James Charles is known for creating mesmerizing makeup transformations on his YouTube channel, not to mention, his outgoing personality, his cool collaborations and more, so it’s no surprise that his page boasts more than 18 million subscribers and over 1.8 billion views.
Luckily for his devoted followers (A.K.A. sisters), the makeup guru is sharing even more beauty and industry secrets on his four-part competition series, Instant Influencer, debuting on none other than the video sharing platform on Friday, April 24.
Be sure to get your Notes app ready, because the 20-year-old is spilling all the tricks of the trade to the six social-media-loving contestants competing for a $50,000 prize —and to viewers at home.
“My goal from day one of creating the show has always been for my subscribers, the contestants and the actual beauty community to be able to watch the show and feel like they’re learning something, to feel like they can take the skills and information from the challenges and judges’ critiques, and apply that to their makeup looks, YouTube videos, work as an influencer and to better themselves,” the creator tells Stylish.
In addition to the makeup and business advice Charles is offering on the show, he will also take viewers behind the scenes of the beauty and influencer world, which, like everything, has its ups and downs.
“I would be 100% lying if I said I was always able to be super, super confident and happy. The reality is some days just are not the best, but I really have a strong group of friends that I can rely on no matter what,” he shares.
“They’ve helped me through some of my darkest times and it really helps to have an amazing group of friends and family that you can laugh with, cry on if you need to and just kind of be your rock amongst all the other crazy things going on, either in the industry or just in the world in general.”
The makeup pro also notes the importance of focusing on his supporters and mentally (or literally) blocking out haters.
“I block people all the time. I’m a huge believer in if I don’t need to see something and don’t want to see it, get out. … Most of the time, I’ll just ignore it and every once in a while, I will clap back if I think it’s something that needs to be addressed or somebody that needs to be put in their place,” he reveals.
“I think a lot of people assume that influencers are not people and that we have no feelings, but whether it’s an influencer, a celebrity, a sports player, a musician or whatever somebody may be, at the end of the day we’re all people, we all have feelings and everybody has a right to either defend themselves or clap back every once in a while.”
But, for every negative comment that sticks out, there are thousands of positive ones that Charles tries to remember instead.
“I really try to focus on the people that are spreading the love and the positivity and that are supportive because at the end of the day, those are the ones that deserve the attention, the interaction, the feedback, the positive energy and the good content,” the YouTuber says.
And his show will be just that: “It’s kind of my way of passing on the torch, if you will, to future talent that I think really deserve it. I really love teaching and spreading the knowledge that I’ve learned over the past four years,” Charles dishes.
