More Than Meets The Eye

As someone with a passion for all things beauty, whether that be cosmetics or skincare, I have noticed a pattern in peoples perceptions of me. I often get 'I wouldn't have pegged you as someone interested in that stuff' or 'you don't look like the type', so what should I look like? Or act like? 

We beauty and fashion bloggers often get stereotyped and judged for our passion, we are seen as 'vain' and an 'air head' simply because we have a love of cosmetics and clothes. I wondered whether it was just me being paranoid, thinking that people are judging me because I make YouTube videos and write about makeup and skincare. However I asked around beauty communities on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and any other social media platform I could access, and a lot of people told me they feel the exact same way. Other bloggers and YouTubers expressed how they felt embarrassed to tell their friends and family about their passion in fear of being judged, but to be honest, the ones that have come out of the beauty/fashion lover closet (no pun intended) have told me how their friends and family have actually been very supportive of their hobbies and passions. 

So where does this idea of being a little bit vain come from? I asked outside the beauty/fashion communities, I wanted to find out what other YouTubers and bloggers thought. A lot of people tip toed around my questions carefully, some messaging me privately so as to not offend anyone or start an argument. One person I messaged said how that you couldn't judge someone from a video BUT they could come across as vain. 

Yes cosmetics and fashion make us look good on the outside, which effectively makes us feel good on the inside, but does that mean we're vain? Let's take a look at the definition of vain shall we? 

vain  (vn)

adj. vain·er, vain·est

1. Not yielding the desired outcome; fruitless: a vain attempt.

2. Lacking substance or worth: vain talk.

3. Excessively proud of one's appearance or accomplishments; conceited.

4. Archaic Foolish.

'Lacking substance or worth' is a matter of opinion, if your not interested in what a video or blog post is talking about, then of course it isn't going to have substance or worth to you, but that doesn't mean it won't to somebody else. 'Excessively proud of one's appearance or accomplishments; conceited' see the term excessively? I have never read or watched a beauty/fashion post or video in which I thought the person was purely concerned about the way the product or item made them look. Fashion bloggers talk about cuts, patterns, fabric, they appreciate the art and design of the clothing, not just how it makes them look. Beauty bloggers know their chemistry, we may not know the periodic table, but we can tell you what products work for different skin types, which ingredients in products are good for you and which aren't. 

It occurs to me that when people from outside the beauty/fashion community read our blogs or watch our videos they see the makeup and clothes and don't listen to the words. Beauty/fashion bloggers are artists, chemists, designers, writers and creators. Just like film critics, food critics, art critics, we analyse and compare and it takes brains. People see 10% of our passions in life, it doesn't mean we sit in our pink fluffy bedrooms rolling around in NARS and MAC products, we have jobs, ambitions, we are educated, skilled, creative, tomboys and girly girls. 

We are all different people with the same passions and interests, people will always judge us, it's human nature. But we shouldn't all be put under one umbrella, no one should. We share an interest but it doesn't make us the same.

What I would like to do is create a video, I've already had a few videos but would love more. I want to create a montage style video of beauty/fashion bloggers, telling us what they do outside of their blogging. All I need from you is a short video (under 30 secs maybe even half that) of you telling us and the rest of the world what you do for a living or where you study, whether you have a degree, whether you're self trained. Let's show them beauty/fashion is a passion not a stereotype!

What do you think of the beauty/fashion stereotype? Do you think we should have to feel like we should hide our passion in fear of being labelled and judged?