was was very early in its infancy. You went on YouTube if you wanted to discover long-lost videos, commercials, funny clips, cats playing on the piano, people karaokeing. But Andy Warhol said, “People in the future will have their 15 minutes of fame.” But now people have their 15 seconds of fame. It’s achievable and it’s amazing.
Have you discovered a secret formula to make a video to go viral?
You can’t really predict when and where lightning is going to strike. You can kind of have a guestimate based on what trends are happening and upload at just the right moment.
How did you get interested in the beauty world?
I specialized in portrait painting and I went to illustration school with a strong background in color theory and blending. Makeup products are like colors and the canvas is the face and you can create your our own masterpiece. Some people see makeup as vanity, but in my opinion makeup enhances our way of expressing how we feel on the inside, our beauty.
Some people criticize vloggers and think these tutorials are frivolous and excessive or made by people who are too inexperienced. What do you think about that?
You are expressing your inner beauty and you know what, you are not harming anyone. If you are not inflicting any pain, guilt, or harming anyone — why should you stop doing what you love? Whenever somebody tells me that it’s shallow, I always tell them, “You know what you are a small-minded person. Have an open mind. If you come in with a closed mind, come in with a closed mouth.”
You recently worked with Michelle Obama on Let Girls Learn. How was that?
Amazing. She radiates beauty because she has so much kindness in her heart and she is just fiercely intelligent. We are working closely with the Peace Corps and they are getting people on the ground locally to teach and to bring education to girls who don’t have access to education or where it is dangerous to get an education. And as for the first lady, her hair and makeup and fashion was on point. When she sat down I said, “You look stunning.” And she was like, “Oh my gosh, I have a lot of help!”
What do you feel is the biggest beauty trend right now?
Everyone is Korean beauty obsessed. And contouring is very popular right now—it was big in the ‘90s but no one really knew how to contour. There were no beauty tutorials back then for mass consumers to watch so contouring was almost like a makeup artist secret. What YouTube and the internet did was remove the smoke and mirrors and reveal the process.
Many people attribute the Kardashians for making contouring a mainstream trend.
Um, no! I don’t give them credit for that. I have never seen any of those Kardashian girls creating a beauty tutorial. They get a lot of help with their makeup. If anything I saw more beauty vloggers create beauty tutorials on how to look like the Kardashians and how to do contouring. I am all about teaching those tips and giving people the access to see that they are in control of their own beauty and that nothing is ever perfect. What you see in photos of these celebrities are often Photoshopped with a filter on it.
What is the tip to looking great in videos?
Lighting is crucial because it raises the shadows on your face and brings out your skin color, and your eye color. It’s best to sit in front of a window and pull a sheer curtain over it to soften the light. You can also add a white piece of paper underneath your face to illuminate and hide shadows. Also if you want to have that really beautiful big eyed, small face look put your camera a little bit higher.
What is your current makeup obsession?
Right now I have been using a lot of highlighters. Adding a touch on your cheekbones, your cupid’s bow, the tip of your nose, and the inner corners of the eyes gives skin that natural dewy glow. There’s a jumbo pencil by Chella that I use, and Temptu and Charlotte Tilbury make good ones, too. From my own line, Em Cosmetics, we have a highlighter called The Golden Hour.
You try so many makeup looks. Do you have an intense cleansing regimen?
I believe in having a really good strong nightly routine and simple morning routine for skincare. I don’t wash my face in the morning. I recommend using oil cleansers to break down any makeup products. Oil breaks down pigments — I know this from painting. I like Shu Uemura’s and King to the Kong’s. Next I like to use a mask — I use a different mask every night. It’s nice to treat your skin. Then I take it off and use a vitamin C infused serum. I pat it on my skin and afterwards I’ll use the Kaiser red LED light therapy device. It goes through your epidermis and helps stimulate collagen growth in your skin. NASA scientists, when they were growing plants in space, noticed that whenever they were using red LED light the plants grew faster. I have been using it for years and it has saved my skin.
How do you come up with ideas for your own brand of cosmetics?
I am inspired by my followers and what they are suggesting and needing and wanting. They are always saying “Michelle, I have dark circles” so I made an amazing dark circle concealer called The Great Coverup. My followers also want to learn how to contour and they want something more simplified so I created the first ever dual-ended contouring stick two years ago.
You have some apps coming out, you have your Ipsy subscription service. How do you find time to do all this?
[Laughs] I’m good at maximizing my time. I can do my entire face and get ready within five minutes!
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