“Performing is scary enough and I think doing it bare faced would just be hard.”

Real conversations with women about the impact makeup has on their lives.

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“This blogger I follow started getting into cruelty free makeup. I started researching it myself, and I saw that they test on pets like dogs and cats and stuff. “

Kym

“I had just started school and the only reason I started wearing makeup was because I started getting acne on my face. Everyone in my class was wearing like orange makeup and I thought at the time it looked really good so I wanted to copy them.

So your makeup was because of your acne?

Yeah. I was so insecure I wanted to cover it up. I hadn’t a clue about makeup, so the first thing I bought was a concealer. But I didn’t know you were supposed to blend it in so I just like dotted it onto my spots. It wasn’t until someone pointed it out to me at school, she said, ‘oh, it’s not blended properly’. I was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you were supposed to blend it!’. It was pretty embarrassing.

How do you think your relationship with makeup has changed over the years?

It’s only the last two years that I’ve started actually going out without makeup and feeling comfortable without it. I would say from 13 I would wear makeup every single day without fail. But then I just got kind of got sick of having to do it everyday.

How does it feel not having makeup on now?

Fine. I do it all the time now, sometimes even on my channel.

How does makeup play a role in your YouTube channel?

It is a big part of it. Especially recently, I’ve started buying cruelty free brands. I’m very aware of how it’s made, and I want to promote wearing it for yourself. If you can, wear good products that don’t harm the planet.

How do you feel about animal testing?

I think it’s a problem. I find it so hard to get cheap makeup that isn’t tested on animals.

So, so many of the brands are. I went into a shop the other day and there were about two out of ten makeup brands that I could buy.

Do you think it’s something people are becoming more aware of?

I think so. I think social media has a big part of it. I only started it because I had seen someone online do it.

This blogger I follow started getting into cruelty free makeup. I started researching it myself, and I saw that they test on pets like dogs and cats and stuff. As someone who loves cats it actually broke my heart to see poor little kittens with all their fur off, and their ears bleeding. It just made me think of my cats at home.

It really encouraged me to go cruelty free.

Do you think big celebrities at the moment, like Kylie Jenner, who do wear a lot of makeup, could change how people view animal cruelty in makeup?

I think so. I know that Kylies line -I’m pretty sure- is cruelty free. I know that a lot of the new celebrity brands are aware of animal testing, which is good. But they definitely could do more.

What advice would you give to someone who was just starting to wear makeup?

I would say don’t try it all at once. Try maybe mascara or something and then gradually build it up. I’ve tried to do everything all at once and it just goes disastrously.

Have you ever felt pressured to look a certain way?

For sure. Especially when I was in school most girls would wear a full face of makeup every day and that’s what pressured me to do it.

You’re a performer now, a singer. How important do you think it is to wear makeup on stage?

It is actually quite important.

I haven’t seen anyone perform that didn’t have makeup on.

I think it’s all down to what kind of image they want to portray. I think a lot of people are too afraid to go barefaced. Performing is scary enough and I think doing it bare faced would just be hard.

I think for some people it’s a mask. It kind of depends on what their image is. For a lot of people, like Lady Gaga, it was part of her whole image and it helped the music mean something.

Real conversations with real women about the impact makeup has on their lives.

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