1. Tapping off eyeshadow all over the place
Listen, I can just about handle thirty minute PR unboxings of thousands of dollars worth of products and vlogs of glamorous parties with Rihanna. Just about. But where I draw the line is the blatant wasting of product that comes with tapping off your eyeshadow brush to remove the excess pigment - not back into the pan like a normal person, but right onto the floor.
These beauty gurus literally tap off enough product every year to paint the faces of an entire Australian outback town.
2. Creating looks that are totally unwearable
I could try and describe this, but I think it's easier if I just show you an example of what I mean.
Take a look at this recent Instagram upload from @cakefacerj.
Is @cakefacerj's painting of a shark cute, whimsical, and worthy of a spot in a yearly calendar for seven year olds who are really into marine biology? Sure! Is it something I actually want on my face? Absolutely not!
It might be time for some beauty influencers to put down the foundation and pick up the oil paints, because there's literally no reason for this kind of look to exist on someone's face. And don't even get me started on squiggly brows...
3. Facetuning for filth
If you didn't know, Facetune seems to be the app preferred by beauty gurus everywhere to blend a pore, enlarge a lip or make that inner corner highlight pop.
James Charles actually uploaded a pretty fascinating/terrifying video of him Facetuning his followers selfies, and the results were insane.
View this video on YouTube
Although a flick of the finger on Facetune may just be an art in and of itself, we can't help but be a little scared at just how easy it is to turn into a totally different person. Photo editing apps like these used to be reserved for the photographic elite: now they've been democratised to a level in which anyone can become the Picasso of their own destiny. Airbrushing has always been around, but now on Instagram it's quite literally everywhere.
4. Begging for subscribers to "ring the bell"
Beauty gurus were bad enough when they were asking us to subscribe and "smash" the like button, but now we have to deal with them begging for us to "ring the bell" as well.
5. Celebrity collaborations
Maybe it's just me, but I feel as though the reason a lot of us started watching beauty gurus in the first place is because they felt, acted and looked like real people. Watching someone transform from your neighbourhood check out chick to a red carpet-ready starlet was part of the fun.
Now, not only are beauty gurus starting to look more and more like celebrities themselves (thanks, Juvaderm), they're inviting celebrities to their channels as well.
View this video on YouTube
As much as I love Kim's look in this video, it doesn't strike me as anywhere near as interesting as some of the transformations I've seen beauty gurus perform on themselves. Call me crazy, but I'd rather see a truly plain person go from not to hot than see a celebrity with all the natural (and surgical) advantages in the world throw on a bit of contour and call it a day.
6. Obnoxious referral codes
Morphe codes are so commonplace now that beauty gurus have basically become a parody of themselves with their constant parroting of, "Use code *insert name here* for 10% off!" Not only is it annoying and borderline greedy, it also makes it almost impossible to tell if people are really enjoying the products they're reviewing, or if they just wanna make sure they'll have enough money for their Porsche service next Tuesday.
7. Obscenely young children painting their faces like seasoned drag queens
Okay, so to be honest this one has nothing to do with the gurus themselves doing anything wrong and everything to do with the way my self-esteem plummets every time I see a flawless makeup look from someone who can't even legally drive yet.
This boy, @amirlovesmakeuppp is only 13 years old and already has better makeup skills than most of the grown women I know.
8. Racist controversies
Obviously this is something we should all be striving to leave behind, but it does seem as though racist controversies as a trend apply more to beauty gurus than to other member's of the population.
Just off the top of my head, here's a list of YouTuber's with a history of racist comments or actions:
• Gabriel Zimora
• James Charles
• Jeffree Star
• Kat Von D
• Kathleen Lights
• Laura Lee
• Manny MUA
• Nikita Dragun
As Ghandi himself once said:
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