My latest YouTube video dives a little deeper into why it is still a struggle being a male presenting makeup blogger/YouTuber ESPECIALLY being Malaysian AND Indian AND darker skinned.
Category Archives: Random Posts
YouTube; A Guide to Indian Dance Makeup
So, Malaysia is facing a second, almost raging wave of the pandemic and it seems that things have gone so out of hand that we faced a second movement control order. Again, with my resources cut off, taking pictures for review has been impossible. Which is why you’ve seen more of compilation lists and my YouTube channel updates.
Still, I believe my post has value. Especially this particular one since I put a ton of time and effort in both filming and editing it with the meagre resources I have in terms of filming equipment.
So if you didn’t already know, I used to be an Indian classical dancer. I even wrote about it extensively in a post of how blogging saved my life (link here). The one thing I did notice was how even experienced dancers had very little knowledge of makeup techniques. From what I’ve experienced, dancers are often left to do their makeup on their own after a brief tutorial or two by their teachers (sometimes even devoid of this), often taking years to fine tune and perfect it. I didn’t have that problem since I already knew enough about makeup and it was simply about picking up a trick or two, here and there. I would also often get so many questions on products that I used in my YouTube videos.
It’s safe to say that at this point, my dance makeup is as perfect as it can be. And so I decided to just compile whatever I know, including techniques, tips, tricks and also products into a series of videos on how to do Indian classical dance makeup.
There is an exception though.
Kathakali makeup is the only makeup I won’t attempt to teach! That is too intricate and too difficult to master unless one is a Kathakali dancer.
So here it is! My four-part series about Indian classical dance makeup.
1 MINUTE REVIEW! New YouTube Series!
So I never thought I’d ever do this! And by that I mean have an actual posting schedule on YouTube. In any case, I am happy to get any views AT ALL!
I’ve actually had this idea for the longest time. Whether or not it would be successful was immaterial. I had a lot of fun creating them and it’s content for my channel to grow. AND I get to plug FiercePaint, should the viewer want more information. HAHA!
So this is a series of pictorial reviews on YouTube of my past reviews from FiercePaint!!! The difference is, it would have some footage of me applying or using the product. I have already published 5 and there’s a lot more to come!!!
So here there are!!!
Again, I loved doing this! I am also being particular in choosing the reviews to “video-fy”. The five reviews posted are of products that have been long available in the market and probably will not be discontinued for a while more. They also happen to be popular products in the market.
Personally, I did this because I am so tired of watching review videos that are 20 minutes long and more about showing off the packaging instead of getting to the effing point! GET TO THE POINT MARY!!!
Anyway, thank you guys so much for tuning in, following, reading, writing in and all that good stuff!!!
PS: I am still not monetised. It’s kinda pathetic but I am unaffected emotionally.
More YouTube videos! I’m a Full-Fledged YouTuber Now! :P
As of June 2019
Over 1000 Subscribers.
Over total 285000 views.
Over 250000 views on my most popular video (Indian Dance Makeup; Eye – link here).
Over 25000 views on my next most viewed video (Indian Dance Makeup | The Power of Makeup – link here).
And over 1000 views on two other videos (Indian Dance Makeup Re-imagined | NYX Face Awards – link here; and; Top 5 MOST Affordable Drugstore Makeup Brands in Malaysia – link here).
Since then I’ve uploaded a couple more videos!!!
The one I’m most proud of is a breakdown of Miss Universe 2018, Catriona Gray’s Vogue makeup tutorial in terms of products she used!
The rest are just unboxing videos and other fun stuff. Do check it out!
Thanks for watching and subscribing!!!
How Blogging Saved My Life
I love dancing…
There are few things in this world that gives my soul fulfillment like dance does. Music feeds my needs too, but music to me is meaningless without a moving visual. Even when it seems I’m only listening to songs my mind is, without fail, off on a tangent, vicariously living a fantasy in dance for those specific tunes. During my teenage years, I would, very discreetly, learn choreography just by watching some of my favourite dance videos and mimicking their moves.
Aal Thottha Bhoopathi song from the Tamil movie Youth (2002). Yes, I learnt this choreograpy! Gif made with Giphy with video from YouTube.
As a child, I had a strong affinity to Indian classical dancing and was almost enrolled in bharathanatyam classes but when the day came, the dance teacher told my parents that I was too young. For unfathomable, enigmatic reasons, I never made it back. It wasn’t my parents’ fault. I was enrolled into martial arts instead, specifically Tae Kwon Do (TKD). I would progress in TKD right up to a step away from a black belt, then drop out. Twice! From ages 8 (or 9) to 12 I would progress right up to a black belt and then give it up just before being evaluated to earn that coveted milestone. Picked it up again at 17 on my own free will, worked myself right up to that same level, and then dropped out when I was 19. Never mind the absence of the black belt, I can still beat you up if you attack me!
Bharatanatyam, clip taken from documentary Phantom India (1969) from YouTube. Gif made with Giphy.
There has and never been regret learning martial arts.
I digress.
Anyway, during my first and second years in university I would put my aptitude for choreography to good use and become one of the most exciting male Indian dancers to come out of the university during my time! I would eventually appear on TV in an Indian dance competition and the irony was, I was studying for a bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology. It made up for all the missed opportunity in my adolescence. However, learning Indian classical dance would only come to fruition during second year of university when a friend introduced me to my very first dance teacher. Through him, I learnt the fundamentals of odissi dancing; my ultimate calling, something which would become very close to my heart. I would also go on to perform extensively, in important events and programs and even choreograph a couple of performances and competitions (and WIN!). It was through him that I learnt that there were eight distinct forms of Indian classical dance (odissi, bharatanatyam, kuchipudi, kathak, kathakali, mohini attam, manipuri, sattriya). His name was Ravishanker and yes, that implies he’s now the late great Ravishanker.
This picture belonged to him. That was him in the middle.
After graduating my Bachelor’s degree, I came back to my hometown (Penang) and about a year and a half later, I enrolled into an Indian performing arts institution called Temple of Fine Arts to learn, yes, you guessed it, odissi. Being back in Penang initially was rather depressing because it felt like I left a big chunk of myself back in my alma mater. It left an abyss in my being I could not fill and a deprivation I could not comprehend. In my part of the world, discussion about depression and mental health is in its infancy. For a long time, depression was viewed as a fault, not caused by anyone or anything but brought upon by the victim on him/herself. And as difficult it is for me to admit that I was almost a victim, odissi swooped in and solved that for me, silently, effectively and seamlessly. This endeavour took me all the way to Sri Lanka in 2013 to perform for our founder’s birthday celebration; an annual international affair involving representatives from USA, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and even India. Our team of four (me being the only guy) received praises!
This is a collage I got from a friend but the original pictures in proper definition is available on the artists Instagram page below (https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs5bkbTA-cA/)Would love it if you could visit their page. If not follow, at least drop a like… Thanks guys!
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs5bkbTA-cA/
All this would come crashing to the ground in December 2013 when I sustained a knee injury; a tear in my left meniscus. By then, I had already gained substantial weight due to my masters thesis writing. This injury did nothing but worsen it. By the time I had recovered enough to walk without crutches (about 3 months later) I was already 30 kgs (approximately 67 pounds) heavier than I was when I performed in Sri Lanka. Losing odissi to the knee injury, inadvertently plunged me into the very chasm it pulled me out of leading to some self destructive habits. I thank God and my lucky stars that I didn’t fall down too hard into something irrevocably detrimental.
2012 (left), now (right)
What would pull me out of it was a series of unfortunate events AND, eventually, BLOGGING. With a Masters degree in 2015, no odissi and aimlessness stemming from indecisiveness to either work or pursue a doctorate degree, I NEEDED purpose, I NEEDED passion and I NEEDED fulfillment. YouTube was what first put this idea into my head. Before the whole brand of satisfying videos compilation on the Internet I already realised what watching makeup tutorials did to me. Makeup, the application, seeing how colours blend into one another regulated my heartbeat and blood pressure. And if someone slayed a wing liner…….. just consider me enjoying a feeling better than orgasm (I AM NOT JOKING!). What evaded me all those years was the fact that I’ve done it and could probably do it a lot better than a lot of those videos I keep watching. The light bulb would go on in February 2015 and FiercePaint was born.
When I first started, I was walking into it completely blind; what platform to use, what good layout was, how to photograph products and edit them. It was like learning a whole new language with no one to teach me. Videos were far more unattainable than just writing so a blog just made more sense. To be honest, I am still learning to this very day. Sometimes I feel like it never goes anywhere.
My first review is still there and believe it or not those pictures were shot with a DSLR! As bad as it is, it will always be there, as a reminder of how far I’ve come.
https://fiercepaint.wordpress.com/2015/02/28/silkygirl-lash-prism-mascara-review/
Throughout 2015, I had to keep tweaking my writing several times over to get to a place where it would be comprehensible to me first. To top it off, my blog layout didn’t make sense AND I had an unreasonable posting schedule! I would also make the idiotic decision of initially NOT sharing my posts via social media. I had an agreement with myself to only do it when I complete publishing a substantial amount of content (BIG MISTAKE!).
In spite of all this, blogging was the next best thing that would happen to me after odissi. So, I am grateful everyday that I get to do this!
Right now, I can’t imagine not being able to call myself the following;
A PhD student.
A beauty blogger.
A YouTuber.
So when I say, I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart when you like, comment, engage and appreciate my reviews, you have no idea, NO IDEA, how deep that gratitude runs…
SO, THANK YOU!
Colourism, Ignorant Netizens and Simply Dumb YouTube Users
Just drawing your attention to one of my recent YouTube videos.
Do leave a comment about your thoughts on the matter…
More YouTube Videos… I Vlog Now!
The demonetisation of YouTubers with less than 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours kind of took me by surprise. The pittance I was making off Adsense didn’t even accumulate enough to cash in… Oh well, all is not lost. I am working on getting my channel remonetised and longer videos tend to get longer views. Vlogs were the answer!
I have posted three vlogs so far and I must say, I’m loving putting these together.
And also, I am contradicting myself. WHY? Read this post –> https://fiercepaint.wordpress.com/2017/09/25/5-reasons-why-ill-never-be-a-popular-beauty-youtuber/
So here they are; my three vlogs. Ordered from latest to oldest.
Another YouTube Video (8th)
It actually includes a dupe I’ve presented on FiercePaint.
Past dupe video;
Dupe 1 (link here)
Dupe 2 (link here)
Dupe 3 (link here)
I used Dupe 3 in the video.
[UPDATE] Dupe 1 and 2 are not on the video because both the dupes are not exactly available at the drugstores in Malaysia anymore. Dupe 1 has been replaced and I am yet to test the new range out. Dupe 2 is a brand that is no longer available here.
5 Reasons Why I’ll Never be a Popular Beauty YouTuber…
…including in Malaysia!
I was due for one of these satirical posts… So enjoy!
Fair warning, this one in particular is more honest than it is comical.
Here are 5 reasons I’d never be a popular beauty YouTuber.
5. I’ll never have a posting schedule
Look it up, on my channel;
1st video; 3rd Sept 2015
2nd video; 14th Sept 2015
3rd video; 27th April 2016
4th video; 19th July 2016
5th video; 4th May 2017
6th video; 21st June 2017
7th video; 10th August 2017
I am the epitome of a bad YouTuber.
4. I will NEVER film makeup “TUTORIALS”
Think of any conceivable makeup look and I assure you, there’s already a tutorial for it on YouTube.
If there isn’t then you have gone way out of the box and perhaps you should film it and upload it yourself? Even if you did, how many views do you think something that out of the box would get?
The video of my Indian dance makeup does NOT claim to be a tutorial.
Here’s the bottom line, I believe, another makeup tutorial is NOT what YouTube needs.
Then again, people always seem to relentlessly request it. WHY???? Does anyone actually end up wearing those looks regularly??? Who has that kind of time????
There are over 250 THOUSAND results on YouTube for makeup tutorials posted just THIS MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME????!!!!!!!!!!!!
*ok calm down Harivain, you’re not roasting anyone here*
Oh well, I guess I’d never be popular because I am dissing these “tutorials”.
3. I will never act goofy or make self depreciating jokes because it makes me seem “relatable”
I will never put myself in a video and make mistakes that I intentionally leave in or act silly just to seem relatable.
If I am teaching you something on YouTube or reviewing a product, you need visuals with a little bit of instructions. EVERYTHING else is filler. If I want to be goofy and/or stupid I’d just start a comedy or a dramedy (portmanteau of drama and comedy) channel.
The self depreciating jokes is another thing I don’t get. Most of these beauty YouTubers seem to tell their audience to, be strong, believe in yourself, you do you and then they turn around and make themselves seem dumb. And people think that’s funny? I’m sorry, unless it’s intentionally comedic, I see no place for it in my videos! When I say a video of mine is basic AF, it is basic AF. Fact, not humour.
Sorry guys, I guess I am not YouTube “material”.
2. I’ll RARELY talk on camera
I did want to film review videos and post them on YouTube but you’d never hear me speak to the camera. My reviews would not be more than 3 minutes long. It will be a lot like the reviews on my blog. A short description and then right on to the pros and cons.
I’d stick to good old voice overs.
Somehow, people are interested in beauty YouTuber reviews where the actual review is perhaps 2 minutes long and the rest of the video is just them applying makeup and going about their day. Honestly, I am ANNOYED!
On that note, I hate GRWM videos.
*ok, again, calm down Harivain, you’re not roasting anyone here, so calm the eff down*
I guess that would make me less than desirable for YouTube???? Too bad…
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1. I am a guy
Yes, in this day and age, it is Neanderthal to think that men cannot or should not do or wear makeup. I CONCUR!
Here’s my gripe with it. THERE ARE TOO MANY OF US NOW ON YOUTUBE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Patrick Starrr, Manny Mua, James Charles, makeupbymichaelfinch, Mac_Daddyy and the list effing goes ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The other problem with it is a situation unique to me. This is real; I don’t think I’d be able to get away with doing what Patrick Star or Manny does on YouTube here in Malaysia. It’s not that it is sad, it is just the best way to get labeled like *finger snap sound effect* that.
Somehow, the society I live in seem to be perplexed by the label “male beauty blogger”. The next label would be sexuality and the next would be gender identity, none of which is relevant to makeup nor is it to me! Doing what these male beauty gurus do would inevitably get me dumped into a category. That would be tragic wouldn’t it, considering I’ve roasted these “people” on my blog before!
Besides, if I don’t have makeup on, I look like the most typical, nondescript guy you may ever see. Which is also perhaps the reason why I get stared at while perusing the makeup aisles at drugstores and Sephora. I get so annoyed that, these days, if I don’t have makeup and an “acceptable” outfit on, I don’t walk into Sephora. The stares and being followed around by beauty assistants are just not worth it. Doing NO BUY 2017 has helped me at least stay away from Sephora.
And of course I can do what they all (male beauty gurus) do! Me and at least a couple thousand men out there….
For me, this is EASY!!!!!! Nothing groundbreaking. Nothing to ride home about.
Well, hope you guys enjoyed this.
Thanks for reading!
Lots of love,
Harivain.
All that being said, SUBSCRIBE TO ME ON YOUTUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/user/Hdaran/
Hahaha!*winks*
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these GIFs. They were either taken from https://giphy.com/ or generated with it. The first one was created using the video from the YouTube channel, Clevver Style and on a show called Beauty Break. I love those women on the show!
Link to the video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9k1sQDoIIw
YouTube Video Version of My Top Post
My latest YouTube video is based on my most viewed post on FiercePaint (at over 12 thousand views!).
My Top 5 Most Affordable Drugstore Makeup Brands in Malaysia (link here).
This has been long in the works and I kept editing it a little bit every now and then. It has finally seen fruition!
So, here’s the video version of it!
Enjoy!
Subscribe to me on YouTube!
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Instagram @harivain
Twitter @Harivaind
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THANKS!
I love you all!!!
FiercePaint 