Blooming from YouTube tutorials to personal classes

She is behind one of Singapore's top beauty blogs and has made the journey from creating YouTube reviews to becoming a professional make-up artist and running her own make-up school.

Only 24-years-old, Roseanne Tang, was also recently nominated for the Beauty award at Influence Asia 2015 social media awards on Dec 7.

The New Paper met Tang before the awards to discuss her journey. 

Professional make-up artist Roseanne Tang has been nominated for the Influence Asia 2015 under the Singapore Beauty category. PHOTO: FACEBOOK/ ROSEANNETANGRS

Her skill at make-up was self-taught and she cringes when describing the first time she wore makeup.

"It was for prom. Everyone had their make-up professionally done. The only make-up I had access to was my sister's white eye shadow — which I applied to my eyelids all the way to the brow bone," she says.

"Basically, I looked like a monkey. It was a total disaster."

After that horrifying experience, Tang got herself a 88 colour eye shadow palette and began experimenting with different looks and styles, developing a deep love and passion for makeup along the way

YOUTUBE

Tang enjoyed watching make-up tutorial videos online, especially US YouTube personality Michelle Phan.

"I was thinking, since I like to watch these videos, why not make one myself?"

Using an old camera  — a birthday present from an ex-boyfriend — propped up on a box, Tang filmed and uploaded her first video six years ago.

 

Since then, Tang has uploaded over 383 videos to her YouTube channel —​ roseannetangrs —​ garnering over 7 million views.

When asked why she chose to brave the notorious trolls and haters that populate the YouTube comments section, she says: "When I started out, I didn't think anything about risks or haters. To me it was just pure fun doing what I love to do."

To Tang, making videos relieves the stress of daily life.

"Just making a video makes me happy," she says with a smile.

SUPPORT

Tang's parents initially had hopes for their daughter to become a lawyer or a banker.

However, her mother knew about her interests and that she was passionate about beauty products.

Tang says she's lucky to have so much support from her mother, who paid for her to go to the London School Of Beauty And Make-up for four months after she graduated from university in Australia.

 

FROM YOUTUBE TO BUSINESS

Despite her love for creating online content, Tang  never thought of making a career out of it.

"I loved YouTube but if you make it your career, many things can get in the way of being genuine.

"If it becomes your job, you tend to think about viewership and subscription statistics a lot," she rues.

"I did not want to be famous. That's not my goal in life. My goal has always been to have a business and be able to employ people."

She adds half-jokingly,"I also want to have a building and be on Forbes."

It was tough at first.

After finishing make-up school in 2012, she had no income and no clear future. She became depressed and gained weight as she felt overwhelmed by her situation.

The a hairstylist friend gave her some defining words of wisdom.

"He told me, if you don't drive your life, who will? Get your game together." 

These words were her driving force.

At the end of last year, Tang launched Bloom, her "personal make-up school" which aims to teach women how to apply their own make-up.

For Tang, while she gives some of the classes at Bloom, she is also still learning. Currently she is learning about Indonesian bridal make-up after an unusual experience with an Indonesian client.

"I was surprised. She wanted me to put really strong make-up on her, including really thick foundation and three sets of fake eye lashes. She said that if there was no drastic change then there was no point in doing it."

INFLUENCER

When asked about being classed as an influencer, Tang says that she does not want the label.

"I want to be known as a content creator, not an influencer," she says firmly.

"I want to be known for my work, and not for me."

 

ROSEANNE TANG'S 3 TIPS FOR NATURAL LOOKING MAKEUP

1. Embrace your skin type.

"Embrace your skin type, whether it's oily, dry or normal. Don't use a lot of powder if your skin is oily. It will just cake. Instead, use a normal foundation and use an oil blotter regularly."

2. Don't overdo the foundation.

"You don't need a lot of foundation. Use one or even half a pump and just streak out the product. Use a brush to spread the foundation evenly on the skin."

3. Use a BB Cushion.

"BB cushions are the number one make-up product right now. They are amazing. I love the ones from Laniege and Iope. They are really good for the humid weather in Singapore as they don't cake easily."