James Charles / YouTube
Some of YouTube’s best and brightest attempted to resurface in 2023, like Charles, who made a splash with a Cosmopolitan cover story, and Star, who opened his combination meat and makeup store in Wyoming.
But OG beauty influencers really cracked the comeback code when they entered the wild world of TikTok livestreaming, earning them revived reputations and revenue.
Star began hosting virtual events on the platform in 2023, and Westbrook hosted her first livestream in April of this year. Fellow beauty YouTubers James Charles and Laura Lee also followed suit.
These creators have often taken an interactive sales approach with their streamed events.
Star, for example, has hosted makeup masterclasses alongside professional artists so that viewers can learn how to use specific products from his brand, Jeffree Star Cosmetics, and then receive discounts on them via TikTok Shop.
Charles, on the other hand, has focused his efforts on making his brand’s cosmetic sponge the top-selling makeup blender on the platform.
Westbrook and Lee have taken a different approach, seemingly partnering with companies to sell products for them on the TikTok commerce platform at discounted rates. Still, they’ve made their efforts personal.
Lee, like Star, has packed orders by hand on camera during their livestreams, and Westbrook has demonstrated the tools and makeup she’s promoted on herself.
In doing so, Rawitz said that these creators merge the old-school ways of long-form YouTube content with the modern, quick-moving platform of TikTok.
“They don’t necessarily have to learn new tricks or try to adapt with creators who are coming up within the short-form video ecosystem,” he said. “Instead, they can have a more discursive stream with their followers where they’re talking about whatever comes to mind, talking about their day, but also selling product.”
Laura Lee/TikTok
Star, Westbrook, and Lee all go live at least once a week — with Star often streaming a few times weekly across two accounts: his personal and brand page. And when they do, it can last for hours. A TikTok live on the Jeffree Star Cosmetics page hosted on July 24 lasted around four hours, while Westbrook was live for eight hours straight on July 10.
Leah Spector, the director of communications and content at CreatorIQ, said these lengthy livestreams are strategic for earning revenue, maintaining engagement, and attracting new fans.
“The longer you go live, the more likely you are to capture new viewers throughout,” she told BI. “When I see that there’s 20,000 people watching a live, I’m like, ‘Oh, something interesting must be happening. Let me join in.’ It’s simply a numbers game of getting more people to join, even if they drop out pretty quickly.”
Influencers don’t care if it’s cringe — and they shouldn’t
Westbrook, in particular, has been inundated with criticism and cringe callouts each time she’s promoted her livestreams on TikTok.
“This feels like HSN,” one person commented on her page, while others joked she’s in her “QVC era.”
Influencers, however, seem to be in on the joke. Westbrook posted a video on July 10 poking fun at her livestreams.
“Clearly, creators don’t mind and are leaning into the potential cringiness of the format,” Rawitz said.
They can do so with the help of longtime fans standing behind them. Mazaiah Hutchinson, a 27-year-old from Pennsylvania, has watched beauty influencers for over a decade. She told BI that, naturally, she’s followed stars like Westbrook to TikTok.
She views livestreams as a way to connect with her favorite creators and finds the QVC style of selling to be nostalgic.
“We look up to these creators, so it’s really nice to be in their presence,” Hutchinson said. “You can send a comment and immediately get a response back. You can actually see in real time what they’re doing.”
In some ways, I understand the appeal.
While writing this analysis, I tuned into a livestream hosted on the Jeffree Star Cosmetics account. As random makeup artists loudly did product demos for two hours, I found myself wishing something more exciting would happen — like an appearance from Star himself.
Beauty business moves
TikTok livestreaming is a big business with big money attached.
ASMR influencer Lucy Davis previously told BI that she earns between $20 and $300 each time she streams, while Jakey Boehm, a TikToker who streams himself sleeping, said he’s earned $34,000 in a single month.
Rawitz said that while it’s unclear exactly how much these beauty influencers are personally earning through these live streams, hosting them has obvious benefits. They have the potential to earn money through products they sell, donations sent by viewers, and new fans who become regular consumers.
In the words of one fan who commented on a post from Star: “You bring the beauty, I’ll bring the debit card.”
“If they’re devoting this much time to it, then it is likely profitable for them and likely, in the end, profitable for the brand,” he said.
That’s not to mention how crucial TikTok Shop has been to the success of beauty labels in 2024 — especially when influencers promote their products.
According to CreatorIQ, Jeffree Star has generated at least $686,298 in Earned Media Value (EMV) for E.l.f. Cosmetics via TikTok this year so far. EMV is a metric used throughout the social media industry — and analyzed with proprietary technology at CreatorIQ —to help determine the value of any creator’s social-media content about different brands.
Ultimately, the benefit of these lengthy live streams seemingly exceeds profit.
Creators who once needed expensive lighting rigs, scandal-proof scripts, and hours to edit YouTube videos can now casually hop on live streams without any of that. Better yet, they can also have employees host for them.
Live events, especially those that last hours, aren’t always recorded, so the chances of becoming embroiled in a scandal are arguably less likely.
But maybe most importantly, beauty influencers no longer need audiences to worship them, watching every clip they post across every social media platform. Instead, they just need us to stick around long enough to make a purchase.