Locker Room to Make-up Artist on YouTube Star
Christen Dominique constructed a magnificence model and a following of greater than four million subscribers by showcasing easy, on a regular basis make-up strategies.
On this collection, YouTube Icon, Entrepreneur speaks with the people behind fashionable YouTube channels to seek out out the secrets and techniques of their success.
On a weekday morning whereas her mom made breakfast, a teenage Christen Dominique sneaked into her mom’s restroom, rifled by a make-up bag and used a little bit of concealer. Dominique wasn’t allowed to put on make-up, however her undereye circles had been a significant supply of insecurity for the seventh-grader and he or she’d determined to do one thing about it. That day in school, she felt stunning and assured. She even felt as if folks had been nicer to her. That’s when her love for make-up started to flourish. “I was creating a feeling of happiness and confidence,” she mentioned.
Dominique started to discover contouring and brightening, and very quickly, she was doing make-up for classmates, who lined up for her expertise within the ladies’ locker room. Finally, she advised her mom about her secret. Now, Dominique is a make-up artist with greater than four million YouTube subscribers, in addition to the founding father of her personal magnificence model, Dominique Cosmetics (bought at Sephora, Ulta Magnificence and extra).
Entrepreneur spoke with Dominique about her begin, creation course of and recommendation for different budding YouTubers.
This interview has been edited for size and readability.
How did you get your begin on YouTube?
I first created a YouTube account in 2009 simply as an everyday viewer. I did make-up on the facet for enjoyable whereas I labored as an insurance coverage rep and went to highschool full-time — and juggling all of that, together with being a spouse and mom, I had to select and ended up letting go of my freelance make-up jobs. After I advised my shoppers and buddies, they advised me I wanted to begin making movies so they might apply doing their make-up. That’s the way it began — so I might assist — and I used to be nonetheless in a position to do what I beloved. In 2012 or 2013 I began posting recurrently and put extra consideration into my movies — for instance, if I did a seashore look, I’d go to the seashore. That’s when my account began to develop.
How lengthy does it take to create a video, and what does that entail?
I’ll both see what’s trending — perhaps the Discover web page on Instagram — or I’ll get impressed by a glance, recreation or portray. Even a billboard with a cool design might encourage me to create a glance. Filming a video normally takes two to 4 hours relying on the video, and to edit it, it’s normally about the identical period of time. Lately I employed an editor, in order that cuts my time in half. After that, the video is about 30 minutes lengthy, and I can edit the remaining myself and put in some moments that replicate my character.
What’s your favourite make-up look that you just’ve ever completed?
My favourite appears to be like are those which can be straightforward to do, that anybody can do — not an excessive amount of shading and a extra on a regular basis, easy glam look. These additionally appear to be the preferred for everybody. Everybody needs to seem like themselves, just a bit extra glam or enhanced. For me, make-up is about confidence and feeling good about your self. That’s how it began for me, and for lots of people it’s gaining extra confidence or expressing your self.
How do you leverage your account, and to what extent do you monetize it?
Creating clear however edgy content material that’s entertaining for everybody allowed me to extend my alternatives to work with corporations and entice a variety of completely different folks to my accounts. Finally, that led to me creating my very own model, and I lately collaborated with MAC to create a field of my favorites that’s in each Nordstrom nationwide. I used to be in a position to take this full-time in 2014 once I moved to Los Angeles and now make about seven figures in model partnerships.
What’s your recommendation for others who need to construct a model on the platform?
When folks attempt to begin on YouTube and simply need to be seen, it gained’t be long-lasting. Join along with your viewers and persistently publish artistic content material. For those who do one thing you’re enthusiastic about and put your every little thing into it, it’ll develop.