Alice Diaz and The Makeup Community

Alice Diaz and the Makeup Community

Being a part of the makeup community is no joke. It is a large community that people from all over the world are a part of it. Makeup is cosmetics such as lipstick or powder applied to the face, used to enhance or alter the appearance. At least once in every girl’s life, they apply makeup even if its just stealing their mothers lip gloss from her desk. But what is it like being apart of the makeup community? Alice Diaz first experienced makeup when she turned 15 years old at her quinceanera. She experienced a full makeover. Foundation, eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipstick, fake lashes, she had it all and she loved it. Alice said, “My hair was half up and half down, I had a crown on my head and my theme was pink and zebra print. It was a day to feel like a princess and I definitely did.”

            Makeup can range from foundation and mascara on the face for a casual day, to disguising yourself as a demon to scare kids in a haunted house, to camouflaging yourself as a brick wall to hide your whole body. The makeup community requires a lot of skill, although there are newcomers, regulars, semi-professionals, and professionals. The makeup community is mostly observed through social media such as YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat. There are thousands of makeup groups on Facebook where people message each other, and there are makeup conventions where thousands of people meet famous makeup influencers to share their ideas and buy makeup.  The basic definition of the makeup community would be people coming together and sharing the same interests in makeup. “Its all about creating a facial transformation and raising one’s self-esteem,” said Alice.

            Alice follows a lot of famous makeup influencers on YouTube to watch them, copy their makeup ideas, and create new makeup ideas. Her favorite makeup influencers are Jeffree Star, Nazanin Kavari, Daisy Marquez, Evettexo, and Taisha. Important tools to this community include, makeup, brushes, and other skin care tools and tricks to create a work of art on your face!

            In the year of 2018, we see more and more people wearing makeup. Alice believes that everyone can wear makeup. “Boys shouldn’t be hated for wearing makeup” says Alice, continuing, “It should be normal if a boy wants to cover a blemish with concealer.” She believes that the hatred towards certain people for wearing makeup should be abolished. Alice vocalized her opinion that makeup raises one’s self-esteem. “I believe that makeup raises your self-esteem. I have learned to love myself through the makeup community whether I am wearing makeup or not,” she said.

            It is believed by many people that certain makeup brands are completely overpriced for their quality. Prestige makeup is completely overpromoted and too expensive, as drugstore makeup is just as good as the department store brand. Alice commented, “Morphe makeup is my absolute favorite brand. It’s a good price, good quality, and good service.” Morphe cosmetics comes in an array of colors, from bright pink eyeshadow, to dark. The most expensive eyeshadow pallet Morphe sells is $38 as compared to MAC cosmetics where their eyeshadow pallets are around $65, not including their very expensive shipping. Alice shared “Morphe is a great brand. There are also drugstore brands which I think work great too! Wet N’ Wild is one of my favorite drugstore brands and their most expensive eyeshadow pallet is so much cheaper compared to other brands.” The cheap drugstore brand, Wet N’ Wild, has eyeshadow pallets starting at $2.99.

            The makeup community is currently under a lot of fire for racism. Famous influencers like Jeffree Star, who has 9.8 million followers, Gabriel Zamora, Laura Lee, and may others have posted racist comments over social media throughout the years. Most racial comments were found on their YouTube videos and tweets from Twitter. Laura Lee tweeted in 2012, “tips for all black people if you pull ur pants up you can run from the police faster.. #yourwelcome.” [sic] Gabriel Zamora also tweeted in 2012 along with a photo “N***a had nothing better to do than take pictures with MY #fake #glasses #freeloader #charliebrown.” [sic] While all the famous YouTubers are apologizing to their fans, many people are still hurt from their comments. Alice’s views on those famous influencers changed. “When YouTubers get accused of being racist or when they say racist things it does hurt because I am Hispanic so it’s very disappointing. I feel like I am a part of a group that they’re targeting when all I have done is support them, “said Alice. While the influencers apologized and said that they have changed, how do we know the makeup community won’t go under fire for this again?

            While parts of the makeup community are brutal due to racism, Alice loves to be a part of it. She first experienced makeup on her 15^th birthday. She walked down the stone path in her pink, ruffled, zebra dress, hair curled, full face of makeup, and a tiara on her head, and she couldn’t get enough.