Is The Pandemic The End Of The Influencer Makeup Line?
For years, consumers have been inundated by social media influencers advertising their upcoming makeup lines and beauty start-up companies. YouTubers from around the globe have profited from this craze, with 86% of makeup lines produced by influencers and only 14% produced by official beauty brands. This 86% includes products by figures like James Charles (25.5M subscribers), Yuya (24.6M subscribers), jeffreestar (16.7M subscribers), Musas (15M subscribers), NikkieTutorials (13.8M subscribers), Zoella (11.1M subscribers), and Tati Westbrook (9M subscribers), to name a few. While YouTube and Instagram stars were the first to profit from the beauty industry via their mass online following, other celebrities have soon followed, with artists like Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga and Alicia Keys launching their own lines. But are these brands capable of surviving a pandemic, during which most individuals have forgone wearing makeup entirely?
A survey conducted of 80 individuals revealed speculation over whether the popularity of beauty influencers would persist following such a long delay in product and brand development. The question ‘do you think that post-pandemic beauty influencers should continue to produce palettes at the same highly frequent rate as before?’ was met with a majority ‘no’ response, with one person commenting that ‘beauty influencers should realise that everyone has been affected by the pandemic and that they can earn money in other ways.’ With influencers often immersed in problematic controversies, these discourses take effect and may have a significant influence on the success rates of their brands and consumer fanbase. In the social media age, online forums can easily turn into platforms for hate, and a single negative comment can actively discourage and potentially devastate business. Yet it is also this celebrity drama which attracts people: when asked if they thought that beauty influencers were worth the ‘hype’, individuals responding to the survey largely said yes, with one person speculating that ‘I don’t think it’s over [the influencers in question] but it has been switched from love to obsessive gossip and hate.’
“beauty influencers should realise that everyone has been affected by the pandemic and that they can earn money in other ways.”
So even with the easing of pandemic restrictions, people will continue to follow beauty influencers and their monetised content actively, regardless of the opinions they hold. It’s no wonder when influencers are able to connect with their audiences directly and immediately can produce staple beauty products on a mass scale (consider the James Charles X Morphe eyeshadow, praised for its colour range and high-quality pigment). Yet the question of whether these influencers will continue to enjoy as much business in a post-pandemic world remains to be seen.
