Indian Youtubers Are Being Criticized for Taking Up This Beauty Challenge

Beauty vloggers around the world have taken up a – somewhat amusing? original? – challenge in 2019. Dozens of YouTubers, from Nigeria to Dubai to Texas, are reviewing the worst-rated makeup artists in their hometowns.

The basic arc of the videos goes like this: Each of the vloggers finds said artist online. Upbeat music plays as they enter the salons. They cringe. They grimace. Some theatrically cry as the makeup is applied. Then they walk away, complaining bitterly and giving the artists one or two stars in their reviews.

Reviews of these videos have been expectedly mixed. Some say the videos have them “cracking up.” Others say they “can’t stop watching.” But more recently, people are calling out the vloggers for shaming these makeup artists. Many have said the videos are just plain mean.

That seems to be the case in India, where the trend is criticized for taking a distinctly classist tone, calling for a closer look into the intent behind these videos.

YouTuber Akansha Komirelly went to the worst-reviewed makeup artist in her city, Hyderabad. She later reveals her heavily-caked face, moaning about how she was about to lose her mind as the makeup artist applied her blush. Another vlogger, Kolkata-based Nilanjana Dhar, feigned being impressed with the makeup artist, complimenting her for not using “cheap” products. But after, she rolls her eyes and mimics the woman’s accent. That video got over 1.2 million views.

These are just two examples of the many Indian beauty bloggers who took up the trend. Huffpost India reported on the flurry of affluent Indian YouTubers going into parlors that reside in the more economically-fragile parts of Indian cities such as Delhi, Jaipur, and Kolkata. The financial stability and status of the bloggers appear to deeply contrast that of the salon owners and artists. The videos feature the appearances of the salon, its surrounding area, and the makeup artists who seem to be doing nothing more than trying to make a living. Some play comical Hindi music to illustrate just how upset they are by how they look.

But commenting on the work of these makeup artists when there are economic structures behind their circumstances seems a little bit like punching down. Plus, they're completely unaware that they are being publicly reviewed. The vloggers criticize the quality of the products and the interiors of the salons—even when the final product, dare we say, doesn’t look all that bad, or at least not as bad as they make it out to be.

What started off as a humorous attempt to gain traction has taken a different tone altogether. Economic disparity, as Huffpost’s Binjal Shah writes, is “glaring in every frame of the videos.” In other cities such as Dubai and London, the gap between the YouTubers and their spotlighted artists are less obvious. And less painful to watch.

India’s economic inequality is notorious, and the gap between rich and poor has only widened. In 2019, the top 1 percent of Indians held over 73 percent of the country’s overall wealth. India’s poorest citizens had their wealth rise by just 1 percent, according to Oxfam. Systematic discrimination in India can be traced back to the implementation of the caste system. Although the constitution got rid of it in 1950, poorer classes that have fewer job opportunities are still looked down upon.

Speaking to HuffPost, Komirelly defended herself, saying, “My video’s intent was only to educate people on how bad it could get if the artist’s approach is not correct or if they lack expertise and knowledge.”

But by also saying "I am obsessed with drugstore products too," she is suggesting that people can develop the same set of skills regardless of economic background and materials used, ignoring the fact that access to information and time plays a crucial role in the development of these skills. Her comments seem to miss the point: the fact that she doesn’t see the problem as a class issue but as a matter of "everybody [having] their own audience" speaks volumes about the privilege that protects her.

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