Closing 2010 - An Intro to Makeup Artistry & My Story and Struggles

Oddly enough I have only been into makeup since I was about 17. True, I wore makeup through high school starting my freshman year at 14 years old, but I didn't know anything past brown or black eyeliner and eventually, one shade of foundation, bronzer and occasionally red lipstick that made me look crazy.

me before my senior prom

 The only reason I found the makeup guru world on YouTube was because when I was going to my senior prom, I didn't want to pay $50 to have my face possibly overdone by a counterworker at MAC at the mall like most of my classmates did.  I had always been intruiged by makeup, but never seriously thought it'd be my thing. I had always just been well, a drawer. I drew stuff. But not so much on my face. It all seemed so odd and theatrical and out of my reach. Anyway, I wanted to just learn how to do my own prom makeup and that's when I discovered Michelle Phan's videos. Immediately, she captivated me. I didn't know what it was, but I was soon clicking video after video, just enjoying seeing her apply brilliant colors to her eyes and transforming her appearance, making it look so fun and so easy. Of course, whenever I tried to duplicate her looks on myself, I remember them not seeming to look quite as neat! I remember my favorite back then was her Glamorous Birthday Look. Agh, I love that look. It reminds me of frosted cupcakes. Haha. Anyway .... there was something about her that I kept coming back to. There was something about her that I wanted to be part of, or something I felt like I needed to learn from her that was going to open some kind of door for me. Make no mistake, I certainly did not make a makeup channel the moment I found her. I watched a lot of her videos a bunch of times (at first just for entertainment, I thought) and then the summer after my senior year, I finally made a channel called "Audfaced." I already had my original channel, "Audivila" where I put mostly fan voice dubs, my short films and photoshop tutorials. My very first makeup tutorials were on "Audivila" but when I created Audfaced it was because I made the decision that I wanted a channel purely makeup based - not mixed in with random films I made or voice dubs. I wanted a concentrated channel. Here's the video I did to inform people on "Audivila" that there was going to be a split!

And here's one of my first makeup tutorials ... possibly my first tutorial released to YouTube. I wasn't home at the time I was actually out of state at a relative's house but I COULD NOT help but start making videos ... I kept watching gurus online during that vacation and somehow I found myself filming a tutorial while watching Spongebob.

As anyone who's been through the process knows, starting a channel was really awkward. One, talking to a camera just isn't natural at first. You see it as a camera, not your audience so it's hard to transition your real personality to a camera at first. Two, equipment. My first videos were all filmed my my Macbook's tiny camera hole using Photobooth. It drove me mad. It often didn't pick up the sound, was super blurry and pixely and skipped sometimes. Then imagine trying to hoist your laptop all over the place on a stable surface where it could see you and where there was good lighting. In a freshman college dorm. Not so easy!

Yes, I made some videos in the summer but it was only a 2 minute makeup tutorial and maybe a product review. I wasn't so into the idea since I was in a college dorm and I still was learning about makeup but I started getting some comments of people that actually liked me and believed in me. And so I decided to not ditch the idea just because I was in college, and keep making videos.

I had always wanted to create the extravagant, themed makeup looks. Since the start, that's what I wanted. But deep down I knew that instead of rushing to make everything, it'd be better to wait for myself to learn more about makeup, get more products, experience more things and very importantly - get a better camera. So from the start to contain myself whenever I came up with an idea I added it to this massive list of ideas that I created. I'm still working off that list. The majority of the themed makeup tutorials that exist now were likely planned or thought of months ago or even a year ago!

Knowing that I should wait, I turned to other types of videos to do. I came up with a few easy skincare-type videos like "How to heal Elephant Elbows" and "Natural Ways to Healthy Skin" and I definitely spent more time on product reviews because they didn't need to necessarily be filmed on a high quality camera as much as makeup tutorials. I even started my own "series" called "Makeup Shopping Binge Help" but only did 2 episodes and haven't done any since. Though I do plan to ... but not anytime soon. Here's my Episode 2: What To Buy. I filmed this on my little macbook right before I had an afternoon class, I remember.

I remember Halloween 2009 KILLED ME. I saw all these amazing Halloween tutorials coming out and I remember, I was Catwoman that year. I even bought this mask from the Spirit Store that I thought was awesome but it turned out it was made of this flimsy styrofoam thing ... I did try customizing it though, to look more like Michelle Pfieffer's by adding white stitch designs using a liquid white out pen. Anyway, I remember I realllly wanted to do a Black Widow and Catwoman makeup tutorial in 2009. I even asked people which they'd prefer! Unfortunately, I had a terrible camera, no time, my face was severely broken out (very very badly) and no good location. And not that great of an outfit. So ... in 2009 I did zero halloween tutorials. I was super duper bummed but I just told myself that by the next time Halloween rolled around, I would be ready! Here is one of the few makeup tutorials I filmed on my macbook - at the end you can see the poll I put up for the Halloween looks that never happened, heh.

Behold, the 88 Palette!

I remember first starting out with makeup I didn't know stores like Sephora even existed. Really! The thought of buying makeup online seemed ... unsafe and tedious. I didn't even know online makeup stores existed! So I was so confused, wondering where everyone was getting eyeshadow colors like bright lime green and red ... cause I kept checking the drugstores and grocery shops. Nope, they were all neutral or pastel colors. What? Where was all the awesome stuff? I began to learn what products were good purely from makeup gurus and what they used in their tutorials, listed in their video information bars and online product reviews on makeup. I remember the first makeup I ever bought online was Coastal Scents. I bought the 88 Palette and was seriously staring out the window EVERY DAY waiting for the postal man. I looked like such a creeper. I was insanely excited ... to me once I had that palette I would be more free to do all the looks I had waiting to be made xD And it really is a respectable palette at an affordable price. I still have and use it to this day but some of the major colors are running out, like black.

Shortly after getting my 88 Palette, I also was graciously gifted with an HD camera by my family on Christmas. I was soooo excited. I remember when I got it I just zoomed in on random things in my room, so freakishly amazed at how it could focus on things so far away. I was so used to typical digital cameras and well, my laptop camera.

My very first makeup tutorial in HD was my Avatar: Night Forest Look. I saw Michelle Phan's tutorial and a few days later just got this tuggy feeling and I really wanted to make one too. I started doing trial makeup a few times, playing around with the colors and trying to find an outfit and how to do my hair. I was so excited - I felt like I might go somewhere, with this giant palette of colors and an HD camera!

I remember I dedicated this video to Michelle Phan and she actually saw it and posted a comment. Yep, I spazeed xD

While I spent quite a lot of time editing that tutorial, I specifically remember that's when a lot of negative comments started coming in, more than ever. They all had to do with Michelle Phan or my skin. I was still incredibly new to YouTube so ... I didn't have very tough skin back then and so learning to deal with the negativity that comes with exposing yourself and your work in public was a process. I had about 49 subscribers when I released that video. My goal was to get to 150 in order to host my first contest! Haha

from Stacie Orrico inspired look

From that point on I started being able to do more makeup tutorials. I released some simple looks like my "First Kiss: A Valentines Daytime Look" or "Copper Kiss" and I did some slightly themed videos like "Doll Faced" a look inspired by the Harajuku Girls and "Midnight Sapphire Eyes" a prom look inspired by Stacie Orrico's look in her music video, "Stuck." I remember I totally enjoyed those last two looks and if you go through my video list in order, you can kind of see the progression of getting more and more into the more extravagant, themed, movie/TV/music video inspired looks.

Me as a Kyoshi Warrior

In time for the Avatar: The Last Airbender movie (pray that the next one is better!) I released some inspired makeup tutorials which was sooo fun! It's one of my all time favorite shows (and I don't have that many favorite shows) and making that series felt like I was part of it ... and a part of me wanted to liberate the fact that there were no Kyoshi Warriors in the movie by doing a makeup tutorial of one and the fact that the scar in the movie wasn't as defined as it could have been by doing a Zuko's scar speed tutorial. I know each director has his own vision which must be respected but .... come on now, you take up a defined story and idea you gotta keep its fans in mind! It was at this point that I really felt like I was finding my niche.

I had been compared to Michelle Phan since I got on YouTube and it was such a confusing process to completely admire and look up to someone and at the same time be told you're a wanna-be of them or a butt kisser. o__o SO CONFUSING. It was like ... wearing a new outfit to school and being really excited about it and liking it but having a whole load of people tell you that it looks terrible on you. Something I had always associated positive energy with was suddenly something that was apparently a flaw in me and that wasn't very nice. Before I even started "Audfaced" I decided to give her IQQU sunscreen a try, the only IQQU product to date that I have purchased. I made a product review for it on my "Audivila" channel and to this day I still randomly get people saying things like, "Oh, if you use that, why don't you have perfect skin?" or "Hmm I bet she paid you to make this." It's crazy! I was 100% honest in the review and hadn't had much contact with Michelle on releasing it. I really liked the product and it smelled wonderful!  My mom liked it too, but like said in the review I only wouldn't buy it again because of the price compared to the size. But from what I remember I think the size might have gotten bigger and the price went down since then because I made that review over a year ago to date.  I admired Michelle when I knew nothing about makeup and to this day I'm still super excited when she releases a new video but whenever someone told me to quit copying her etc. etc. I think it hurt more than it should have because a part of me felt like it might be true. I wasn't setting out deliberately TO copy her and BE her, and never to replace her, but everytime I sat down to film or edit a video I found myself gravitating more toward her style simply because she was the first makeup tutorial artist that I had EVER watched and watched a lot of before I branched out to watching other gurus. I think whenever you create something, the things you are inspired by show. This goes for story writing, movie plots, the outfit you put together every morning - when you are inspired by something and create something because of it, that inspiration shows. As bummy as it was to have to read comparison comments frequently, I just told myself that if I kept making videos and kept going, kept learning, kept experiencing and kept positive, and kept supporting other gurus, eventually I'd truly find my own style, my niche and branch out into my own field.

Michelle, the profile picture from her Xanga!

I feel like I found it when it came to themed, extreme looks. While I have always admired Michelle's professional, crisp editing style, title cards and montages of the look at the beginning and end, I think what I was able to add to my own was more crazy acting and gestures and a slight cinematic touch to the editing that made it a bit more theatrical and odd whereas she has a much more elegant, controlled editing style.

When people still compare me to her today, no matter what they say, an opinion is an opinion. I still think she's amazing, beautiful, talented and she's a living example of turning a very simple hobby into a full blown career! At the end of the day everyone's here because we love makeup, we love the art of it and we're here to share. I think all the petty stuff just comes naturally ... it's bound to happen with thousands of strangers in one area! I think that whenever someone new comes to the field, people naturally compare the new thing to something they already know. That's natural - it's a method many people subconsciously use to try and understand and sometimes even, stereotype and categorize. I remember that when Lady GaGa first came to the major attention in America a lot of people were saying she looked like Christina Aguilera. However, soon after Lady GaGa kept making more and more videos and showing herself it was clear she and Christina both had completely different styles.

Manwomanfilm in  Makeup Ethnic エスニックメイク

I was able to find my niche in more extreme makeup looks because of my love for horror and dark themes, filmmaking and special FX makeup combined with my influences from Michelle. This is why no matter what anyone says to me, I still highly respect her. If it weren't for her channel, I highly doubt I would have created one or found someone to help me out with prom makeup! If I did eventually create a channel, I'm not sure who could have inspired me enough to do so. This is not to say there aren't any other wildly talented gurus also out there, like manwomanfilm,  Petrilude, myeyeshadowisodd, KlairedelysArt, Kandee. Johnson and SO many others! I think it was Michelle's presentation, professional presence and editing that caught my attention the most. And because of her, I found an artistic outlet that completely lets me express myself. I was able to turn this into a craft that combines my love for filmmaking, for makeup, photography, photoshopping, for acting, for voice acting, video-editing, costume design, set design and even music into one. Not only that, but as much as I enjoy it, it also occasionally entertains, helps and inspires others too!  Without her, I don't think I would have seen makeup as this versatile and artistic. And in my opinion, she still has totally got it going on. It's amazing to see someone who just started out on Xanga doing simple makeup tutorials turn into the #1 Subscribed Guru on YouTube and one of the few females to have over a million subscribers as well as a woman with her own makeup and skincare line. It's simply inspiring. And you ask why I like her so much, eh? That's why! xD

screenshot from my Corpse Bride tutorial

Recently in the past month I just finished up my first series of Halloween tutorials ... the most fun I ever had making videos. Actually, it's only fun after the video is exported! Haha well, it's fun filming of course. Okay so making those all was honestly stressful (it doesn't seem like it but I'm a stressed fluffball type of person) This was stressful because I had 20 units of college classes at the time, i had a job on all the weekends of October working at Fright Fest from about 3 PM-9 PM sometimes 10, a Saturday makeup class that was 4 hours ... so I really had to crunch in the time to plan, do trial makeup, film the tutorial and EDIT. Editing takes forever ... and it was a hassle to get the voiceovers in at the end because I kept losing my voice every single week (at Fright Fest I worked in a Haunted House and would scream and shriek at people all night and get paid for it o___o) But in turn I kept losing my voice for doing my job. So I was drinking tea and honey and cough drops like crazy all October. All the tutorials were actually filmed in September and edited throughout October and released in October. Left 4 Dead Witch I think was filmed in the middle of October and it was a last minute request by a YouTube user. This one didn't make it out in time for Halloween though.

how i'd typically look at my day/night job. awesome. :P

1 of 60 Final Bellatrix shots

In Summer 2010 I also took up a new craft that I always wanted to do but never had the confidence for: Photoshoots. One, I was never really a fashionable or fashion-knowledgeable girl growing up, I didn't know anything about makeup until now and I don;t even know how to properly curl hair with a curling iron without turning the iron the wrong way at least a few times. Okay so, I'm still no fashionista and can't even name 2 designers or supermodels off the top of my head but at least I knew a bit more about how to put makeup on someone. My friends and my friends on Facebook to my surprised actually noticed me and my crazy self posting super edited and themed pictures of myself as my default picture so people began to trust me and volunteer or agree to be models for my first photo shoots. I worked all of my themes off the models. All of the themes I chose were based off their actual personalities or a character they really really liked and had wanted to dress up as before or have already, but not as extravagantly.

I asked the help of my friend to majorly help out with hair and some makeup. She was the curling master! You see her in basically all of my photoshoot videos. She accompanied me to location scouting, and visiting all our models to do trial hair, makeup and outfit and even to various stores to shop for props and accessories. It was super fun and I can never thank her enough for how much she helped me. She might start her own makeup/hair channel someday too! :)

on set "A Pretty Little Liars" photoshoot with Bellatrix :)

Keep in mind the "models" are girls my age that I just went to school with etc ... nothing professional! I did it to experience what a photoshoot would be like and to just "start." Do something, don't wait for the professional world. Referring back to Michelle Phan, that's actually what she did too and look where she is today! That's the inspirational aspect to it, this growing world and new technologies; while they do have their cons to the way a lot of people live, it also gives many people the power to spread their message and access their dreams with their own strength and drive, not needing someone to approve of them first.

I also took my very first makeup class at a community college in Fall 2010. It's called "Stage Makeup" so I got to learn abut basic corrective, opera makeup, old age, prosthetics, wigs and how to style them ... all that jazz. While I am still a newb at anything to do with wigs and prosthetics and crepe hair (hair attached to the face), taking that class also taught me many things I could apply to my channel. I also started doing "Stage Makeup Class Updates" but those unfortunately end when my class ends this year. However, my final for that class is going to be Batman villains and I'm hoping to make a video that shows the creation of the costumes, the prosthetics and the actual final day.

Trial #1 for one of my Stage Makeup final looks!

Kaylynn & her own Harajuku look! I really really love the colors and accessories! Such a nice complexion too

Twitter User @daldisco as RU-FI-OOO and .. Peter Pan!

Because of my slow growth I was able to bond with a number of girls who found me on YouTube and soon my Audfaced Facebook & Twitter. I recognize their screen names and some of their faces (if they have a picture) and love seeing comments or tweets from them :) I always thought it wasn't very likely or common to befriend and bond with people this way but I'm glad they found me! Some have even posted pictures of them using my makeup tutorials and I tell you, it's the most awesome feeling ever to realize hey .... people actually like my ideas enough to send me pictures of their take on it! Or even, just photos of them and their own makeup. HONESTLY ~ I love getting fan photos haha.

"Cant Be Tamed" Miley Cyrus Look

And well, that's where I am today! I'm already planning more photoshoots with more friends in 2011 and I'm hoping to make Behind The Scenes videos for those too to key you all in on the process! I have a whole bunch of Makeup Tutorials I've been wanting to do ... some being "Can't Be Tamed Inspired (Miley Cyrus)," more AVATAR: The Last Airbender Inspired Makeup Looks, more speed demo looks, A "Matrix" Inspired Makeup Look, a Captain Jack Sparrow Makeup Tutorial and so much more :) I'm also hoping to do more product reviews, talk videos and maybe some more personal videos on dealing with certain issues or makeup addiction issues (the not good/fun kind).

I still have a few videos left for 2011 if I can film and edit them in time. I'm hoping for 2 holiday makeup tutorials and a product review on this rather innovative shaving gel called Oliveology.  

Well, for those who read the whole thing through, now you know much more about my journey here, my inspirations and works coming up!

Feel free to contact me with requests, questions or even friendly conversation at AUDFACED@Gmail.com or even YouTube messages sent to "Audfaced." Then again there's Twitter and my Audfaced and Audivila Photography facebooks ... goodness I wish all these sites were combined into one. I dislike having to keep track of all these different places! :P

I'll be here!

A montage of some of my most extreme makeup looks in 2010:

 

Stick around, okay? :) 2011 here I come!