The Makeup Tutorial Makes a Comeback

Emily Meringolo Levi has had her makeup professionally done just twice in her life: once for her prom in 2012 and again for her wedding in 2023. Whenever the New York-based visual artist needs help with liquid eyeliner or contour placement, she doesn’t need to consult a professional for a tutorial, because she has millions already in her pocket.

Her current skills can be attributed to hours spent watching makeup tutorials on YouTube and Instagram. Having had a number of products marketed to her over the years, she felt she was “flying blind” when using the blushes, bronzers and primers that already took up space in her makeup bag.

Meringolo Levi is among a growing number of consumers returning to a tried-and-true genre of content — the makeup tutorial — to navigate the overwhelming influx of products, advice and beauty trends that flood their feeds. This shift has elevated the social media profiles of professional makeup artists like Danessa Myricks, who has hosted live masterclasses on her page every week for years, or Katie Jane Hughes, who has worked with Dua Lipa and Hailey Bieber, and whose tutorials on everything from achieving the perfect bold red lip to how to use pressed powder have garnered millions of views on TikTok.

This resurgence of interest in makeup education is, in part, a reaction to the pared-down, minimal-product beauty ethos that dominated the late 2010s and early 2020s, embodied by Millennial-skewed cosmetics brands like Glossier and Merit Beauty. Today, consumers, having exhausted their simplified five-step routines and realising they need more, are eager to discover what comes next.

The tutorials making the biggest impact on social media today are often those created by professional makeup artists. While these bite-sized, technical videos contrast sharply with the more selling-focussed content of traditional influencers (“Today, I’m using the…”), they still drive consumer interest by empowering viewers to make informed decisions. This shift has broader ripple effects, encouraging greater innovation within the beauty industry as educated consumers seek out more meaningful, effective products.

“Consumers are fed a lot of beauty content, from get-ready-with-mes to product tests, but not all of it is educational,” said Jaleesa Jaikaran, a professional makeup artist who also shares tutorials on TikTok. “That’s where makeup artists come in. We have the experience. We’ve worked on so many different skin tones. We’ve seen all these things time and time again, and most importantly, we’re not trying to sell you anything.”

A Social Education

While makeup tips have been swapped more or less since the dawn of time, video tutorials emerged in the early 2000s through blogs and the rise of platforms like YouTube.

On the video platform, founded in 2005, consumers discovered a gold mine of tutorials promising to deliver celebrity-inspired looks and long-lasting makeup in just a few simple steps. YouTube personalities like Michelle Phan, James Charles, Jaclyn Hill and Jeffree Star became beauty celebrities, drawing attention from brands who were able to parlay their social media success into lucrative brand ambassadorships and product collaborations.

Bold makeup trends like dramatic cut creases or sculpted contours were losing their appeal during the arrival of the pandemic, which accelerated the transition towards more natural makeup looks. With consumers spending more time at home, they no longer reached for eyeshadow palettes or bold lipsticks, instead gravitating toward skin-forward labels like Saie and Merit, said Jaikaran.

Compared to the tutorials she watched in college — featuring creators like Star and Charles — Meringolo Levi finds today’s tutorials, primarily in short-form videos, more intuitive.

“I was fortunate that I had enough self awareness to recognise that the big bushy eyebrow thing would never work on my face and I wasn’t drawn to it,” said Meringolo Levi, of the dominant makeup trend of the mid-2010s. “Tutorials I find myself gravitating towards [today] are the ones that get hyper-specific to how moisturised my skin is and my face shape. I don’t think that was in the conversation a couple of years ago.”

The Tutorial, Revisited

Today’s tutorials are shorter and on Instagram and TikTok, offer a wider range of beauty looks and lack the overt commercial feel of those from years past. With makeup artists leading the charge, the professionals are better able to distill the blink-and-you’ll-miss-them beauty trends for their viewers.

The tutorials are also hyper-focussed on one specific aspect of a look, like winged eyeliner or applying faux freckles, rather than a full-glam transformation. This allows consumers to pick and choose the elements they want to incorporate into their own look, making it feel personal to the viewer, says Jaikaran.

Creators have changed, too; for many, the goal isn’t solely to mint their own cosmetics line. To help consumers learn to use products they may have impulse-purchased without making them feel pressured to buy more, makeup artist and creator Kelli Anne Sewell posts tutorials through a subscription-powered app, and also leads in-person masterclasses for subscribers in cities around the US. The subscription costs her audience $12.99 per month.

Most of her attendees aren’t beauty professionals, but women from all walks of life simply trying to improve their makeup skills. “It resonated with me that my audience is just your everyday girl who loves beauty,” Sewell said.“They’re the ones buying the new product launches and paying attention to what’s hot on the market right now.”

Some makeup artists believe brands often overlook makeup education in their marketing, relying on influencers who try them once instead of showing customers how products work.

To address this, Danessa Myricks created a weekly live series on her namesake label’s Instagram and TikTok called “Teach Me Tuesday,” in which she demonstrates applications for her new launches and looks customers can achieve.

It’s “a vehicle [by which] everyone can get their questions answered and … it’s how we share the ethos of our brand,” said Myricks, whose brand has hosted the live event on its social media every week for the past five years. The series is also a “huge” sales driver, and offers value both ways: Myricks uses the platform to understand customer needs, which aids in product development.

Greater makeup education is a win-win for brands. When consumers gain more skills, they’re not only able to use a wider variety of products, but they’re also more likely to become loyal, repeat customers who feel confident in their purchases. They also know exactly how to get the most out of every product.

“These tips and tricks that used to be very pro-centred are now part of the regular beauty routine, because people have seen it and consumed it massively,” said Myricks. “What used to be a scary technique is now the norm.”

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