Who best to learn makeup tricks from than people who live, breathe and work it for a living?
God bless these makeup darlings for sharing their know-how on YouTube via cute, entertaining and informative instructional videos. The wonderful world of makeup can be confusing and complicated, don’t we know it, so we consider these YouTube channels—along with the women behind them—a godsend. Below are five of our favorite girls.
BDJ BOX
Run by the super chic Belle De Jour planners, BDJ Box is both a monthly subscription box (for a fee, they send you a box full of random beauty product in sample sizes) and a community website led by beauty experts and editors. Their YouTube channel shows viewers how to use beauty products, shares tips and techniques from professionals, and celebrates the magical world of makeup and beauty.
Why believe them: These are BDJ Box’s “beauty ministers”: makeup artist Barbi Chan, beauty editors Erica Paredes and Nicole Romero, and bloggers Kate Alvarez and Tara Cabullo. Their hosting style is candid, conversational and easy to watch.
Most popular video: “Foundation shades for the morena skin by Barbi Chan” is easily their most popular episode, with over 4,000 views as of this writing. Chan teaches Pinay beauties, in Taglish, how to find the right foundation base to match our dusky skin. The answer: Find one with a yellow undertone.
ANA VICTORINO
Ana Victorino claims to be the youngest makeup artist in Manila. Watch her on YouTube, you’ll believe her. Ana looks so young! She got her first professional gig at 17. Then she started a blog. Her YouTube channel, which features tutorials under five minutes, quickly followed.
Why believe her: She’s self-taught, for one. Also, she did makeup for ABS-CBN’s fantasy series Imortal. Lastly, because of her YouTube tutorials, Dollface Cosmetics made her an ambassador, while Sigma Beauty Affiliate made her a partner. Ana’s videos show her working on her own face, to the beat of the latest popular music, while step-by-step instructions are displayed in graphics. She lists down products used in the “about” section of the video.
Most popular video: Her “Modern Barbie Makeup Tutorial,” uploaded two years ago, has over 800,000 views as of this writing. We didn’t know so many folks still want to look like a Barbie girl.
ANG KIKAY KO
Teena Arches is the lady behind the YouTube channel Ang Kikay Ko. Teena tells us she was only doing research for a makeup job for an org in college, a theater production, when she stumbled upon video tutorials. Then she noticed there weren’t any geared for Filipinas so lo and behold, she put up her channel. That was four years ago, in 2010.
Why believe her: “Well, it’s an instructional and demo video so you’ll see it for yourself if the techniques work or not,” she tells us over Facebook. Where others tend to be straight to the point, Teena likes to talk. A lot, and with a slight colegiala accent to boot, too. If you think makeup is a chore and it’s bringing you down, Teena might be worth a watch. She’s bursting with so much fruit flavor, talking about makeup and showing its many wonders, you might just catch the beauty bug and try it out. Or you may not, and just turn way from it forever. But whatever, mad props to the recent College of Saint Benilde graduate for displaying such fun-loving confidence. We appreciate how she edits her videos to #keepitreal.
Most popular video: Her “Anne Curtis Inspired Minimal everyday look” has been tweeted by Anne Curtis herself! It was uploaded three years ago and enjoys over 90,000 views.
READ: 10 Filipina beauties who look stunning with no makeup on
SAY TIOCO ARTILLERO
She’s a 22-year-old Filipina-Chinese beauty blogger, YouTube user, and freelance makeup artist and hairstylist.
Why believe her: She’s quite specific: She’s not just Filipina, she’s Filipina-Chinese. She has her makeup blog and her personal blog. Lately, she’s been touring the country for makeup workshops. We like that she gives product suggestions (Myra has good tinted moisturizer, she says), and gives options and possible substitutes where available (use light foundation if you don’t have a tinted moisturizer), and gives practical reviews to a lot of them after a tutorial (in her “How I line my eyes,” Say mentions that the thin side of the Essense 2-in-1 pen tends to dry out).
Most popular video: Her “No makeup makeup tutorial” is a response to a viewer’s request, and she explains everything in conversational Tagalog.
MICHELLE DY
21-year-old Michelle Dy runs the Beauty in Every Corner Youtube Channel and blog. It’s a two-in-one affair in which makeup and fashion are discussed in well-edited videos that, though they vary in style, are employ proper illustrations and graphics to best convey the blogger’s message.
Why believe her: If more than 30,000 people believe the makeup tricks and tips of this freelance makeup artist, why shouldn’t we? We appreciate that Michelle takes the time to focus on things a lot of people tend to forget about—like how to remove make-up—and that she tells that story in a manner you’ll best understand. By the way, there’s not just one single way to remove makeup. There are six, and they cater to different situations, depending on your sloth meter.
Most popular video: Of her 77 videos, her “4 easy ways to countour the nose” enjoys the most views. We believe that is a follow up to the earlier “How to: Easy nose countouring.”
