Jeffree Star As An Example Of Success In The Makeup World

Being a successful makeup artist could mean anything to anyone depending on an individual's goal in life, the reason behind getting into makeup or just someone’s personal opinion. Many people believe fame and money is success however, not every makeup artist set out for the riches but for what they love to do. Jeffree Star is someone who has made a massive impact on the makeup industry through Youtube and other social medias, however many makeup artists believe they became successful before social media was even made. New technologies seem to have made it easier to grow in the makeup world, yet that area of work is bigger now than it has ever been which could make it slightly more difficult.

Jeffree Star is now a multi millionaire that has created greatness for himself through beauty videos on Youtube and eventually made his own makeup brand in 2014, he believes that being male helped his career in makeup and is still making him more successful, “at the end of the day most people that have brands are females, so being a male that wears full makeup I kind of have the upper hand”. This is similar to Ve Neill describing her journey in prosthetics makeup by the way men always had the upper hand as it was a ‘man’s job’. Even though Jeffree started out with just a passion of makeup not knowing where he was going to go, he believes that having money means being successful, “I would rather just be successful and have money”. Jeffree knows that he has made it in the beauty world by having fame and money but he knows there are drawbacks and he “can’t always be as free” with his voice or actions he takes. This is why sometimes success might just be loving what you do and isn’t always having the stardom behind it.

Setting out to be a singer to begin with Jeffree clearly had fame on his mind, however I don’t think money was a big priority in his eyes. I believe Jeffree then started his Youtube because it was what he loved, it’s extremely hard to start earning money from creating a few videos on Youtube, he never could have known he was going to be creating millions. Jeffree focussed on his Youtube and creating videos then on his cosmetics line, barely thinking about the money he was making, he believes the art of makeup changed his life not the money. “I found art and makeup, it changed my life". Jeffree is all about making new and different products that are unique from everyone elses, “formulas from other brands sucked”. This is dissimilar to the well known makeup artist Huda Kattan, founder of the cosmetics line Huda Beauty, who was called out by Jeffree Star of stealing ideas from a much smaller company Beauty Bakerie. Jeffree believes in being your own person and creating your own ideas, taking credit for ideas of smaller and lesser known companies should never go acceptable.

Even though Jeffree first became known for his fame in music which started on MySpace in early 2000’s, he ended up making a career out of his obsession with makeup that began at 13 years old as he started to use his mum’s cosmetics to create popular looks from magazines. Jeffree Star was born ‘Jeffrey Lynn Steininger’ and it wasn’t always an easy life for him as he described alcohol and abuse being the norm in his family, with his father passing away when he was just 6. After graduating from high school Jeffree began working on beauty counters where he learnt his main tips of makeup to start creating his own videos on Youtube in 2006. Seeing that his mother had achieved her goal in life of being a model helped Jeffree’s mindset for life to aim high and achieve his dreams, as well as being bullied as a child pushed him to do well for himself and not let that stop him, “I was told at a very young age I would never amount to anything. . . Don't let fear, other people's words and self doubt distract you from your hopes and dreams. ”

Jeffree Star says to be confident in what you want to do and always be yourself, that was how he made it to where he is now. “My brand is for anyone who’s fearless enough to be their own person”. Jeffree always focussed on one thing at a time, when he decided to start makeup videos he stopped doing music so that he could fully excel in his passion. This is similar to what makeup artist Lisa Eldridge spoke about in one of her videos, “when you are starting your career you need to focus on one thing if you’re going to become successful”. However, she then moves on to say that if you don’t have a portfolio you can’t be a successful makeup artist and that Youtube is a completely different industry, whereas Jeffree’s Youtube and other social medias such as Instagram are like an online portfolio that show all of his work and what he is capable of, even managing to create his own brand of making just from starting out on Youtube.

Most people these days are using social media just like Jeffree Star who has relied on social media throughout his career and believes it’s the only way he has become successful. "I like to say I have Internet Immorality. I don’t know how life would be without be logging onto MySpace for the first time 10 years ago!". However, there are so many artists that worked hard at their career and became famous before social media such as Rick Baker and Eve Pearl. They now have the battle with new upcoming makeup artists who started after the wave of social media, who have in some cases mastered the artistry of self marketing rather than makeup.

The biggest problem with not having social media was that the artists didn’t really have a platform to show their work. Social medias like Instagram, Youtube and Snapchat have given people that boost to demonstrate their skills and best work globally. Lisa Eldridge is someone who started out in the makeup industry and did well for herself before social media came about, but is now using these platforms to stand out even more and make sure she keeps growing as the times change.

A successful makeup artist is a particular person who has achieved their personal goal in the makeup industry, whether it be creating their own makeup brand or just being manager for a high end cosmetics store. However, I do think that social media is just the new modern way in the world to show your passion and skills in whatever area of work you do, from special effects makeup to simple everyday makeup routines. Social media is massively known worldwide to be the easiest way to promote yourself that if you aren’t using it I don’t really think you’ve got a chance to achieve your highest potential as it seems to be the fast track to success.