The Best WOC Beauty Vloggers to Add to Your YouTube Rotation
In the beauty and lifestyle world of YouTube, women have mastered the art of looking bomb while telling everyone else how to get their shit together (chicks who use Glossier products exclusively and stick to their bullet journals for longer than a week — we applaud you).
Yet, the YouTube beauty community can be as irritating as rest of America, run by white people too privileged to realize that a Pepsi can’t solve racism, and “dark” foundation shouldn’t look like the inside of Beyoncé’s wrist.
But with every effed up majority comes a group of underdogs. And in this case, those underdogs are women of color who are churning out top-notch content for ladies just like them. So get in bed, put on your fat pants and whip out the junk food, because you’ll be watching these vloggers’ tutorials all day long. It’s like Netflix, but better – and free.
1. Jessica Vu
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Jessica is a 17-year-old YouTuber from Florida who looks, acts and slays well beyond her years, and these facts are frustrating since most Gen Y ladies were stuck with shrill-voiced teen vloggers and their Justin Bieber-soundtracked videos back in the day. But we’re totally not bitter. And this Vietnamese-American high school senior is a must-watch for women who are looking for killer makeup tutorials, from simple day to full-face night looks, that spotlight the power of hooded eyelids. Jessica’s channel features cut-crease eye looks for both daytime and thot-time. I mean, nighttime.
2. Teanna Empowers
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Nineteen and from the Bronx, Teanna is the hair and beauty YouTuber that every black girl wishes they were friends with in real life. Not only does she give college-girl tips about slaying on a budget, but she’s totally honest about brand sponsorships — in one of her latest videos, she calls out sketchy hair vendors who sell deceiving, low-quality weaving hair. And since she usually talks social issues in her GRWM videos, watching Teanna means you get to stay woke while learning how to beat your face.
3. Sabina Hannan
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With over 180,000 subscribers, Sabina Hannan is a Bengali vlogger whose golden complexion and full-coverage routines dismiss the foolish, westernized delusion that brown girls’ makeup is prettiest when it lightens their skin tone. Most of the 20-year-old’s clips are in-depth, full-face makeup routines centered on rich color palettes, but she uses both drugstore and high-end products to achieve her goddess aura. And for Muslim women who’re looking to serve some serious looks by coordinating their makeup with their hijab, Sabina is your go-to girl.
4. Anjila Tamang
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Of all the gurus on this list, Nepalese creator Anjila is the most underrated in terms of popularity – she only has 55,000 subscribers, but her well-edited videos are so aesthetic that you’ll start feeling bad about your own visual art-related life decisions, from the sorority-girlish chevron decals you put on your dorm wall freshman year, to that tacky, probably-Walmart futon you bought off Craigslist last week. Plus, she has irresistibly funny voice-overs accompanying her tutorials. We love a funny babe who knows how to work an eyelash curler.
5. SunKissAlba
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It would feel wrong to not include Alba Ramos on this list – over the last seven years, she’s grown to be one of the most influential Latina vloggers on YouTube, and started her channel for girls with features like her own: bronze skin and curly tresses. Today, the Dominicana specializes in showcasing hair and beauty products that only contain non-toxic, organic ingredients, and if you’re a brown girl who’s hopelessly devoted to nudes, natural living and a sun-kissed glow, then Alba has your back. And if you can only fantasize about shelling out 30 bucks on a bottle of coconut oil scrub, it’s fine – she’ll teach you how to make her own.
6. DestinyLashaeMakeup
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Well-deserving of her 240,000-plus subscribers, Destiny Lashae is a veteran YouTuber who’s been posting videos on the platform since everyone wanted Cassie’s half-bald head back in 2009 – and yes, Destiny has archival videos to prove it.
The black bombshell has since changed her hair many times (for the better), but today her posts are all about making that melanin pop, regardless of occasion or perpetual brokenness. Not only does Destiny record herself testing new, hella affordable products (and we’re taking Wet ‘N Wild cheap), but she also has plenty of foundation routines for covering up serious dark spots and major acne scars.
7. Saimascorner
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Toronto-born and raised, Saima Khan is an ethnically Afghan-Turkish beauty queen whose easy-to-follow makeup tutorials pretty much guarantee a flawless face. But the 23-year-old is also a Hijabi woman whose videos uniquely focus on rocking hijab like a pro, no matter the occasion.
Going to a festival this summer? Saima’s got a flower crown hijab tutorial for that. Still trying to figure out that comfortable balance between wearing your hijab and your new favorite frames? She has a video for that, too, along with tricks to style everything from a turban to baseball caps. Those who can’t get enough of Saima should follow her on her Instagram (she has over 247,000 followers, so you know she’s legit) and her blog, where “modesty meets fashion.”
