It's time for another Beauty News feature! Today is all about Josie. Josie has answered all of our questions; from who her favorite beauty influencers are to how she switches up her skincare routine with the change of seasons. Keep reading and get to know Josie.
Tell us a little about yourself and what made you get started in the beauty industry?
So, my name is Josie, I am 23 years old and my life is everything beauty, cosmetic and internet related! I am working in the beauty industry and I have so so much passion for my job that even customers say to me "wow, you really love makeup don't you?!" and yes, I ABSOLUTELY DO!! So around 2 - 3 years ago, I found two of my favorite internet sensations on YouTube, Jeffree Star and Tati Westbrook. Their videos really helped me through a very dark stage in my life, Jeffree had the comedy and the exquisite lifestyle, where Tati had the calm tranquility, and together they both had this passion for makeup. I was always told as a child and in my teen years, that makeup was only there to cover insecurities and to make you look fake. So I never dipped into it as I was encouraged away from it, but having watched Jeffree and Tati and see their creations and how passionate they were about it, I had to give it a try. As an artist, I saw this as a new canvas to work on and I was the most excited and I haven't looked back since!
Around a year and a half ago, I was prompted by the closest people around me and the more recent findings at the time of other beauty YouTubers, to give it a shot at having my own YouTube channel, another aspect that I haven't looked back on! I have over 400 subscribers and I absolutely LOVE creating new content every week for my viewers, AND also working my way into the beauty industry in my work, I really have broadened my creativity and have grown so much since finding my true love and passion for all things makeup, beauty, and cosmetics!
What are 5 things you cannot leave the house without?
would have to be my phone, so that I can keep up to date at all times on the latest and newest posts on Twitter and Instagram and reply to comments on my newest YouTube videos. I can't leave without my Soap and Glory Pillow Plump gloss because, makeup or no makeup, a gloss is a MUST! Also my Cherry lip balm for the days when it's a little colder and I need to keep moisturized. Also my very favorite Lacura, all-natural hand and nail cream, I have to keep my hands nourished, that should have been number 1 really haha! And finally, my sunglasses, though it is not always the most sunny here in the UK, I still believe in protecting the eyes from UV is such a necessity whilst still looking glam!
Who are your top 5 favorite beauty influencers?
So having mentioned 2 already, Jeffree Star and Tati Westbrook, they are both so influential to me for their constant drive to better themselves and what they are creating no matter what hits them along the way. Laura Lee would have to be my next favorite, as she is also so unbelievably passionate about what she creates and promotes, she is also such a comedienne in that she never fails to have a laugh in her videos, some influencers to me can be too serious, where Laura is so relaxed and natural in her videos, I really resonate with her vibe! I have to throw Scott Barnes into this mix, and yes even though he is more of an official makeup artist, I still think that what he brings to the table is incredible! The way that he observes each one of his models to ensure that the makeup he does on them is unique to their face shape, skin tone, eye color, hair color heck, the list goes on! I find his knowledge something more than admirable, his work to me is the peak of creation and where any of us passionate artists starting out would want to be! Finally, I have to mention Manny MUA, though I watch the least of him out of the other influencers, I still believe that he has somewhat of a special spark, he is the best at talking the talk! He could sell the worst product to anyone of us and make us love it because of how great he is at speaking about products. Also, his honesty, if he doesn't like something, he wouldn't drag the company or anything malicious, he would just talk about how it could be improved and that is what I love the most, I have learned from him when talking about a product I don't like so much, in one of my videos, not what to say but how to say that it's not good. Learn to explain myself because the viewers aren't sat next to you, so you have to tell as much detail as possible without rambling, it's a great piece of information to have picked up on, as after learning to be like that, from his influence has given me loyal subscribers, ones that trust and listen to me what I talk about any products.
What’s your biggest makeup regret/horror story?
I think my biggest makeup regret would have to be when I first bought foundation, for around the first 3-4 months, I was in denial that I am one of the most pale humans there is! I would buy a foundation that was 2-3 shades darker than my actual skin, so I had the horrific line on my jaw and really looked an absolute mess! But that's where I started and I have learned SO much in the last 2 years and I know I have so much more to learn in the future, and I really can't wait!
What do you love most about makeup?
What I love the most about makeup is that I get to express exactly who I am with how I present myself. So some days might be different from others and that means I can almost become an entirely different person from Monday to Tuesday! I am a lover of color, all things bright and beautiful right? I love to use my face as a 3D canvas and experiment with color combinations on my eyes with different shadows and pigments. I also love to do detailed face painting for videos to express my skills and passion for creation. Other times, I love to keep it natural, create a subtle highlight, maybe a light 2 toned shadow and a little mascara for the no-makeup makeup days. I think it is the diversity of makeup that I love, from crazy bold dramatic looks to lighter more subtle cute looks, I love it all and love to create any which way in between for myself and for my clients.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
In 5 years from now, I would like to be in 1 of 2 places or both if I am lucky! 1 is a fully-fledged makeup artist in a company that I love, maybe a little higher in the rankings so a manager of some description where I have an awesome team alongside me and we could travel the country (or the world, that would be the dream) creating looks with new releases and inspiring new and fresh customers and colleagues. Or 2 would be for my YouTube channel to take off so I could be making more of a difference to more people's lives through my passion for makeup, like Jeffree, Tati, and Laura did for me. If I could be lucky enough to travel with makeup companies as a YouTuber / Beauty Influencer, making changes to peoples lives in the most positive way, I would be the happiest girl on the planet! Like I say, if the potential of both of those possibilities were to come true, then wow, I would have hit the jackpot!
What are some makeup hacks that have really worked for you?
Some makeup hacks that I have learned that I love, would have to be using a beauty blender no matter what! I know this isn't really a hack, more of a preference to which tool I use, but honestly, a damp beauty blender is the one and only way to get a seamless finish to the skin with primer, foundation, concealer AND under eye setting, in my opinion anyway haha! Another would have to be the blending of eyeshadow, especially those with more pigment and color, to use small circular motions to blend and keep on blending until your arm hurts, that's when you know it will be perfect haha! Some smaller hacks that make a difference to my routine would be, using the same inner eye corner highlight as the one on the brow bone as the match of the shades will make everything look more put together, another would be creating an exclamation mark down the center of the nose with the highlight so starting where your eyes line up with the bridge of the nose, bring it down between 1 - 2cm depending on the nose you're working with, stop and do the dot on the very tip of the nose, to give the illusion of a longer, thinner looking nose. And finally, if you have sparse eyebrows... GROW THEM OUT! Literally, I had the worst eyebrows ever from over plucking in school, I let them grow out for around 6 months, re-shaped them and now I finally have brows that look decent compared to how they used to haha!
What is your skincare routine? How do you change it up in different seasons?
My skincare routine changes pretty easily as the seasons change, so at the moment with it still being a little cold in the UK, I will change up the products week to week to keep on top of as much as possible so for example in 1 week, I will use a deep exfoliant once in the week, I will use a face wash every other day and I will use a more rich, nourishing cream to moisturize, in another week I will use a clay mask once in the week to draw out unwanted oils in the skin, I will use a very very mild face scrub once in the same week but a few days apart to keep on top of clearing pores, in this week I will also use a nice eye cream and a lighter day and night cream. I make sure to do this to keep all of the balances as equal as they possibly can be in my skin.
In the warmer times of the year, I will probably use the clay mask up to 2 times per week as my skin is a lot more oily in the hotter weather, I would use cooling masks as well to ensure my pores stay smaller to reduce clogged pores whilst wearing makeup in warmer weather as well, this would increase the use of scrubs to make sure my skin stays as clear as possible.
How do you stay on top of the latest and upcoming beauty trends?
To make sure that I stay on top of the latest beauty trends, I make sure to watch all of my favorite YouTubers to see what new products are coming out if they get sent them in PR and see what they think of them and see if anything new, creative and innovative is being released, I will also keep up to date on Twitter by checking my feed every day and seeing what companies are saying about new releases, also on Instagram to see pictures of new products so I am aware of packaging and to see what sticks out to me to potentially buy for a review on my YouTube channel.
What’s your dream job?
My dream job, after briefing over it earlier, would be to travel the world with the best makeup skills and make differences to other peoples lives, by inspiring them to get creative, whether it is to be a makeup artist, be a model for makeup artists, be a business owner and create products, there is so much diversity and I would love to be a part of changing peoples insights, whether it was traveling as a business manager/makeup artist manager, in a makeup company, or as a beauty influencer and traveling as a YouTuber to support a plethora of makeup and cosmetic companies, and promote them to my supporters to gain influence and make differences to their lives by inspiring them to achieve what their dream might be as well.
What types of makeup tools do you use for application?
I am prepared to use all and any tools to apply makeup, I love to try new and innovative tools to see how they might differ to more well-known ones. As for preferences, I like to use a damp beauty blender (as mentioned earlier) for my face base, sometimes a dry sponge for my setting powder, a big fluffy brush for bronzing, a smaller fluffy brush for highlight, a flat more detail brush for my brows, and a combination of crease brushes, small fluffy brushes, packer brushes, pencil brushes, and others depending on my eye look for eye shadow. Like I say, I am very versatile and open to try anything new on the market.
Where do you find inspiration for your looks?
When it comes to inspiration for my looks on YouTube, I will mostly try to do something that is relevant to the time and what is most popular. Sometimes, I will find other creators of a similar following or less (so to not look like I'm only doing it for more followers, and to support people with a smaller following) on Twitter or YouTube and see if they wanted to do a collaboration, where I will recreate one of their looks in a video and they can recreate one of mine on whatever social media platform they prefer. I like to be in contact with other makeup enthusiasts as it's like making overseas friends, knowing that they have something in common with me, makes me feel like I'm that little bit closer to them straight away, like we could be real friends. I have made a few good friends from doing this already and I love that!
What does your average day look like?
My average day changes depending on whether I am at work or not, so on a workday, I will do a natural glam makeup look, suitable for my job and enough to encourage customers to inquire what I am wearing, etc. I will sell makeup and skincare products to customers at work, maybe if they are wanting a makeover I will sit them down, make them feel comfortable and get to know them a little bit, I will always be casual and chatty with customers, never too formal as I wouldn't want to make them feel uncomfortable or uneasy. I would go ahead with the session whether it was a makeover or a skincare session, advise them on products best suited to them and encourage (never force) a sale. At work, I have targeted each day that I need to try and achieve to gain the counter target for the company. I enjoy doing this as I see it as a challenge for myself to make the sales without forcing people into making them feel like they have to buy something from me. As for my days off work, these can vary depending on where I am up to with my YouTube channel, mostly, my first day off will consist of setting up to film a video, this can take anything from 2 to 6 hours depending what I am creating, I will tidy everything away again and transfer the files from my camera to my laptop. A lot of the time, I will begin to edit that video right after I've filmed, but sometimes I will continue my day to day jobs to run my home with my boyfriend. On other days if I haven't got to film a video, I will be working on editing the footage to upload for my YouTube channel, this can take anything between 4 to 10+ hours again depending on the content. So my general days vary between these 3 possibilities haha, I also run my home like I say in-between times.
If you were only allowed to wear one color for the rest of your life what would it be?
It's funny you ask that question, to be honest, if we're talking clothing, I only really wear black, grey or white anyways, so it would probably be grey for clothing as I like to keep it neutral and not to stand out with clothing, for color in makeup, I would probably wear oranges as this color complements my eye color the best in my opinion as they are blue, I feel it makes the blue color more vibrant.
Be honest, how many makeup products do you currently own?
My gosh.... too many, way over 100 different products, so much so I can't actually remember them all... Is that really bad? Haha, nevertheless, I love makeup so much, that is the proof!
This or that:
Bold or neutral lip? Defo a neutral lip because I'm nearly always bolder on the eye.
Brow pencil or pomade? Ummm... Probably pomade, even though I don't use either a pencil or pomade as my preference, pomade is the closest in terms of how it's applied, to brow powder, which is my personal preference.
Micellar water or makeup wipes? Absolutely micellar water! I don't like to use makeup wipes as they mostly have plastic in them, so I will use a soft reusable/washable cloth with micellar water to prevent the waste of plastic in the wipes.
Liquid or powder foundation? Liquid foundation for sure, for my skin type, I get a much nicer finish and using it with a beauty blender as mentioned earlier is much better for me.
Shimmery or matte eyeshadow? It depends on the day... normally both haha but I think a matte shadow look is super subtle and sleek looking especially with my preferred satin finish winged liner, so yeah matte.
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