Skip to main content

YouTube’s makeup superstar Michelle Phan moving away from beauty videos

After creating a multi-million dollar beauty empire, celebrity beauty vlogger Michelle Phan announced to her over eight million YouTube Channel subscribers that she is considering moving away from her popular beauty video tutorials and on to other business ventures.

In an open letter posted to a recent video, “My Alter Ego Look,” Phan asked her fans, “What kind of videos would you like to see from me in the near future? My videos cannot all be about makeup (this is why I created Ipsy for all you beauty junkies) but I’d love to post more things about life experiences, career advice, more trend reports, etc.”

Recommended Videos

Phan’s fans produced over 5,000 replies to her comment, ranging from suggestions for dealing with emotions to requests for information on Internet marketing. Overall, the response was positive, with the majority of fans and viewers supportive in her decision to consider a different path that’s unrelated to creating beauty tutorials.

The YouTube star has come a long way since quitting her job at a sushi restaurant in 2009 to focus on creating and providing makeup tutorials. She was most recently mentioned by Forbes as one of the highest paid YouTube stars of 2015.

In the letter, Phan also mentions her current comic book project, as well as the four other businesses she maintains. Fashionista gives a rundown of Phan’s many projects and positions, which include founder of the aforementioned Ipsy, a beauty subscription service with over 1.5 million subscribers, along with other business ventures such as a partnership with Endemol Beyond USA and the Em Michelle Phan makeup line. It’s clear Phan has her hands full in addition to maintaining her YouTube channel.

“Whatever happens, it seems clear that Michelle Phan, the personality, is moving over for Michelle Phan, the brand,” according to Fashionista. If her history of success in the many projects she has been part of provides any clue, there is a good chance Phan will land on her feet — and thrive — in whatever field she decides to pursue.

Christina Majaski
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Christina has written for print and online publications since 2003. In her spare time, she wastes an exorbitant amount of…
YouTube TV tips and tricks: how to get the most out Google’s live TV service
YouTube TV app icon on Apple TV.

YouTube TV is the king of live-streaming video for good reason. With roughly twice as many subscribers as its next competitor in the live streaming arena, it's made huge gains delivering a great price, reliable service, and plenty of channels to feast you eyes on. It's got enough features that it's understandable why YouTube TV is one of the most popular streaming services out there.

In fact, YouTube TV has so many features tucked away in there that you’ll be forgiven if you don’t spot them all at first. But we’ve done the legwork. We’ve watched hours and hours of YouTube TV. Weeks and months, really. We’ve flipped all the buttons. We’ve pressed all the switches. (Wait — reverse that.) And we’ve put together a list of what we think are the most important — if not always obvious — YouTube TV tips and tricks. And we're not just talking about NFL Sunday Ticket.

Read more
10 most popular MrBeast YouTube videos, ranked by views
A man points to others in a MrBeast YouTube video.

MrBeast has taken the Internet by storm. Born James Stephen “Jimmy” Donaldson, he’s a 25-year-old YouTube streamer and philanthropist who creates videos with elaborate challenges and big monetary giveaways. His willingness to do ridiculous things and his generous heart are what have struck a chord with viewers.

Donaldson is now the most subscribed-to person on YouTube, with 222 million subscribers (at the time of this writing). He’s also the second-most subscribed YouTube channel overall, behind only the T-Series music channel from India. He became the first person to surpass the children’s educational program CoComelon on the list.

Read more
Best free Christmas movies on YouTube in 2023
die hard movie why is it a christmas classic reginald veljohnson and bruce willis in

In the years before basic cable, decades before the streaming age, Christmas movies were an annual tradition on the broadcast networks. Every year, families or even solo holiday enthusiasts could take comfort in the fact that they would be able to watch some of their favorite Christmas films for free -- assuming they were home in time to watch them. In the present, free movies are becoming scarce among the streamers. But YouTube is filling that void with a plethora of free Christmas movies that you can watch at any time.

Since the holiday season is upon us, we've updated our list of the best free Christmas movies that you can find on YouTube in 2023. The selection may change between now and 2024, but like Santa, we'll be back at least once a year to make sure that everything is still here, while adding even more Christmas cheer from one of the world's biggest streaming platforms.

Read more