Michelle Phan Wants Beauty YouTubers to Be Honest About Using Filters

Sunscreen, for sure. Brow pencil because I don’t have a lot of brows. I could actually go without makeup as long as my brows are done and look great. This is a hard one. Last product…I would probably say some sort of matte lip product because I could also double it up as blush. A nice rosy color so I could use it for both.

What’s your go-to getting-ready music?

There’s this French artist, Angèle. She’s fantastic. There’s also this new artist I found and love. Her name is PinkPantheress. She’s super new and underground. She’s from the UK. She’s what I imagine Doja Cat could have sounded like if Doja Cat just stayed on SoundCloud. I was listening to Doja Cat back in 2013. I haven’t heard a sound like hers in a while. She’s my favorite person to get ready to right now.

What is your favorite way to take a moment for yourself?

Taking a bath or showering. Because no one can bother me. That’s really my only me time because I’m very much involved in a lot of projects. There’s a lot of people who have direct access to me. Being in a shower and taking a bath is a way for me to disconnect from the world. There’s something about the heat and water. I love water. I feel water is an emotional element, where I feel I’m very in tune with my emotions whenever I’m in water.

What’s your power perfume and why?

Baccarat Rouge 540. That’s my favorite fragrance. It has a beautiful brown sugar top note and the bottom notes are musky. As its fading it has the most beautiful lingering scent. When people smell me they know that’s my signature scent.

What’s the last Instagram or TikTok rabbit hole you went down?

I just went down a crazy rabbit hole of psychiatrists, where they’re talking about empaths and narcissists. How empaths attract people who tend to have narcissistic personalities and traits. That’s why it’s this dark fairytale type of situation, where empaths are givers; on the other side, the narcissists suck all their energy. That’s why you tend to see a lot of empaths in a relationship or in friendships that are with people who have narcissistic traits. 

If you could change one thing about beauty perceptions, either on social media or in the industry, what would that be?

Everyone has skin texture. Everyone has pores. No one”s perfect. No one actually looks like a beauty filter in real life with no makeup. Even then, very rarely do you have makeup that gives you that perfect, flawless look. Don’t hate yourself because you have pores because you need them. They’re there for a reason. I think people are developing face dysmorphia because they think skin is supposed to look like Facetune, when it’s not a reflection of the reality you see in front of your face.

Who are the women who inspire you the most right now?

I don’t know their names, but honestly, everyday people who are working in restaurants, who are nurses. These are the unsung heroes we take for granted. I try my best to show my appreciation. I’ve been tipping really generously during this month for Postmates and Uber Eats and anyone who’s working in the food industry. It’s a tough industry because of customers and management and the hours and pay. I would say the women who inspire me are the women who are doing the jobs that I don’t do. They’re hard jobs, so they inspire me.