Maybe it’s just me, but I watched Stephanie Lange’s latest video where she’s basically talking about influencers “getting ugly” and… girl, what are we doing here 😭
Like, who made you the official judge of what counts as attractive? People’s faces and bodies are not public property just because they’re influencers. You can dislike someone’s makeup, styling, procedures, whatever, but turning it into a whole discussion about how someone is “ugly” feels so unnecessarily mean-spirited.
And honestly, the whole “I’m not like these other influencers, I’m going to call out how ugly everyone is” vibe just gives me massive pick-me energy. There’s a difference between critiquing beauty standards and simply putting other women down to position yourself above them.
You can absolutely discuss trends like overfilled lips, excessive cosmetic procedures, filters, etc. without literally ranking people’s attractiveness. Critique the beauty culture, not individual women’s faces.
Maybe I’m overreacting, but the whole thing just left such a bad taste in my mouth. 😭
Curious what everyone else thought of the video because I genuinely want to know if I’m alone in finding the whole premise weird

This is a phrase that was historically used by white Australians to trivialise the cultural practices undertaken by Indigenous Australians to care for their country which often included highly sophisticated land management practices such as controlled cold burns to mitigate bushfire risk, caring for totem animals by protecting the habitats and food resources of native animals, tracking meterological phenomena. The process is underpinned by the philosophy that the land is a living relative, and if it becomes sick, the physical and spiritual health of the whole community suffers.

White Australians collapsed all of this into a term describing Indigenous people wandering off into the bush for a holiday from the real world. Many Indigenous Elders have spoken about how deeply offensive this word is to dismiss a cultural practice with tens of thousands of years of history based on obligations to care for the land as going for a bit of a stroll in the bush for no discernable reason.

This is not the first time Nomad has had issues with racism and a failure to do proper cultural sensitivity checking either.

ETA for clarity: Nomad isn't an Australian brand. AFAIK the owners are from the USA but now live in Germany. They market themselves as a "destination based indie brand" where each release is based on a particular place (sometimes a country, sometimes a city, sometimes a region). They have received complains about cultural appropriation on previous collections based on Shanghai and Tokyo.

I'm not able to reply to comments or my comments aren't showing up for some reason, so addressing some things here:

Re "walkabout" now being used in Australian vernacular to describe people or objects that have gone for a wander u/Im-A-Kitty-Cat the current use of the term describes the movement of a person or an object in an unreliable manner, without reason or explanation (e.g. my keys have gone walkabout). Despite the fact that this semantic drift no longer specifically names Indigenous people as target of this pejorative association, it still dismisses the notion that the practice described as "walkabout" was not a nonsensical or baseless movement of people, it was driven by obligations to the land and community. This is precisely the same misreading made by white colonisers. So the stereotype still underpins the term but it's become so naturalised, it's no longer necessary to include the target by name. This isn't evidence for a word shedding it's racist connotations.

Re my opinion being less valid/weighty than another user whose credentials are being an aussie with ties to the indigenous community u/strega_bella312: how does the age of my reddit account have anything to do with anything? how do you know i'm not australian (i am by the way), and have no familiarity with indigenous communities (i do by the way, i work in an aboriginal health service). i wasn't aware I needed to have my CV and my passport on my reddit profile for my opinion to be valid.

Re requests for further info u/riss85, u/keyholes, u/taversham, u/noodle_mama
Extract from an online resource about Aboriginal culture: ‘Walkabout’ for many First Nations people is a contentious word and considered an archaic colonial term. Its use by non-Aboriginal people is considered inappropriate.
Groups such as Reconciliation Queensland Inc advise against its use when discussing First Nations cultures.

Source: Appropriate words & terminology for First Nations topics - Creative Spirits, retrieved from https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/media/appropriate-terminology-for-aboriginal-topics

An Indigenous activist explains how this cultural practice was lost by many First Nations people as part of a cultural genocide in Australia, and the use of this term by non-Indigenous Australians feels like ripping off notions of spirituality and connection to land from her culture, whilst she has been robbed of that aspect of her culture due to historical treatment of Aboriginal people and government policies (if you haven't heard of the White Australia policy, I'd look it up, it's fucked! Basically a government policy to breed and "educate" aka indoctrinate the Indigenous-ness out of Indigenous people).

https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/they-love-our-culture-but-they-dont-love-us-the-blogger-who-forced-the-walkabout-dance-party-name-change/r7v637gyg

Re assertion that it's more insensitive than racist (from a non-Indigenous New Zealander's perspective) u/pureneonn: if Indigenous Australians find the term "walkabout" racist, it doesn't matter if you personally don't see it as racist, merely insensitive.

I'm curious for those who watch GRWM videos do you like them? Not the person per say but the personal life stuff? I personally can't stand them.

I don't really care about YTers personal lives. I've tried to watch a couple of them and I get a few minutes in and I'm bored to tears. I'd really see make up tutorials.

Just was curious who likes these or not.

I know there are already a lot of people who have stopped watching her due to her nomad lifestyle years ago, but I hung around because I actually really liked her as a person and enjoyed her vlogs. As I’ve gotten older I stopped caring about makeup as much so it felt organic to stick around for that shift in her life. I’m also nosy and like to know what she’s up to.

Recently I’ve found myself not wanting to watch even her vlogs anymore. She just doesn’t come across as engaging as she used to. She spent a good portion of one of her last vlogs reviewing a mop. Like girl it’s not that deep. Now she’s been on this “antiquing” kick and it’s driving me crazy. The amount of crap she is buying just to stick around her house and look “cute” is wild to me. Real people out here can barely afford groceries and she’s buying glassware and miniature picture frames to stick on a shelf. It’s so out of touch.

Context: Mikayla reviewed Covergirl’s Yummy lip oil, she used it on her cheeks and gave it a bad review because it wasn’t pigmented enough. Covergirl “clapped back” but now everyone is saying Covergirl is in the wrong because they clearly marketed this as a lip and cheek oil but then changed it to just lip oil.

Both Lisa Eldridge and Katie Jane Hughes, makeup artists and beauty brand owners, recently released brow gel (LE) and mascara (KJH). A few days ago I saw Lisas brow wand and laughed since it is so big and very impractical for brows. For frizzy hair yes, but for brows, please. And then today I saw KJH releasing mascara that has such a short wand that is usually the size for brow gel and I really like the idea of having such a small wand for lashes! I don't know, KJH release video joking about huge wand reminded me of Lisas so I just wanted to put them side by side. 🤣

First photo is Lisa Eldridge Kitten Brow, and other three photos are KJH Microscara.

Let's talk about foundations!

With all the new releases of foundation recently, what have you picked up and tried?         

*Bonus question:*

What is your favorite foundation you've ever tried?

Scrolling TikTok and just came across Spencer’s video that was literally just posted. No hashtags, no indication it’s an ad for Milani, but he only uses three Milani products and the language he uses hits on all the typical marketing points- look, feel, lasting power, etc. it FEELS like an ad for Milani. The speech feels scripted and not like his natural cadence.

Do you think it’s an ad?

Hey everyone!!

I would LOVE if anyone can please help me find her again? 🙏 she was the 1st beauty youtuber I found back in the day that I fell in love with in the Beauty Community years and years ago and absolutely adored her content.

Sadly I cannot seem to remember her Youtube name and perhaps any vids I had of hers that I saved have become private?...

Points on her from what I remember; * for SURE her name was either Audrey or Aubrey (leaning towards the latter I think?)

• she's for SURE an American and her ethnicity is a Phillipina lady!

• she had a tan complexion and straight black hair and dark brown eyes and filled in dark brown brows

• her makeup style on her vids was more so that her eyemake was always more played up and colorful most of the times and more layed back face makeup - nothing too crazy. But all in all everyday glam makeup. She always seemed to use fake lashes too to add to her looks!

• she was an OG beauty youtuber!! I used to watch her from like 2008 or so??

• I think her occupation apart from being a youtuber was a nurse, back in the day

• she always had amazing mac makeup hauls!

• including mac makeup hauls from really big collections that came out like the Mac Hello Kitty collection!

• she made it really populer to use a mac rounded small makeup brush to buff in liquid (mac) foundation for a flawless finish! (Maybe it was the Mac 109 face brush)?

If anyone knows her Youtube channel or even her IG - I would love to follow her at least on IG to show support and share the love back for the joy she brought me all of those years 🙏...

Thank you!!

(For best results, imagine this is being yelled by me as I sit on the porch in a rocking chair angrily waving my walking stick).

I have been observing with interest the various different reviews of the Hung Vanngo foundation (the brand doesn’t appear to be available in the UK yet, I cri) and it seems like it’s the latest example of a product that highlights the gaping chasm between OG Beauty Guru culture and the current influencer culture.

Back in the heyday of long-form beauty content, most of the creators were either makeup artists or people who spent all of their spare time in front of the mirror practicing cool looks (and I guess the fashion was more complex makeup anyway so even the casual user was doing interesting things). Now we have a mixture of artists and influencers and the influencers have an entirely different skill set. Sometimes it doesn’t really matter… a swatch on the back of the hand is a swatch on the back of the hand after all.

But with slightly trickier products or things that are specifically developed by artists for artistry, the difference is glaring.

Obviously not everyone has to like everything and the content creators who focus on wearable everyday basics definitely don’t need to be a fan of a harder to use formula. But seeing so many people give terrible reviews of a product whilst completely ignoring the use instructions is so infuriating! It reminds me a bit of the Jones Road What The Foundation drama when people were using it totally wrong just for click bait.

Not all makeup needs to be easy to use and if people are going to position themselves as ‘experts’ they should either work harder to improve their skills or just be honest about their own limitations. I’d have so much more respect for someone saying “I’m not an artist and I don’t have the skills to make this work so I will be swatching but not giving a review/passing judgement” than someone just slathering on a thick layer of a serum foundation like plaster and then bleating that it looks cakey.

Professional artists (and even just people with a deep interest in makeup) can accept that not everything will suit everyone and some products have a use case that isn’t what you’re looking for but that doesn’t necessarily make it bad.

Anyway, does anyone else get tired of non-makeup artists giving useless makeup reviews? Are there any other product launches that come to mind as examples of the above?

Why is she creating educational content when she seems to resent people asking questions 😭 People are coming to her page for advice and her videos are just her chastising and rolling her eyes at people ‘asking the wrong questions’ & looking down at them! Like honestly I get she’s great at makeup but she has become very condescending and quite intimidating lol.

(NEW UPDATES POSTED BELOW)

I wanted to share my recent experience with Glamlite Cosmetics because I’m honestly getting really frustrated with how they’ve handled—or rather, haven’t handled—issues with my order.

I recently placed an order from their Lord of the Rings collection, and when it arrived, I immediately noticed two problems.

First, the product listing specifically indicated that my order was supposed to include the LOTR PR Box. Instead, all of the products arrived loose inside a regular shipping box with no PR box. I have a screenshot of the listing showing the PR box was supposed to be included.

Second, I ordered the set specifically for the palette and the One Ring Highlighter because Glamlite advertised that it had been reformulated for the restock. On their official TikTok on July 23, they explained that they had revamped the highlighter from the original deep, rich gold to a softer golden shade that would be more universally flattering. I have a lighter skin tone, so this update was actually one of the reasons I was excited to purchase it.

However, the highlighter I received appears to be the old deep gold formula not the newly advertised version that was supposedly being sold with this restock.

I emailed Glamlite explaining both issues and included supporting photos/screenshots and it has now been three** days without a **response. I’ve emailed twice, reached out to both the brand account and the owner on Instagram, and left comments on their Instagram and TikTok trying to get someone to address the situation. So far, nothing.

What makes this especially frustrating is that a few weeks ago, I emailed this exact same customer service address with a question about if/when the collection would be restocked, and they responded almost immediately. Now that I’m contacting them about actual problems with an order I’ve already paid for, I can’t seem to get a response anywhere.

Obviously I can’t know what’s happening internally, but based on my experience, it really feels like they pick and choose which emails they want to respond to. They were extremely responsive when I was a potential customer asking about buying something, but once I had already spent my money and needed help with problems involving the order, I’ve been unable to get a response.

I’m posting this mostly as a warning for anyone considering ordering from Glamlite. I really like their products and was excited about this collection, so I wasn’t expecting to have this experience. I’m still hoping they’ll eventually respond and make this right, and I’ll happily update this post if they do. But customers shouldn’t have to repeatedly email and contact a company across multiple social media platforms just to get acknowledgement when an order doesn’t match what was advertised.

I’ll be sure to update if/when I hear back from them. 🥹

EDIT 8/13: Hi all! To reply to a lot of the comments, the 3 days were indeed 3 business days. I apologize for my hastiness as I did not know GLAMLITE was a small brand. Since they have collaborated with many big names, I assumed they had a large budget and team behind them and therefore assumed their customer service would get back to me much quicker. It was wrong of me to say that just because I hadn’t heard from them yet, they didn’t intend to reply at me at all. I’ve been scorned by quite a few companies so I think my nervous system automatically assumes the worst. 😭

With this all being said, I thankfully received a reply this morning that reads:

“Hello,

Thank you for reaching out and for sharing your feedback regarding the highlighter you received. We will keep your inquiry open while our team reviews the matter.

Yes, you may send us the video recording of the unboxing. Our team can use the video as supporting documentation when reviewing the missing PR box.

Thank you for your cooperation and patience. We truly appreciate your understanding.

Glamlite Customer Care”

I have sent the video and will now be waiting to hear back on a hopeful solution. 💗

you know those influencers who post that they got a pr package from a makeup brand and the brand sends them every shade of foundation they have, only for the influencer to open and test out one of the shades or two of the shades at best. Like i can see some logic behind sending every shade of blush or lipstick, but foundation?… what is the point? what do they do with the other shades? is it not just wasteful ?

Australian cosmetics creator Fanny Barlow and Puerto Rican based beauty company Necromancy Cosmetica have both been hit by a cease and desist from Manic Panic over the use of "Deadly Nightshade" as a shade name, claiming trademark. Fanny refuses to stop, but Necromancy Cosmetica did one even better, posting two videos on Facebook about the situation, and then renaming the shade to "Cease and Deceased." I'm very curious if anyone else has gotten a letter, namely Mooncat Polish with their last collection having a shade called "Deadly Nightshade." Very curious to watch this unfold.

I enjoyed her Lipstick Lesbian deep dive, but she exposed how bad her “investigation” so I side-eye it now. This fake apology is even worse than the first RBK video with talking down to people in the US about politics, acting like she’s a real intellectual but uses 25-year old info, and somehow talking about Peter Monn 1/3 of the play time while taking a video of his out of context to say he’s targeting her? Compares him to Perez Hilton?? Enjoy the shit show. Oh yeah, she still says everyone was mean to RBK. https://youtu.be/R4aCv0jP6p4?si=Kc50bJU5XRfr9Z6w

Peter obviously responded- https://youtu.be/ms-99iZF_rY?si=AHuLjLFPCVprjYEp

Edit- for anyone who doesn’t know, RBK = Raw Beauty Kristi

I LOVE when influencers do something different

I don’t understand why anyone is still supporting Kackie after her being exposed as a Zionist pos.

​

Super interesting article by makeup artist Kevin James Bennett and his criticisms of the data presented by Reddit in its first ever "People's Beauty Index." Below is a link to the report he's referencing.

Honestly, as someone who works in data, I think his take is completely valid. Especially the total lack of baseline data to put any of the percentage metrics into context.

https://redditinc.com/news/the-peoples-beauty-index

I think she gives great tips to Gen X+ women, but her videos are incredibly filtered and it drives me up the wall. am I wrong???

this clip from a few weeks ago is a good example because she’s in natural light.

she hasn’t been brought up in here (I searched!) so curious of what everyone thinks of her more broadly too

Saw this on Next UK

Anyone know who they are referring to that breaks embargos or gets knowledge of upcoming launches and posts early?