Some of the most exciting brands are both vegan and cruelty free now, and are often not in the highest price bracket. However, there are other European brands that sell in China and therefore can't claim to be completely cruelty free (given Chinese laws). They state that they are working towards change by putting pressure on the Chinese government. This could be another way to go, but it has to be a very active collective stance, otherwise it's just capitalising on the Chinese market and making excuses. Meanwhile, Chinese companies could survive just with China's huge internal market, so the leverage of outsiders is questionable, especially given the expense of imported goods (are there really THAT many people buying Caudalie, Urban Decay and so on in China? I guess so). Personally, I am becoming more and more concerned with buying products made in the West, full stop, so its not just a case of losing the animal testing, but also ensuring jobs, better working conditions, better respect for the environment, better CSR, etc. and as you say, an indie brand that isn't owned by one of the giants. Everything has an impact, even the packaging, the platform it's purchased on, the carrier used... I seem to remember HLP being concerned with this not so long ago...TheMakeupMarauder wrote: ↑Mon Apr 20, 2020 5:33 pmEmptyVessel wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2020 1:25 pmI get what you're saying. My make-up purchsing kickstarted after starting to watch beauty Youtube. I'm not saying that's such a bad thing - I've enjoyed the new creativity with colour and full-on glam. I still think there are a lot of YouTubers out there who are just passionate about make-up and fashion and not just selling their souls to promote brands that have chosen to prioritise this route to get ahead - itching to cite a couple of them here, but won't. We know who they are anyway, because they are all over social media like a rash, and not with tasteful, beautifully produced ads, but rather mouthy, self-serving individuals bulldozing YouTube with their greedy faces and questionable merchandise.TheMakeupMarauder wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2020 11:15 amEmptyVessel wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:42 amHannah built her channel on being relatable for the many women (even worldwide) who lean towards shopping to lift their spirits, and for whom this is an issue, because they fritter money away instead of saving for things that would really enhance their lives, or at worst, rack up debt in the process. It's a very current topic, up there with comfort eating and to some extent, alcohol abuse. Added to that she seemed ambitious, entrepreneurial, capable and conscious. This started to gather a little crowd. Here was someone successfully doing what many other women were trying to do, or wishing they could. I mean, surviving in an expensive city, renting premises as well as a pretty cool flat, managing her wardrobe choices around sales, vintage shops and smart decisions, getting a grip on her gratuitous spending, making rules for herself and sticking to them, building a writing career, establishing a small clothing label... 'We were there for it.' Someone was running the gauntlet and not getting knocked off their horse.TheMakeupMarauder wrote: ↑Fri Apr 17, 2020 4:22 pmThank you, loves! Both of your commentary on her really helped snap me out of my "Poor Hannah plant! She can't help that she is how she is!"- not that I was ever *that* bad, but I was close enough- mindset.
I feel like the only people who watch her consistently and worship/stan her at this point are rich/middle class white ladies who are in a similar predicament to her financially- in that, they have no genuine issues- and *want* to be her in her "quirky I'm-a-tango-clothier-who-just-happens-to-have-a-graduate-degree-in-poetry-I'm-not-like-other-girls" vibe. Or, I guess there could be suckers like me who, even in a desolate situation, bought what she was selling hook, line, and sinker.
One of her most major followers, who's Insta she shouted out recently, was posting about how Hannah has revolutionized her spending habits and posted a Jeffree Star concealer by saying "I know people get in their fEElinGS about Jeffree Star, but he makes a good concealer." or something like that. Hannah has to realize that that's the behavior she's enabling, even if she hasn't financially foot the bill for J*.
I feel like she fancies herself "She walks in beauty.."
but it's honestly more like "She reeks of privilege.."
Hannah "Reeks of Privilege" Moochise Poston. xD
god, I'm a salt mountain right now. >.<
How...ev...er... The gaps in this story soon started to become obvious to anyone watching over time. I watched a couple of videos towards the end of her no-buy and then more in the budget year. I quickly noticed a change in her behaviour and attitude that year. She used to interact with her comments thread, for example, but then that gradually fizzled and became very selective in favour of those who fawned over her. This was sus. Moreover, I expected her to move on from the endless declutters and swatching vids to something more interesting and original, like vlogs, something about her work, or about tango, or about writing, cooking, anything. I couldn't work out how she could possibly be satisfied with rinse-repeat uploads. Moreover, for the kind of videos she does, there are some really talented people out there who are better qualified to review products, and who do interesting make-up looks. HLP can't even make interesting make-up interesting. Coming up to Christmas of the budget year, she was churning out the vids on a daily basis and they were a load of shite. An insult tbh. It wasn't long before she informs her viewers that Adsense pays out more at the time of year. I absolutely wouldn't look to HLP for make-up reviews or make-up tips. If anyone ever employed her in this capacity, it would be a travesty. The cards she had to play in this game are the conscious consumer card, and things like her writing, needlework, cooking, and experience of LA. Otherwsie, she needn't bother, as far as I'm concerned.
Once one doubt started to sprout, others followed. How could she have so much money with a small niche business? How come she has so much time to make videos? Why does she plead poverty and ask for handouts? Why does she ignore some people's comments and not others? How does she manage to get through so many products? Why does everything have to have snob value? Why doesn't her boyfriend contribute to their finances? Why does she buy so much stuff, when she's supposed to be reducing her spending? Why was her 'project' for this year not a project at all, but just a counting game? Why was it built up to be something amazing and excitin, when it was a load of old cobblers?
So, all the people who thought she could relate to their issues, gradually realised that she did. not. in. fact. have. a. clue. Her hand-to-mouth existence didn't actually look remotely like theirs. Most people can't just move to LA and rent a flat and a studio and run a car on the back of a little Etsy shop and just one person's income (OK, so they have their own website now, but the style and products are the same). And then on top of that, she can afford to treat herself with hundreds of $ worth of treats every month. And then, even worse, the conscious consumer channel starts to become GOOP's poor relation. And then people start to see that they have been played and what was presented as authentic is actually someone's invented persona, and a completely different frame of reference anyway.
HLP made all kinds of implicit claims that were based on a flawed premise: our assumption that here was someone who was in a similar position to us, but managing better. The realisation that this was a lie is initially depressing, as we are forced to face the fact that there are no easy answers to shopping addiction. And that running a successful creative business is not quite so accessible for the majority of people. In the end, just like with alcohol abuse, hard and fast rules probably work best, and in the case of small businesses, you need some capital behind you and investors. It has never been Hannah on a wing and a prayer. Not really. After that, I think HLP just starts to grate, because not only is it complete BS that she's struggling financially, but also that she has a grip on her spending. Moreover, she's toxic in herself: I mean, I found myself wanting to buy things after watching her videos! Moreover, I found myself gravitating towards the expensive brands she's constantly raving over. I had to make a conscious decision to look for cheaper alternatives for thngs like eyeshadow, blush (where it really doesn't matter that much).
The thing is not to beat yourself up about any of it: the shopping addiction, the attachment to HLP's channel, the ensuing irritation with HLP's channel, and so forth. HLP is a far more enabled person than most people ever will be and OK, she might be able to fool herself that she's got her finances under her control, because she gets sent free stuff and gets rid of things constantly to keep the numbers down, but we all know she's got a huge problem and is alone with it in her relationship. That's not an enviable position to be in. I think I prefer being me, even if that means genuine financial precarity and a shaky but honest attempt to try and manage my spending.
THANK YOU FOR THIS! I feel the same way. I fell down the rabbit hole, hard, for Hannah. It reminds me of the John Lennon song "God", where at the end, he sings, "I just believe in me. Yoko and me. And that's reality. The dream is over, what can I say?" It's not just Hannah. I feel so disenchanted, in general, with beauty YouTube, even the smaller channels. That hard dosage of reality has been so beneficial for my actual replacements only no-buy (which is what I want to turn the rest of my beauty behavior in general towards, anyway. xD Only buying what I really need, versus everything everyone says we must buy.), because if I kept burying my heads under the covers and letting my mental health downgrade, allowed my behavior to get even further out of control and manifest into my full detriment, I would be worse than Hannah, in my mind.
I wouldn't influence other people to want to mimic my behavior, because of the parasocial attachment- but I would have been such a hypocrite for trying to be more on an environmental minimalist, who talks about it quite frequently with those in my inner circle.
I don't envy her at all, but I'm currently in a position where I revile what she is, because the dream of what she and her community could have been is dead. The dream of any of any YouTuber or any community truly caring and trying to bring forward better behaviors that might help manifest a revolution to end all of our struggles. Most of the smaller ones are just fake woke, and it's becoming grating to everything I stand for, because in their bubbles- even if they try to say all of the right things- it loses its meaning when they aren't actually using their platform to do anything more than armchair activism. (Smokey Glow coopting the Spoon Theory for social justice fatigue *rolls eyes*- Hannah constantly bringing up how depressed she was after the last election, but never truly mentioning any marginalized groups when it comes to products, etc. It's SO disingenuous.)
I, too, found myself lusting after stuff she raved about! I don't even like neutrals often, and I fell so far into lust for that Gold palette, just because it was the one thing in her collection she actually used that I was able to see use on. ;-; I'm glad the bubble has popped, and I'm just going to use her as a different inspiration now: as what not to do! (Which I've subconsciously been doing for the better of the past year. xD) I was shocked she hasn't talked about her writing project, since she's apparently spending all of her days writing now. As you said, I would much rather watch her lifestyle content, because it sounds like that would at least be interesting instead of her swatching all of her eyeshadow palettes for the infinitieth time.
I just tried quoting for the first time! I hope it works and isn't a jumbled mess.
My take on it is: how long has a brand been in business? Do they have a physical shop=floor presence near you? If so, go and try the actual products and ask for a sales consultant to put them on you (not now, obviously, but under normal circumstances). For a full makeover, this could cost a small fee, but if that starts to get pricey, beware. I think there are some super-pricey make-overs like with Charlotte Tilbury, but you get a load of products in with that, so while I would question CT's pricing, having a makeover there could be OK, if you are into the products. Not my scene though, personally.
Neither would I EVER shell out all that money for Natasha Denona or Pat McGrath palettes. That's clearly OK for those for whom money's no object, but if you have to think about it, then there are plenty of alternatives for a fraction of the cost. I just don't want to put any more money in the pockets of these greedy, cynical people and their shareholders. They are laughing all the way to the bank. I trained as a beauty therapist at one point and worked on various beauty counters in dept. stores for a few years. I have a few bougie bits and pieces and I have tried quite a lot of brands, but I really don't want to be stupid and waste my money. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE beauty and make-up shopping, but it's a treat, or something I do when I run out of a product or find a gap in my collection. Then, I absolutely try and work in proportion to my income.
I totally get what you are saying about Hannah being like a deterrent. I don't see Hannah's name out there much - no recent publications. She doesn't seem to have a blog. She doesn't do any artwork. She doesn't make any outfits, other than tango clothes. Her name isn't on any research or academic forums. All the things she claims to be are a load of smoke and mirrors. She's no one we should aspire to. Time to cut her out of our lives completely. We'll wonder why we bothered with her in the first place.
I only buy vegan and cruelty free makeup. As a result, I have a list of questions I send brands before I will purchase from them unless they are Logical Harmony approved. It's made me so much more critical of makeup than I ever envisioned, from my baby self that was consumed by beauty YouTube. I'm so glad that brands that were only accessible online (like Sugarpill) are now available in store, so swatching is available- while making better purchases.
There are so many better indie brands that have quality products that cost far less than ND or PMG, which you are just buying for a name, a label.
A makeup artist name and label, but still. I watched HLP review the Patrick Ta brow wax yesterday and what her review amounted to was that it was soap brows but "silkier", much more luxurious and elegant/our usual HLP-isms. I use soap brows daily and spent 1$ on my bar of soap.
I can't wait until the day I'm not salty at her, but for now, having this as a home to laugh at all the cringeworthy things she does and call them out? Priceless.I wonder if she'll pull a Samantha March and start self-publishing trash. xD (I'm not anti self-publishing, but SM's books- I've read an excerpt- were laughable for someone who consistently sings her praises.) As HLP talks about her consistently and has for a while, I wouldn't be shocked if that was one of the next steps.
I think it was Urban Decay that started the pallettes craze wasn't it? It gives a brand so much more leverage to tempt people with: the whole vibe, colour story, convenience and value for money (in some cases). It has inspired more creativity and colour in make-up though. I prefer watching beauty YouTubers who explore possibilities and create actual looks, different looks. I never considered HLP to be one of those people. She just likes a certain style and despite her sea of amazing products, ends up looking more or less the same, every time. That's fine for her, but it gets up my nose that she fancies herself as a make-up artist. I think that's pretty much it: she gets up most people's noses with her snotty, self-absorbed, privileged snowflake persona.
I watched part of the Patrick Ta video yesterday, because I thought it was an interesting product She was so fumbly and awkward though and who told her that was a good brow look?? She just splays her brows out to F and fills nothing in. Maybe that works on some people with far darker skin, but she just ends up looking like a hormone imbalance. When she started the video, I thought this was her finished look and she had finally found some normality with Patrick Ta. Hell, no... She'll watch these videos through her fingers one day.
I fail to see how this product is any different from a budget range brow pomade. I have tried ordinary soap and it doesn't work well for me, personally, but the Benefit 24h brow setter is amazing and lasts forever. That is one thing I am willing to pay for. If I used hair gel anyway, I would probably try that. Hair waxes would probably be OK too. Those little brow kits do offer convenience though. I'm just amazed that she hasn't gone for this particular shopping opportunity earlier. She stuck with the soap and that's an anomaly in the Hannah universe.
Samantha March brings out my prey drive - she's got that wet, thin-skinned kind of vibe about her, poor cow. However, she's got enough poke in the engine to follow her dreams and get those books out there. I haven't a clue what they're like and I'm not drawn to read any of them. I know that this kind of person won't write anything of any interest to me, unless she had a major life interruption and then co-wrote a book about her experiences with a professional writer. However, she wrote the books, which is more than Hannah's done. I take the opposite view to you: Hannah COULD have written books about her shopping habits and striving to be an ethical consumer, but she didn't. When her channel was really growing, she could have sold a few copies, even just as a download. Knowing her, she would probably have done a Kickstarter anyway. The thing is she DIDN'T and I now believe it's beyond her capabilities. She describes herself as a 'poet' and an 'essayist'. In other words, short things. She has never ventured beyond that. She doesn't even have a written blog. Neither does Joe. The 'writer'. At least our Sam has had a go, whether we like her work or not! I think with Han, it's about whether the 'afflatus' is upon her, which is why nothing ever gets done (just found that word and it's right up her alley! As well as being a bit farty).
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