Beauty Blogger’s Guide

Fancy yourself as a beauty guru? Then become one! Starting a YouTube channel is not easy, but if you are really into makeup, fashion, and style, it might be a lot of fun. The main thing is to start and grow your blog the way you want it to be. And that’s why we are here!

So, the first thing you need to do is to…

Find Your Niche

The beauty world on YouTube is really large and diverse, so life will be easier for you if you choose one topic and try to stay with just that initially. You can pick literally anything you want. 

If you want to explore makeup basics and trends find your inspiration on Lisa Eldridge’s and Jen Chae’s channels. Or you can go creative and show the power of makeup just like Nikkie de Jager, transforming one person into another in one quick video. If you feel more like creating Halloween-style and costume makeup, learn from Kandee Johnson and Emma Pickles. And they’re just the tip of the iceberg. The range of what you can do on the YouTube beauty scene is BIG. Create hairstyles, dig into the science of cosmetics, explore the history of maquillage, investigate new approaches to skincare, write reviews of perfumes…

The best part is that it’s only your interests that really matter: if you’re not passionate about your topic, no one’s going to be passionate about your videos.

Develop Your Strategy

Who is your ideal subscriber? How old is he or she? What about their occupation, income level, interests? Once you have a clear picture of that person in your mind, you will be able to come up with appropriate ideas for your videos. 

Make a plan for a month or two ahead. Think about how people will find your videos on YouTube, and why they should watch them until the very end and subscribe to your channel. Find some trending or popular topics. The easiest way to check if a search request is popular right now is on Google Trends. Just type in your keyword and you’ll get a full report about that search: related topics, dynamics of searches, list of cities in which people are most interested in that topic.

Is Mac going to release a new collab? For sure, there will be thousands of people who would want to first watch a review of the products before buying them. Graduation party season coming? A good makeup tutorial will definitely help you gain views and subscribers.

Make ratings of your favorite sunscreen products before summer and review nourishing creams when winter is coming. But always keep in mind your audience’s interests. Teenagers are unlikely to watch a video about acids in skin care products and adults won’t be interested in prom makeup tutorials.

Plan popular “genres” of videos that will help you to get more views: challenges, what’s in my bag-s, quick tutorials, top drugstore cosmetics, etc. 

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Get Your Equipment

The quality of the video itself is just as important as the quality of the content. But that doesn’t mean you have to invest in a super expensive camera right away. Great videos can be shot on an iPhone or a simple compact camera. Just make sure they look good and there is no pixelation. If you do not have an acceptable camera, borrow one from a friend. As a thank you gift, you could do their makeup for an event. Also, check out this article on 10 best cameras for YouTube in 2019.

Consider the Lighting and Sound

If you’re not ready to spend a lot of money on the lighting, that’s okay. Natural light is your best friend here. Film in the morning or evening hours, or at least on cloudy days. And remember that if the weather turns bad, your whole video will immediately get darker.

If you are ready to invest in lighting, your first purchase should be a ring light. It gives a diffuse light that’s perfect for creating makeup videos.

A small mic is crucial. There are not many things that annoy viewers as much as bad sound in a video. So, make sure you have at least a simple clip-on mic – they cost around $20: 

Be Aware of the Background

A pile of clothes on a chair, dirty walls, an untidy room – those are the things no one wants to see in a beauty video. While filming, try to make not just yourself attractive but everything that falls in the frame. 

You can use fairy lights and flowers. Or just make a creative mess with your brushes, palettes, makeup books, and other stuff on the table. If you’re using the whole room as a background, make sure it’s all clean and nice.

Write a Script for Every Video

If you don’t want the filming process to take a whole day, prepare a script beforehand. It will help you to stay on topic, keep your video informative and not run too long with poetic digressions. Also, the less mumbling you have to cut out during editing, the easier it will be for you.

But, of course, do leave some space for improvisation. Your viewers are going to love you for who you really are with your jokes and comments, not for your skill in reading from a piece of paper. So, use the script only as a guide, not as a strict set of instructions.

Also, if you’re working with complex material, let’s say explaining how certain components in cosmetics work, do your homework. Do the research and collect the studies you are going to rely on, interview a cosmetic chemist or other specialists. 

Referring to third-party sources is good, even if you are talking about something abstract, say trends in makeup. Find examples in reports from fashion weeks or couture ads. If you need references or just inspiration, go to Vogue Runway. Here you can find photos from all the world’s fashion shows.

Generally, work with the material you have and remember that audiences do not generally trust people on the internet for no reason. People need something to convince them.

Stay Yourself While Shooting

Finally, it’s time to start shooting. Make sure there will be no noise in the background and that you are in focus. Keep your script by you, but do not read the whole thing as if you’re taking an exam.

Imagine you’re teaching makeup to your mother or sister. That will help you stay yourself and relax. And do not worry – you can have as many takes as you need. Be creative, explain in detail every step you take, and feel free to tell a few jokes. 

And the last point – make sure your clothes and hairstyle match the makeup you’re creating in the video.

Edit Your Blog with Movavi

If you’ve decided to create a beauty blog, the blog itself should also be a thing of beauty. Yep, you’ll have to learn to edit. And you need not be afraid of that. In fact, this is a very creative and fun process. Especially if you’re using Movavi Video Editor Plus. It is easy to perfect your videos with it, even if you’re doing it for the first time in your life. 

The main things you need to do are to carefully trim your video clips, connect them on the timeline and apply sound. Basically, that will be enough. But if you want to make your video look more professional, create a unique intro for yourself, use transitions, stickers, and titles showing the names of the products you use. 

If you’re not sure you’ll be able to pull it off, don’t worry! Not only do you not need experience in video editing to create your channel, because Movavi Video Editor is super intuitive and our team is always ready to help, but we’ve also created a special Beauty Bloggers Pack, making the whole process even easier and more fun!

The pack includes 19 titles, 12 stickers, 4 backgrounds and 5 transitions. Check out the Beauty Bloggers Pack in the Effects Store!

Promote Your Blog

The success of your channel depends not just on the quality of your videos. You need to dig a little into YouTube marketing if you want to build your subscriber base. 

Of course, you should not make your videos just for the “thumbs up” and comments. If you love your videos yourself, nothing else really matters. But those indicators are important for the YouTube algorithm. How many people watch your videos, how many of them watch the whole video to the end, what percentage of viewers leave comments and “thumbs ups” – it all affects how often your video will be recommended to new viewers and also your search ranking.

Actually, YouTube marketing is a topic for a whole series of articles, but we will try to give you some basic advice to get you started. 

1. Post your videos consistently. It is better to upload one video every week than four of them at once and then forget about the channel for a whole month. The best strategy is to prepare a few videos in advance before starting the channel and then upload them one by one while making the next ones at a comfortable pace. 
2. Add a call to action to your videos. Call to “thumbs ups” and comments, ask questions, reminders to subscribe and to hit the bell icon. As annoying as it may seem to some people, it really works.
3. Make sure you fill out a description of your video, enter every single product you use and also add tags. Basically, make the description as useful as possible. Your subscribers will appreciate it and you’ll rate higher in searches.  
4. Don’t forget to promote your blog on other platforms: create an account on Instagram or a group on Facebook. 

Be Patient

Do not expect your channel to grow in a couple of months. It will take some time, and that is completely okay. Be patient, build a strategy, do experiments, have fun, and never give up!