Behind the glitz and glamour, the new beauty stars, the lives the platform has changed, there is an ugly side to TikTok beauty. If you’re not prepared for battle, it’s easy to fall mercy to the bashers and haters that have plagued the social media warzone that is TikTok. Still, there are those who’ve made it and are carrying on, thriving even. Whether you’re born to make it, or you’ve decided, by all means, that you can work your way through it—the promising career of a beauty TikTok influencer may all be well worth it.
TikTok has come a long way from the dance crazes it was once typically associated with. Although people still bop to various trending music on the platform, it has evolved into a source for content spanning various topics: news, culture, lifestyle, etc. In other words, people open the app with the same intention as opening YouTube, only the videos are bite-sized. According to a TikTok-commissioned survey conducted from July 2021 to 2022, News and Entertainment grew by more than 70 percent while Beauty and Fashion grew by over 57 percent.
Beauty junkies know that on TikTok, one can learn thousands of interesting tips and tricks or simply discover like-minded individuals whose lives feel aspirational. But behind the gloss and fluff of this rabbit hole are the content creators themselves whose experiences often go untold. The truth is that creating TikTok videos is serious work, and digital content creation has become a career in itself. However, given how non-traditional the path is, many beauty TikTokers face various challenges both professionally and personally.
Bumpy beginnings
One thing that is often overlooked is jumpstarting the career, which TikTokers admit can be daunting–or even a bit problematic. For 23-year-old Kai Javier, it was a mix of both. Having begun her TikTok with comedy sketches during college, she slowly shifted to makeup.
Despite her growing following, Kai initially kept her digital life a secret from her parents as she wasn’t sure how they would react. “Since this is my first full-time job, they want me to explore other opportunities also. But they’re still very proud of the journey I have on TikTok. But also I’m still very young, so there’s still a lot to figure out about what I want to do in the future. But so far, I am enjoying.” Research shows that almost 50 percent of content creators on TikTok belong to Kai’s age group (18 to 25 years old), so it wouldn’t be far-fetched if others shared the same experience. Unlike YouTube, where creators can monetize their videos after reaching a number of likes and followers, the only source of income on TikTok is brand deals–in the Philippines at least.
What makes creators commit to TikTok full-time?
Those who start their TikTok journeys mid-career also evidently encounter trouble. Professionally-trained makeup artist Marj Maroket had worked a corporate job before launching her own TikTok account in January of 2021. Although she trusted her instinct in making that decision, she couldn’t help but be considerate of how her mother would feel. “Are you sure you’re going to be doing this for a long period of time? Is there money in that?” her mom would say. As with most parents, job stability is of utmost concern.
Unlike YouTube, where creators can monetize their videos after reaching a number of likes and followers, the only source of income on TikTok is brand deals–in the Philippines at least. (The U.S. has what they call a Creator Fund that functions similarly to monetized YouTube videos.) Teree Daisuke, another famous Filipino TikToker, also held a corporate job before TikTok. His account now has 1.1 million followers. However, he confesses that there is a level of uncertainty to it: “People probably don’t realize that this is also scary. Even though you earn big per project, you never know when the money will come in,” he says, comparing it to the stability of a fixed monthly salary. He also refers to the chance of stalled or delayed payments from brands, which does happen.
That said, what makes creators commit to TikTok full-time? The upward and consistent trajectory of their following. “When I saw that my account was growing, like, oh, I could do this full time,” says Marj. “I finally get to do what I love. I don’t know, you’ll realize it when it happens to you.”
Dealing with Distress
Just like any public-facing career, there is a cost to fame. Unbeknownst to many are the security concerns, which can be especially frightening for first-time TikTokers on the rise to stardom. All six content creators admit that it’s pretty scary sharing their home addresses with companies, which is needed for them to receive PR packages. Unfortunately, there isn’t any post box option in the Philippines, unlike other countries like the U.S. or Europe. “The hardest part for me is the level of exposure that you get–the level of exposure that your whole life gets. There are a lot of people who assume they know you based on a 30-second or 1-minute video,” says Nate.
Belle Rodolfo, who, despite leading quite the prolific career as a full-time beauty editor while balancing TikTok, faces new concerns given the ambiguous territory of the app. The very act of being a public figure online raises gateways for identity theft or “posers.” She revealed that someone had posed as her on Twitter by grabbing her exact posts and photos. “So like, imagine if it was a more harmful person… I’m sure bigger people have worse situations than that.”
For Nate Javier, more popularly known as Miss Nate Makeup, it’s the presumptuous behavior of people that bothers him the most. “The hardest part for me is the level of exposure that you get–the level of exposure that your whole life gets. And for me, the negative side is that there are a lot of people who assume they know you based on a 30-second or 1-minute video. They feel like they know your whole life. It’s kind of tempting to tell them, ‘No, you don’t know my whole life.’”
One might argue that such dilemmas should be expected by anyone who decides to commit to sharing their content–and their lives–with the world, but there is something about TikTok that makes these issues more pronounced. “People are also very comfortable to leave a negative comment because they think that everyone here comments all the time. So they don’t really think how much it affects other people,” shares Kai.
For Pat Cortez, what sets it apart from other legacy social media apps is its fuss-free atmosphere. “Before, it was very strictly YouTube and [the content] was very professional. But with TikTok, you could be more casual, you could do shorter videos.” Free from the restrictions of swiping through posts given its “doomscrolling” interface, TikTok is also known as a sweet distraction from reality which can lead people to treat the app’s community with the same sense of indifference. For all six TikTokers, this is clear in the way some users carelessly throw shade on creators or unabashedly spread negative remarks.
“I guess the good and bad part about TikTok is the culture in the app is very casual. So everyone’s very comfortable commenting and making friends with you,” says Kai. “And I love making friends with people, but at the same time, people are also very comfortable to leave a negative comment because they think that everyone here comments all the time. So they don’t really think how much it affects other people. And I’m not just talking about myself. But sometimes I would see a random person on my For You Page and there’s so many bad comments there.” Marj agrees, “So that’s the scary and sad part about it. People can be super unkind.”
It’s Personal
Bashing isn’t anything new, but it’s different for beauty TikTokers. Compared to other content creators who, say, make dubbing videos or talk about current events, these individuals present themselves. Their topics may be about things like latte makeup or how to choose the best pink blush for your complexion, but their faces are the star of the show. And that’s very, very intimate.
Hateful comments could go as minute as invalidating the creator’s work to as serious as criticizing their natural looks.
The beauty TikTokers cite instances when viewers would refute their content, oftentimes with inaccuracies–which they admit can be quite annoying. “Actually, nothing grinds my gears, more than when someone is misinformed and they impose what they say,” shares Marj, who only wants to help people make better-informed beauty decisions through her platform.
But the negativity could go as far as groups rallying together to attack a creator, which can happen a lot.
“I only replied to bashers once because I got body-shamed on TikTok almost two years ago,” Kai opens up. “And, I don’t usually care about comments like that but there was this girl who started a thread in the comment section about how my body made her feel uncomfortable because my head is big and my body’s small.” That one comment led to an army of haters who even gaslighted Kai after she defended herself.
Such written words that live online have real-life effects, and it’s more difficult for beauty TikTokers to endure given the close-up nature of their work. Kai’s experience with bashers inadvertently led her to become insecure about her body. She even considered quitting.
Best Face Forward
It’s ironic for the world of TikTok beauty to come with such toxic baggage. It’s not that beauty standards are the problem, as we’ve evidently seen them evolve these past few years. More people are getting the representation they yearn for: people of color, people of different body types, and people from different backgrounds. And trolls are unavoidable. So it seems that the only way to combat the ugliness on TikTok is to press on.
When asked about what keeps them motivated to pursue their paths despite everything, all creators mention the intangible impact their roles play. “When people come up to you and say that you’ve touched their lives in some way, it’s just so surreal. Especially with young, gay women because that’s what makes me so soft since I didn’t have that growing up,” shares Belle who proudly raises the flag for queer women through her platform. “I think representation is really important. There are so many people you don’t know you can influence if you keep doing what you do,” says Pat.
It’s the same for Nate and Teree who are also from the LGBTQ+ community. Instead of replying to hate comments on their profile, they fight back with empowering content. “For example, if someone says, ‘Your makeup is for gays,’ I’d reply with a rainbow makeup look,” says Teree.
“I think representation is really important,” says Pat Cortez, a fashion and beauty TikToker known for her signature pixie haircut and edgy outfits. “There are so many people you don’t know you can influence if you keep doing what you do. So the best thing is to let your individuality stand out and be true to yourself.”
Room for Change
In a nutshell, it’s an overwhelming time for beauty lovers pursuing content creation. The career path isn’t as clear-cut as traditional professions and there’s the mean-spirited cohort of netizens that have to be contended with. That’s all in the present–but what does the future hold? Perhaps there will be better systems that will allow fruitful, long-term collaborations between full-time content creators and beauty companies. And maybe there will come a time when bashing turns into encouraging, inspiring exchange.
TikTok beauty has the potential to be more than makeup looks and skincare as proven by the growing following of this fearless group: Kai’s fans have slowly been encouraging her to be comfortable with her body again; Pat’s unique sense of style is inspiring others to be more adventurous with theirs; Belle’s openness about being queer is giving a voice for people within the same community. There’s a myriad of ways empowerment can take place. That said, what kind of TikTok beauty universe do you envision for the future?
