Taking YouTube by Storm: 3 Must-Watch Beauty Vloggers

When you hear the term “beauty vlogger” it likely conjures visions of teenage girls broadcasting from their bedrooms and overdrawing their lips to look like Kylie Jenner.

But a new wave of YouTubers are upping the ante, offering serious makeup artistry cred along with slickly produced video tutorials that appeal to a more sophisticated and mature audience.

The new guard of 30- and 40-something beauty gurus eschew shock-value makeovers and fly-by-night beauty trends, and instead focus on the timeless elegance of classic beauty icons and easy, wearable, less-is-more makeup looks. Here, we feature the heavyweight makeup artists taking YouTube by storm, one makeup tutorial at a time.

 

Lisa Eldridge, Lancôme creative director of makeup

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Channel: youtube.com/lisaeldridgedotcom
Subscribers: +1.8 million
Video Style: Chic, modern and understated makeup
Most popular video: Acne/Blemish-Covering Makeup, +3 million views

Bonafides: A soft-spoken British celebrity makeup artist with a “lull-you-to-sleep” voice, Lisa Eldridge is one of YouTube’s early beauty adopters and has been creating makeup looks on her channel since 2008—well before she was named Lancôme’s lead makeup artist in early 2015. With 20 years experience in makeup artistry, Eldridge’s clientele include such A-list names as Kate Winslet, Salma Hayek and Keira Knightley. In her videos—set against a white backdrop—a makeup-free Eldridge uses herself as a canvas to create looks ranging from the “no makeup-makeup look” to Audrey Hepburn-inspired makeup and effortless glam party looks. True to beauty blogger form, in her “In The Kit” series, Eldridge also shows off her favourite products across drugstore and prestige brands, offering pro tips for the best application. For her role with Lancôme, the pro also creates custom beauty videos for its YouTube channel, where she uses the Parisian brand’s products exclusively.

Why She’s A Hit With 40+ Women: Eldridge, mom of two boys, features “real women” as models to provide makeup solutions for beauty concerns such as hooded eyes, menopausal and mature skin. Less is more for this artist, and her makeup looks are never overdone—just chic and effortless. Eldridge also gives a nod to beauty icons of the past with Marilyn Monroe and Tippi Hedren-inspired tutorials.

Pro Tip: Eldridge’s stock in trade is “you but better” makeup that works for all ages and skin types. To bring depth to the eyes, especially if you have hooded lids, trace the natural eye socket with a neutral shadow over a light base shadow applied all over the lid. This sculpts the eye and brings out its natural contours.

 

Charlotte Tilbury, celebrity makeup artist

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Channel: youtube.com/ctilburymakeup
Subscribers: 611,000+
Video Style: Sexy, glam makeup looks with a dash of rock n’ roll
Most popular video: The Feline Flick—Cat Eye Makeup Tutorial, with +2.9 million views

Bonafides: A relative newbie on the YouTube scene, Charlotte Tilbury is an industry vet, having crafted runway, editorial and celebrity beauty looks for more than 20 years. The busy working mom has painted the faces of celebs such as Jennifer Lopez, Penelope Cruz and Rihanna. Perhaps best known for creating bestie Kate Moss’ signature kohl-rimmed “feline flick” eyes, Tilbury offers both everyday makeup tips such as how to choose your perfect foundation to how to channel your inner bombshell with red-carpet-inspired bold eyes and red lips. Tilbury launched a signature luxury makeup line in June 2015 and the products, decked out in rose gold packaging, feature prominently in her video tutorials.

Why She’s A Hit With 40+ Women: Aside from sultry smokey eye looks, Tilbury’s major focus is on great skin and the artist offers practical solutions for achieving a flawless canvas no matter what your skin concern, whether how to combat redness, pigmentation, dark circles or wrinkles. Tilbury performs her makeup handiwork on real women (and sometimes herself) as subjects in her minimal yet slickly-produced videos. With her signature smokey eyes and nude lip and voluminous red hair, Tilbury is a bonafide bombshell in her own right, and a true testament to the fact that women can look and feel sexy at any age.

Pro Tip: Flawless skin starts with good skincare, and Tilbury starts most of her makeup looks with a base of her ultra-hydrating, rosehip-oil and vitamin E-spiked Magic Cream (which also includes its own massage application video tutorial), followed by a dab of her radiance-boosting Wonder Glow Beauty Flash Primer, which optically blurs wrinkles and skin imperfections.

 

Pixiwoo (Sam Chapman and Nic Haste)

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Channel: youtube.com/pixiwoo
Subscribers: +2.1 million
Video Style: Easy everyday makeup and daring celeb looks
Most popular video: Sophia Loren Makeup Tutorial, 2.2 million views

Bonafides: These fun, 30-something Brit sisters studied makeup artistry and assisted their makeup artist aunt on editorial photoshoots before launching the Pixiwoo beauty channel on YouTube in 2008. Since then, they’ve amassed a huge catalogue of 700+ video tutorials that offer a little something for everyone, from easy, natural makeup to Angelina Jolie-inspired beauty and glitzy evening looks. While these ladies are masters of transformation (a Kim Kardashian-inspired wedding makeup video is one of their most popular), their “Makeup Basics” series, with topics such as how to fill in brows or get the perfect smokey eye, truly show off their pro technique. The sisters are also the founders of Real Techniques, a pro level line-up of affordable makeup tools and brushes, for which they also have a YouTube channel where they offer advice on stippling your way to gorgeous skin. The duo has also assisted makeup artist stars such as Val Garland backstage at runway shows during London Fashion Week.

Why They’re A Hit With 40+ Women: Although they dabble in fantastical beauty looks, the pros advocate a real-world approach to makeup that’s designed to work for everyday (read: no heavy-handed, stamped-on makeup here). While they paint their own faces in their tutorials for the most part, they also showcase makeup looks on women (and men) across all ages, skin tones and eye shapes, with topics such as how to create a smokey eye for hooded or small eyes. They also occasionally turn the camera on their more mature mum as a model for several tutorials.

Pro Tip: Of all their beauty looks, the Pixiwoo ladies are perhaps best known for creating super-precise cat eyes, but liquid liner can look a bit harsh on women 50+. Instead, use a deeper toned shadow as a liner to create an uplifting effect at the outer corners. Also opt for cooler-toned eyeshadows such as soft purple (as opposed to warm browns) and apply a light beige pencil along the inner rim to diffuse any redness and make the eyes look brighter.