Working in an industry that’s mainly based on appearance can be pretty draining at times. Yes, it’s nice to be able to fawn over the latest Kendall Jenner lipstick or swoon at the utter gorgeousness of Jaclyn Hill for Becca’s new Champagne Pop highlighter, but at the end of the day, makeup is makeup. It’s a material item that can make us look better – or a whole lot worse depending on who has the brushes.
When I think about the beauty industry, I think about my job as a makeup artist, my fellow makeup artists, beauty bloggers and vloggers, the actual cosmetic brands and of course, the social media influence.
After constant discussions with clients and friends about the industry that I absolutely love, I thought I’d write a post about the parts of it that I don’t love so much too. So, here are my four things I hate about the beauty industry on social media.
1. The impossible expectations from what we see on social media
What do we see from the girls who have some serious instafame through beauty work? Lavish holidays, the latest cosmetic offerings, fancy food in posh restaurants, perfected makeup 24/7 even upon just waking up…the list is endless. But what you probably don’t realise is that this is just a snippet of their lives that they all WANT you to see. Just like my own Instagram, I’m not going to share a picture of myself sat at home in my joggers, my hair up in a bun, makeup free with my glasses on working on future blog posts, because that’s not what I want you all to see. What I want you to see is the beautiful products I’m reviewing, glamorous makeovers or pretty views from the places I visit. It’s important to realise that Instagram or Facebook isn’t always real life, it’s digital and it’s majorly edited just like that ‘natural’ selfie of your favourite insta makeup guru. People are real, and real life isn’t always a walk in the park despite what you think after scrolling down the newsfeed.
2. The cost of keeping relevant
Writing a blog isn’t easy or cheap. If you’re just starting out or haven’t been lucky enough to have been approached by a PR agency who want to send you some products for review purposes, the chances are that hard earned cash is coming out of your pocket to pay for the goods. And for what? A few extra hits on the blog? There’s nothing to say that your review will be the next big thing or even bring a load of work your way, and what I find disheartening is when girls even younger than myself are bankrupting themselves trying to keep relevant by keeping up with the cost of buying into the latest products. Yes, it’s great to be ahead of the game, but when you’re struggling to put food on the table or don’t even use the product after you’ve reviewed it, you’ve got some serious issues going on. Working in an industry like this, there’s always going to be some new next big thing, the skill is to identify which really are worth hopping aboard for and which to say bon voyage to.
3. Keeping up appearances
One thing I get asked all the time is this, “how do you manage to wear a full face of makeup each day?!‘ The truth is, I don’t! If I’m not going out or if I don’t feel like it, I don’t wear any makeup at all. I might run the risk of seeing one of my clients in my bare-faced state, but really, who cares? What people should be buying into is your skill, your expertise, your character. Your appearance should be by the by. I’m not saying it’s okay to be scruffy, but who cares if you aren’t constantly full on glamorous? Does it seriously matter if you forgo the contour one day? No, of course it doesn’t, but with the constant uploads of gorgeous, practically perfect females thrust upon us each time we open an app, we’re bound to feel the pressure to succumb to the daily makeup tirade. I adore makeup and there’s nothing that makes me feel better than a full face of the stuff, but for goodness sake, give it some perspective. And all these images that you don’t think are edited? LOL.
4. The trolling
Again, as with any industry, there’s always going to be competition, but there’s something about the makeup industry that seems to make girls and boys alike turn into little green-eyed monsters. When did it become okay to bash another artists work so publicly and so distastefully? I can’t tell you how many makeup artists and YouTube vloggers I’ve come across who have been the subject of absolute hate comments along with seriously derogatory remarks not only about their makeup skills, but about them personally. It really does have to stop. We’re the first generation that’s really indulged in this horrible act of trolling when what we actually should be doing is encouraging and helping our peers. Something you might not believe, but I assure you it’s true, is that makeup artists like myself would prefer to actually band together and unite rather than start a war against each other. It’s not okay to treat each other this way and that one nasty comment can be all it takes to tip somebody off the edge. Working in this industry requires a thick skin and sometimes, it’s hard to keep wading along.
For the most part of my experience in the industry, I’ve found a lot of lovely people, got to try out some amazing products and learned that it’s okay to not always be 100% glamified. I’ve learned that things aren’t always what they seem on the surface and that often, people embellish their lives to make things a little more exciting. That’s okay. What we have to keep remembering is that we aren’t anything less than anybody else and that we can all appear to have an ideal life if we use a bunch of filters.
© This post is copyright of Rachael Divers 2015.
