How to -movies and virality: Male beauty bloggers

Male beauty bloggers are a new social group, that got worldwide famous in recent years. They are a new internet sensation with millions of followers, viral videos and inspiring life stories. How did they become so successful?

Even in today’s so- called “free” world, it is not (yet?) common for men to wear makeup. However, the tendency is slightly changing, especially in popular culture. Precisely, internet - as its significant part. Working on this article, I used certain course literature, observed social media pages of beauty bloggers, as well as their comment sections. I used this information to describe and analyze behaviour patterns and to draw conclusions about what I've noticed. How do they do it? What are the unwritten rules of this group? Can we call them media influencers? I will try to find answers to these, and other various questions below.

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Social group development/ how did they got so popular?

 Male Beauty Bloggers  are not a new phenomena. This type of blogging evolved from female makeup videos on YouTube. Male Beauty Bloggers were not a widespread gniche, but more of a “subculture” to the whole beauty blogging sphere- like makeup for goth, professional techniques, “Halloween”- makeup, etc. Thus, they can still be labeled as “outsiders” - “those people who are judged by others to be deviant and thus to stand outside the circle of “normal” members of the group” (Becker, 1963).

At first, Male Beauty Bloggers were popular and widely supported among LGBTQ+ community. Some state, the group only became popular, outside athe certain audience, around 2014. Before, only a couple of male YouTubers had enough courage to put their video-tutorials online. Men wearing makeup were associated mostly with drag-queens and transgender culture (wasn't always true). Male Beauty Bloggers present themselves as independent artists and stepped away from the shadow of LGBTQ+, a while ago.

Namely on YouTube, the scene of popularity in applying makeup, belonged to women for years. It did not quite change, but now they confidently share it with men. Male Beauty Bloggers became a separate niche in a segment, not dependant on female bloggers, but sometimes cooperating with them. Men applying makeup, creating “new looks” - get the same amount of views, sponsored promotion and appreciation of fans, as their female colleagues.

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Male Beauty Bloggers are more appealing for men viewers, nevertheless they still attracting numerous audience of female makeup lovers. This is a result of keeping up with men features in the look, while still using beauty products. Millions of followers on social media, personal stories of “coming out” ,under(it is important to note, that family might affect one’s career significantly. 

reMale Beauty BloggersParents are usually not supportive of the makeup idea., “...and, as outsiders, often fail to understand the nature of the [one’s] attachment to his work. The misunderstandings and disagreements that arise often change the direction of a man’s career and, in some cases, bring it to an end.” (Becker, 1963).), provocative appearance, and humor attract unbelievable numbers of views under each video. ,

Before and after: Patrick Starr Patrick Starr

Superdiversity vs. translocal phenomena

Resulted with the help of superdiversity, Male Beauty Bloggers are, indeed, a translocal phenomena. This shift of makeup culture started in USA and got widespread around the world. However, even if it may seem like a “homogeneous globalized subculture” (Maly, Varis, 2015), it is not one. The members of the group,  even though they are connected to one common concept (idea), differ depending on many factors, as well as features connected to their location. “Thus, we need a polycentric vision… to see culture… as layered and oriented towards a number of centers of normativity” (Maly, Varis, 2015). 

For instance, they can differ even by using different types and brands of cosmetics - companies with headquarters in the US are more likely to sponsor American Male Beauty Bloggers; while Asian beauty brands cooperate with local bloggers. (Originally) Asian Male Beauty Bloggers also add some femininity (as we have learned to understand it as such) in their looks by wearing wigs, accessories, or sometimes even dresses and heels. Western bloggers, mostly prefer "traditional" (in terms of commercialized female beauty), glamorous, “Hollywood celebrity”- looks. These males use makeup to resemble styles, that are actively advocated by companies in advertisement, or by Hollywood's stars (Kim Kardashian, or Kylie Jenner - kind of look).  On the other hand, Asian Male Beauty Bloggers are more open to experiment with color and textures (e.g.: using lipstick as an eyeshadow), creating something new, extraordinary and (importantly) viral. 

Beauty standards differ in Asia, Middle East, and the West, and this is accurately reflected in the looks of MBB. Thus, as we can see, “...some indexicals have become truly global, yet others work only on more local levels.” (Maly, Varis, 2015).

Despite the members mostly getting to know each other online (at least at first), there are some features that should be in presence of every significant (popular) beauty blogger. What' is really crucial and global, among all successful Male Beauty Bloggers- are their skills, construction of "unique identity" (being different from all the other men and women), sense of common beauty trends (even though the experiments are welcomed, they mostly still stick to “traditional”, glamorous looks in their public appearances) and personal stories of coming out. Male Beauty Bloggers present makeup as a type of art and self-expression. They are finally “being real” (Maly, Varis, 2015) with society. Male Beauty Bloggers show their true self in YouTube videos, free of bullying or gender stereotypization. 

However, this “true self” is a pattern that covers the same features among most of Male Beauty Bloggers, which makes it a part of a global identity. Being a “real” Male Beauty Bloggers means to promote acceptance and integration in society and freeness to express yourself however you want. This type of bloggers are very proud of belonging to this group, proud “to be who they really are”. However, being "true self" one still follows common beauty trends in terms of makeup fashion and similar Male Beauty Bloggers behavioural patterns.Male Beauty Bloggers

Marc Zapanta (Philippines) transforming himself into Jasmine Marc Zapanta

Social authority levels within the group

Of crucial importance is to mention the concept of “Deviant Careers” by Howard Becker. One can try a type of behaviour, that increases the deviance, which would mean the start of the career. This process can be characterized as following - “...the commission of a nonconforming act, an act that breaks some particular set of rules.” (Becker, 1963). First step would be just ordinary application of makeup by men (not excluding the possibility, of doing so after watching a tutorial, which can be followed by posting the picture online, and tagging favorite beauty blogger). Taking in account the analogy with Becker’s drug users, we can differentiate such person as a “beginner”. 

The next level would be the “occasional user”, here - a man, who uploads the videos of makeup online, but does not gain much popularity and has an additional “offline” job. There is also an example of “...those who ultimately take on an extremely deviant identity and way of life.” (Becker, 1963). The later case involves openly uploading makeup videos by men on YouTube (pictures on Instagram), and even building the real, profitable career connected to these activities. In the analogy, the last type would be a “regular user”, or in other words, a crusader. I would like to zoom in on this category.

The crusaders of the social group are successful Male Beauty Bloggers. “Success” here is pretty vague, but there are some similar features, which I noticed during my research. Some of them were already mentioned above, such as: skillfulness in applying makeup, following certain beauty standards, openness to experimenting, sense of humor, and personal stories of acceptance of one's "true self". This is a set of must- have features, to become a crusader. It is of crucial importance, to be innovative and creative in what you are doing, in order to be noticed by the audience. You need to know how to shock your viewers, to attract constant attention. Tutorials have to be easily applicable and well explained - you have to keep in mind, that your looks are mostly recreated by amateurs. 

 One becomes a crusader, when he has more than a million followers on YouTube and other social medias. When press starts talking about the person and he “goes out” of the internet bubble into offline media space, e.g.: giving interviews, participating in tv shows, making public appearances. Some starr in magazine covers and become  ambassadors of famous makeup brands. 

MBB together. From left to right: Patrick Starr, Bretman Rock, Manny Mua @bretmanrock

The building of a network with the colleagues also plays an important role. Male Beauty Bloggers can achieve a certain level of success only with the help of cooperation and support of others in the group. “Successful functioning and professional mobility are functions of the individual’s relation to a network of informal organizations composed of his colleagues.” (Becker, 1963). MBB starr in common videos, promote each other's products and work on new projects together. Thus, according to Becker (1963), “The successful career may be viewed as a series of such steps, each one a sequence of sponsorship, successful performance, and the building up of relationships at each new level.”. Everything I mentioned above, is not obligatory applicable to one person at the same time (except for the number of followers and cooperation), but every couple of the factors decide your level of getting closer to being a “successful” member of the group.

While examining the comment section of Male Beauty Bloggers crusaders, I noticed, that they have very dedicated and spread fan bases each. In some time, the spreadness of fans results into the transnational group, which is formed around a crusader. They also mostly contain youngsters- teenage boys and girls who love makeup. As an example, the reactions of the videos of Bretman Rock are unexceptionally flattering. But if we check some of the commenter's profiles, it gets clear that they want to follow the careers of their beauty idols. 

Fans use videos of Male Beauty Bloggers not only for entertainment, but also as a serious learning guide. Posting videos of tutorials and asking for likes, they want to be just like Bretman Rock, and, as popular and stylish as him. Similar tendency is noticeable on other social media- Instagram. He gets tagged on a number of people’s pictures. They followed the steps of his tutorials and want to share the results. But what makes him so interesting to be followed by millions? Perhaps, we can find an answer after taking a closer look at Rules and Norms of the group.

"Tagged in" section of Bretman Rock's Instagram account is full of the pictures of his fans Blean-Tsige Tsige Tamirat

Rules and norms

Every social group has its own rules and norms. “Modern societies are not simple organizations in which everyone agrees on what the rules are and how they are to be applied in specific situations. They are, instead, highly differentiated along social class lines, ethic lines, occupational lines, and cultural lines.” (Becker, 1963). Sometimes they are official, sometimes abstract and unwritten, but necessarily followed by every member. 

Some of the features, though, are carried by a number of users of YouTube community, especially in beauty blogging sphere. On the video one should appear in a smiley, friendly way, already showing the end result of the makeup tutorial. The video always starts with some polite greeting, like “Hey, guys! I haven’t seen you for a while!”. The next step is introduction to the current type of makeup used in the video “Today I'm going to show you my autumn makeup routine”. Though there are some typical elements, like “contour/ eyeshadow/ brow- Routine”, “Beyonce/ Rihanna/ Angelina Jolie makeup transformation”, “Smokey Eyes/ highlight/ full coverage tutorial” - kind of videos are a typical content of Male Beauty Bloggers YouTube channels.

For the actual step-by-step guide they use mostly sponsored beauty brands, discussing them in detail during the process. However, a specific feature here - beauty products must be “on budget”. They should be affordable to buy and relatable to recreate the looks, for the viewers. 

Male Beauty Bloggers,"Constructing identity in dialogue with the Facebook protocols & algorithms makes us ‘micro-celebrities’ in managing our identity in interaction with protocols & algorithms for an imagined audience." (Maly, 2017). Often they encourage people to leave the comments, asking the questions, e.g.: “Have you already tried this product? Comment your impressions down below!”, or “This part of the face is always the hardest to me! To you too?”, sometimes “Would you like me to show you how to put the highlight on, in a separate video?”.  Of course, it is a well- known trick in encouraging participation and popularizing the video/ channel. It is also used in the end of every video, reminding the audience to put thumbs up, follow the YouTuber on social medias and leave comments. Adding a polite close up “Thank you for watching this video, I am going to see you really soon, bye!”, is also very important. "Micro- celebrity, a self- presentation technique, in which people view themselves as a public persona to be consumed by others, use strategic intimacy to appeal to followers, and regard their audience as fans." (Marwick, A., boyd d., 2011).

Male Beauty BloggersAccept for all the shared features, MBB are popular by their willingness to experiment and creating extraordinary looks. Bright colors, unusual materials (e.g.: using only lipsticks, or only eyeshadows to create the whole look), “full coverage” (all stages of) makeup, as it is meant to appear on tv, very often transformation into different (female) celebrities/ characters. Sometimes Male Beauty Bloggers use their sense of humor, to make videos more entertaining to watch - they are not afraid to show themselves from the funny (sometimes, silly) side. 

Anyways, significant part of their careers are the videos about personal stories of how they suffered to find their true self and the difficulties of “coming out”. They often collaborate with each other and, sometimes, even with celebrities.

 It is also of crucial importance, Male Beauty Bloggersfor one to really follow the stages of applying makeup: you cannot put mascara, before putting foundation on; or highlighter before lipstick. Male Beauty BloggersMBB actually must have good makeup skills. The viewers should be willing to follow your tips, as if you were the professional.

Bretman Rock at Miss Universe 2015 Red Carpet ABC CBN Lifestyle

Male Beauty Bloggers are also active outside the Web. Once in awhile popular Male Beauty Bloggers get invited to participate in various public events. Regular occasion is fan gathering at Beauty Cons. Followers are always willing to meet their idols outside the web - do they look as good as online? Sure thing, in such cases Male Beauty Bloggers have to wear cosmetics and ultra stylish clothes - their images will be spread on Instagram and multiple forums afterwards. They have to appear friendly and fun. 

The same goes for tv shows, where they are very welcomed both in the roles of hosts and guests. Often they publicly discuss men wearing makeup as a new cultural switch and gender phenomena. “Everyone should follow the way they really are, not being afraid of criticism and misunderstanding” and “acceptance of true self” are typical topics of such discussions. 

Appearance on the red carpet is also not a rare occasion: fashion shows, music awards, or even beauty contests - all ready to welcome internet sensations. Worldwide famous brands like Nyx, CoverGirl, Maybelline, etc. are willing to sign the contracts with various MBB. However, they also become involved in entrepreneurship, creating their own beauty products and promoting them to their fans later on. They achieve a great support from their dedicated followers, whatever they do.

Enough - is enough

The following features can both be noticed concerning Rules and Norms and "Enoughness". Male Beauty Bloggers can make videos of “coming out”, but not mention it too often. Male beauty blogger should not transform himself with the help of feminine clothes and wig in every video - male features should be saved as dominant. Experimenting is good, but one’s account won't be taken seriously if it only contains extraordinary videos of misuse of products, applying extra bright colors, etc. The same counts on the contrary - if one doesn’t experiment at all, or doesn’t shock the audience, he cannot be recognized as a trendsetter, or innovator in beauty world. Most videos should be appealing to everyday style (that is mostly used by followers). One should present makeup as art, or tool of self expression; not as a way to make money, or propaganda of beauty products for men. Male Beauty Bloggers has to be tolerant to others, and be an acceptance example for viewers. 

“Obviously, these processes involve conflict and contestation, especially revolving around “enoughness” (s/he in not enough of X; or too much of X) as well as about the particular configuration of emblematic features (“in order to be X, you need to have 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 “versus” you can’t be X without having 6,7,8,9”).” (Blommaert, Varis, 2015). Thus, one cannot make a significant overlap among above mentioned features, as well as cannot work without them at all. At the same time, if “wanna-be” MBB, doesn’t have at least one of those features - he cannot achieve a level of “success” in the group. However, “enoughness” is indeed a tricky concept of sensing - “And given this essentially contested character, these processes are highly dynamic: configurations of features and criteria of enoughness can be adjusted, reinvented, amended.” (Blommaert, Varis, 2015).

Conclusions

As I have already mentioned, famous male makeup personalities have a tendency to appear outside the social medias area. We can see them in various niches - newspapers, magazines (and their covers), they get invited to participate and to host tv shows, and even on the radio. Their popularity online grows daily. The amount of their followers is a sufficient evidence to it. 

Meanwhile, analytics participate in ongoing discussions about recent popularization of “male wearing makeup trend”,  with two dominant points of view. First of them -  it is a marketing trick of huge makeup brands to popularize cosmetics among men and gain two times more profit. While second one - that this is a unique cultural phenomena of making gender borders less visible and stereotyped, though less traumatic for some. The Male Beauty Bloggers themselves, always encourage the later one, ignoring the first one. They are most likely to present their group as gender ambassadors, rather than tools of marketing machinery.

The influence of the Male Beauty Bloggers culture grows and develops daily. Members of this group can, indeed, be named media influencers. They set new trends in makeup, promote self- and society acceptance and encourage others to follow their tutorials. As we can see, they are evolving into something bigger and more meaningful, growing up outside the Web. The times where Male Beauty Bloggers were only about posting makeup tutorials weekly, are left in the past. Before - just YouTube bloggers, or makeup artists. Within a few years - the group experienced a switch from being a small population, posting videos applying cosmetic products, into revolutionary celebrities online. Now - famous personalities, who challenge traditional gender culture, and can often be seen outside social media.

References:

Becker, H. (1963). Outsiders. Free Press of Glencoe. The University of Michigan.

 Blommaert, J., Varis, P. (2015). Enoughness, accent and light communities: Essays on contemporary identities. Tilburg University: Tilburg Papers in Culture Studies. 

Maly I., (2017). Identity and social groups. [PowerPoint Slides].

 Maly I., Varis P. (2015). The 21st-century hipster: On micro-populations in times of superdiversity. European Journal of Culture Studies. 

Mawrick A., boyd d., (2011). I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience.