Before I took this class, I had another class that required me to create a blog. I was not the biggest fan. I had a hard time figuring out how to get my words out or how I wanted my content to look like. When I found out that I had to create another blog for this class, I was not excited. I didn’t have the best experience in the past so i automatically assumed this time wasn’t going to be any different. 

When I first started blogging, I wanted to learn what content my audience wanted to see and what drew attention to my page. I also wanted to learn how to put my words together so that I could put out my message in a clear and attention grabbing way. I didn’t want to bore my audience at all so I wanted to learn the secrets to a fun welcoming page. 

While I was blogging, I found out that you have to be patient with your thinking process of creating a post. You can’t rush the piece or you’re just going to spew out a bunch of information that your audience can just get from the internet. Blogs are supposed to be a place people can go to, to connect and relate with the information. 

I also learned that ideas wont come easy. It’s okay to find inspiration and to browse other creator’s blogs to figure out what direction you want to go. Of course you don’t want to get caught up in someone else’s idea and plagiarism but it’s okay to be influenced by others. 

Now that I am blogging regularly, I want to learn how to post my content in different ways. I don’t want to only post a bunch of words. Maybe I can figure out how to post lists or incorporate pictures in my posts. 

For years, it has seemed like the beauty community has failed women of color by not having as inclusive products or giving enough recognition to those who deserve it. There has been some progress of growth by some influencers who wanted change for those with darker skin tones. In this entry I will talk about a few influencers who are women of color, who have a strong impact on the beauty community. 

It can be argued that Jackie Aina is the biggest beauty influencer who is a woman of color. She is a 32 year old beauty you-tuber based in Los Angeles, CA . She is a Nigerian- American who strongly advocates for people of color in makeup. Although her first career choice was medicine, while she was stationed in Hawaii while in the United States Army Reserve, she was hired by MAC Cosmetics as a makeup artist. Her inspiration for starting her youtube channel was that she was told multiple times that certain products or makeup trends wouldn’t work for her because of her dark skin complexion. She then soon began to post videos on youtube showing products that she personally loved and that could work for all skin tones. Her main argument in the beauty community is that the beauty industry is not inclusive enough. Although there are some brands who have a variety of darker shades, there are not enough. Jackie has had many accomplishments such as being the first beauty influencer to receive a NAACP Award for her advocacy for diversity in the beauty community. With her criticism towards these cosmetic companies, she has been able to collaborate with a variety of companies such as E.L.F Cosmetics, Too Faced, Sephora, and more.

Rihanna is probably one of the most popular influencers in the beauty community. She is Barbadian and not only is she involved in beauty, she is involved in film, fashion, music, business and so much more. In 2017 she launched her own makeup line “Fenty Beauty”. Her main inspiration for starting a line was to produce makes for all shades of women. Her line is known as one of the most diverse and inclusive makeup lines. Not only does Rhihanna not discriminate in the makeup industry, she also has a lingerie line called “ Savage X Fenty Lingerie” that includes sizes for everyone. In both of her lines, she makes sure she has models of all shades and sizes. She wants everyone to feel welcome to use her products. Along with Jackie Aina, Rhinana is a big advocate for equality for women of color. She is an inspiration for so many because she brings her talent forward for so many different things that will help others. 

The rise of diverse influencers is the main way that will help get the message out that everyone deserves the opportunity to do what they love no matter their skin tone.

Although most people believe the beauty community is made up of mostly females, the last couple of years males have been dominating the scene as well. There are so many popular male beauty influencers that people keep up with as well. In this blog I will be talking about some of the most popular male beauty influencers. 

Some may argue that Jefree Star is the most popular male influencer in the beauty industry. Along with being a makeup artist, he is also an entrepreneur, music artist, beauty youtuber, and model. Unlike most beauty influencers, Jefree Star started out on Myspace promoting his music. His music career led to him starting up his own makeup company called Jeffree Star Cosmetics in 2014.  He is a popular youtubers where he posts tutorials and reviews on other beauty products. He is known for his series on youtube where he decides if products are “Jeffree Star Approved” or not. Although he is admired by his fans, he has been in hot water with multiple other influencers and celebrities such as Kylie Jenner, Kat Von D, Kim Kardation, and many more. Along with his many celebrity feuds, he was called out for making derogatory comments about people of color and using racial slurs on different occasions. Since his younger days, it has seemed to look like he has grown into a better version of himself and accepted full responsibility for his past actions. 

One of the most popular male influencers is James charles. He is an openly gay beauty youtube with over 15 million sunscrubers. His fame started in 2016 when he became the first male spokesperson for the brand Covergirl. That led to multiple collaborations with brands such as Morphe and doing different celebrities’ makeup. Along with his makeup skills, James Charles is known for getting caught up in drama and controversies. His most recent one being in January 2020 when fans thought they heard him say the N- word while singing along to a song. It wouldn’t be the first time he would be caught into a race controversy. In 2017, a tweet resurfaced of him making an offensive joke about ebola and africa. Even though James has been in the wrong, he takes full responsibility for all of his actions and shows that he is only human and willing to learn how to change and grow just like anyone else. 

Manuel Gutierrez, better known as Manny MUA is also a well known male beauty influencer. He has his own makeup brand called Lunar Beauty. Just like James Charles, he is the first male brand ambassador for the cosmetic brand, Maybelline. His interest in beauty started when he used to watch his mother do her makeup. That led to him working at make up stores such as MAC and Sephora. Soon after he began his youtube channel where he posts tutorials and tips.  Just like most beauty influencers, He was also caught up in drama when old tweets resurfaced of him saying racial slurs. That caused him to lose a lot of followers because many believed that his apology was genuine. Although he had that setback, it didn’t stop him and he still posts regularly on his channel. 

Even though I only talked about three male influencers, there are hundreds of more who post content and inspire more to come out and do the same. The makeup community is growing to become more diverse and inclusive everyday.

When deciding my topic for my blog, I wanted to pick something that I could learn more about in the process. I am not that experienced with beauty, since I just started exploring when I got here at WSU about two years ago. So my main focus on this blog will probably more of like my journey with new hair and makeup styles. I want to track my progress and learn what I like and dislike about some styles. I also want to explore more about the beauty community because there are so many influencers for so many different types of things. 

I hope when readers come to my blog, they will understand that I am a beginner just showing my journey rather than someone who is advanced. I want others to see that it’s never too late to start a new hobby. Since I am new to blogging, I hope to learn how to interact with others even though it’s mostly one sided communication. 

When googling beauty bloggers, Katie Jane Hughes kept popping up. After reading up on her, I discovered that she is a celebrity makeup artist who shares her tips, recommendations, and new techniques. I like her blog because she looks like she genuinely wants to share her passion for beauty with her readers. The second blogger that I would look to for inspiration is Jackie Aina. I am actually familiar with Jackie because I occasionally watch her youtube videos. She is a woman of color like me so it makes it easier for me to relate to her when it comes to using certain beauty products. 

http://www.katiejanehughes.com

https://www.jackieaina.com