From Finance Bro to Beauty Guru Featuring Aditya Madiraju

Hey guys, welcome back to Skin Anarchy. This is a very special episode because we are interviewing somebody who I really, really admire for his work in social media. Just everything he's put out into the space is so beautiful in so many ways, right? From the makeup artist's side to the cultural side to the impact he's had on so many people. And so I'm truly honored to welcome Aditya Madaraju with us here today. Welcome Aditya. I'm so honored to host you. Thank you. I'm honored. Thank you so much for having me. No, it's amazing and it's such a pleasure because I've been a fan behind the scenes for a long time. I've watched your videos. I've been taking notes and so many techniques I've learned from your content. And I want to actually get started and have you walk us down memory lane? Like what really got you? I know you come from a finance background. So like I want you to kind of talk to us about that. What made you make the leap from finance to kind of creating content? I think leaps in my life have been very constant and very normal for me. I actually come from a science background in microbiology. And I leap from there to finance, to estate management. And I think it was, I worked in the banking sector for 12 years almost. And I think it was in two years ago, I decided to go content creation full time. And it's been a beautiful ride. If you talk about memory lane, I feel like I've compressed like 20 years of my life into the last eight, nine years. Because when you're trying to live your life and catch it for all the years that you did not do what you love, you kind of rush it a little bit. But finally, I've calmed down. I'm living in the moment a little bit more. But 2018, 19 was when I found my platform when I got married. And then 2019, I started to post makeup tutorials. And from there, the transition was not very smooth. It was a lot of back and forth having two jobs and doing makeup creation in the night. And then finally in 2023, 2024, I said, you know what, I'm going to just do this. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, that's incredible though, because, you know, being brown, like I feel like we're told from the beginning, like you've got to have that stability in your life and you got to follow those careers. And it's like, I feel like I always wonder, and I think your content also just like, in the most beautiful way, like trying to light on this for me also was just like, how many people don't get to do what they really love to do because of our culture and what it demands from that side, right? Like from our elders and stuff, what they say. Yes. But you know, as I'm growing older, I've come to a little bit of a different realization. And, you know, when you're young, you kind of want someone to be accountable for why you didn't do what you didn't do. But if you get it from our parents side or our elders side, like they didn't know any better, they were in survival mode, where they wanted to survive and build something. And we as the next generation, at least I feel I am now in the thriving mode, where I have the opportunity to do what I like. They didn't have that. So they didn't know any better. They were conditioned in such a way that they had to build for us to be able to build on top of it. And I think we should feel privileged that we are in a place today that where we can actually quit our nine to five and do this and not be scared because this wasn't the reality. So when I speak to my aunts and uncles, my mom and dad, they understand, they love it, absolutely love it. But when I was just entering the makeup space, they were like, you're 35, you have a finest job, you're a VP, you're going to quit all this after having a child and make videos online. If you think about it, that sounds absurd. Like I'm being honest, like especially if you're brown, right? That is the reality. So I think there's a balance. And I think our older generation is understanding that as well now because social media has caught everyone up. And I love that we get to do this today. Yeah, no, I mean, that's such a that's actually an excellent point. And you know, I'm looking back, like my parents like never pushed me in medicine, but they always, you know, rooted for like engineering medicine, that kind of thing. They didn't know any better. Right. But I mean, I'm glad that they did, right? I mean, you made a really, really valid point. I actually want to talk about your wedding because your wedding was like a cultural moment, I feel like for the Daisy community, where we like got to see like, you know, a gay wedding that was so beautiful. So like it was a, like a statement, you know, in itself. And I want you to kind of talk to us about that. Like it went viral. Like what was that like for you? Like when that happened? I for us, we were not trying to make any statements. We, we literally got mad in our backyard. Yeah, all the ceremonies were in our backyard. And then the main one was in a Monday for 20 minutes. Yeah. I feel like I'm grateful that we got the platform we got. But again, after doing this for all these years, right? I almost dislike where the wedding culture has ended up. We were one of the first same sex couple to go by the quote unquote for getting married, which everyone has done for eternity. But I get it. It's two guys getting married in the South Asian ceremony. And it's, it's a lot for the world to take in. And there was a lot of love, which I'm super, I'm super, super appreciative about that. But it's just a wedding. It's just two people trying to live life as a family. And now it's become a trend. I almost feel there is nothing organic anymore. Everything is so planned. Every all publications are approached. The PR is on fire. The same day photographs, same, you know, it's very commercial now. But I'm glad we got married when we got married, because we were just getting married to live our life. We were private accounts on Instagram, no following nothing. And fun fact, we were actually married for one year when we did that Indian wedding. 2018, we were married all dreams at the home for and nobody knew that for one year. So we've been married since 2018. But the thing is, we didn't do this to go viral. I'm glad it did. I'm glad it started a conversation in the community. I'm glad it changed the mindset. And I'm glad that we were taken as the benchmark for when in India, it was legalized to be gay. I think about it when I got married, I was a grown up in India. Yeah, that's crazy. That is crazy. It was illegal to be gay. So that's where we are. But I'm glad it's happening. Yeah, I mean, I think that's what really draws me to you as a human being is that you are one, you're just fearless, which I freaking love, you know, because you're like just out here and you do what you believe in and your content shows that in every video. Like I feel like even the hate that you've like addressed on your channel, you address it with so much grace, but you address it in such a meaningful way for South Asian people to resonate with because of some of the things that like, for example, like I've seen you like kind of break down like the negative comments that come your way and you framed it in a positive light. And I want you to speak about this because right now the generation, the way it is, everybody is so hurt, you know, that's what I think when I see it. And I feel like there's a lot of feelings, you know, which you want the honest truth. I love clap back. A good clap bag gets me the views. Listen, if you're going to take the hate and deal with mental stress, my task will make some money and make some views on it. That's just the honest truth. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. My hate clap back videos are meaningful because I come from a place where I want to be polite, but also really stern in my response when I shut it down. And there's a beauty in it because people resonate with that as well. And I make it funny because nothing in life should be that serious, right? It's just makeup. It's just two guys. It's just life, you know, like the fact that my existence has triggered you to this extent. I think everybody needs to calm down a little bit, but while they calm down, I'm going to make a back. That's just it. Yeah. No, I love that. I love that so much. Like you have no idea. And I, it really is inspiring because I think a lot of kids these days, like they go on social media and they don't know how to clap back. Like I've seen it, you know, like, I do. It's sad that we have to learn how to do that. I think rather than teaching kids how to clap back, we should teach kids how to not start the whole bullying and the hate train online. But it's not even the kids. It's grown adults, to be honest. Like, you know, like with social media growing so much, everybody has different opinions. And then everybody wants a spotlight on them even for five seconds. Most of these hate comments are just to get a response out of people who have somewhat of a following. Because you feel like somebody heard you. And honestly, it's a cry for health, not on from my side, from their side. And sometimes you're given and they understand. And sometimes they don't. And that's okay. We can have different opinions, but kindness comes first. Of course. Of course. No, I, you know, I want to actually take a second and talk about your artistry because that is phenomenal to me that you have put like makeup artistry in a new bucket for a lot of us. You know, I know myself as a South Asian individual, I mean, I've been doing the YouTube tutorial thing for a long time. I mean, I remember being in like medical school and like taking my free time trying to learn how to do my high makeup. And it never works. Like, you know, I always struggled. But like when I watch your technique, you have a very technical approach to makeup. Like I the videos, I think that have been resonating the most with me. And when you go through and you show like the exact outline, like place it here, place your blush here. This is how you do your, you know, your contour. I love that because I think so many people for such a long time didn't have that. Like in a lot of these videos, can you talk to us about that? Like what is your approach to artistry? And how do you think about it at large? I would say that artistry has always been there. People have been teaching it. The threshold for people to consume something that is 20 minutes long on YouTube has completely diminished. So nothing I'm teaching is new. Makeup artists have been teaching this forever. I have my own style of teaching it. Some of my viral techniques I learned from my mother-in-law who's a trained makeup professional. So people have been doing this for generations, like the one minus that I add, which makes it easy to remember, like go pee poop fight with your husband, let your concealer try. I love that. That's my style, right? Like every single makeup tip that you see online was from a legend back in the day. Everybody has a style of educating on it. So these, these one liners, your style, your aggression, lack of aggression, your kindness, the way you speak is what makes it digestible for this generation, including me, millennials, and Gen Z, everyone involved. So, so I look at it as a very technical thing, though I used to flunk in math, somehow that math is working out right now because I used to paint, I used to draw, I was an artist growing up and I've taken the same thing and now I do that on the face. So it's actually very satisfying to create that. I think of it like art, but having said that, I do want to say I wear makeup not because it's art, I wear makeup because I love it. I absolutely love a full beat snatch face. Does that make me less of a man? Sure, let's roll with that. But I absolutely love makeup and that's the way I do it. And it's very satisfying when you hear conversations like this where you tell me that some technique of mine, some silly line that I used has embedded in your memory and now you know how many people comment that when they get ready in the morning, they fight with their husbands. I hope they're okay. But you know, that that's what fun life is, right? You know, makeup is fun. It's not supposed to be serious. You can teach serious stuff, still make it fun. And that's what I'm trying. I mean, I don't have a husband, but I fight with my imaginary husband, you know, because you're telling me to go fight with my husband. I hope as a concealed experience, that's all we care about, you know? That's right. No, I really love it because I think also it's like that, like that big brother feeling that you bring also, like, I mean, I think we're the same age or I'm probably older than you. And you know, I just, I feel like when you, and I think that's why Resne's so old with me because it feels like somebody who you really know is talking to you. And that's what I think is unique, the most unique thing about your content. It's not just like, yeah, you're an amazing artist, but like, you're trying to bring it in a way that's like, guys, I am here to help you. I'm not here to like lecture you. I'm not here to act like I'm better than anybody, you know, and that's where I feel like for a long time, makeup artist, she felt like that for me as a consumer. It felt like I can't ever do what you're doing, you know, like I'm not a skilled artist. Like that's how it felt. So I mean, that's still the case online today. And you know how many makeup artists are there who teach because they have the passion to teach and how many makeup artists are there who want to be influencers, and they should be. This platform is open to everyone. But while they're trying to be influencers, they will take and they get every single influencer that's trying to teach a technique. Yeah, you know, and this sad because you're trying to exist in the space that which influences kind of let the path on, right? You're on Instagram, but you're going to insult them while you teach your makeup technique. And I think that's the right flag. If someone be a little somebody else to teach their technique, that just says a lot about them. That's yeah, that's the truth preach. I cannot agree with more with you. And honestly, at this point, I actually want to expand on that a little bit more because I'm glad you brought that up. I've seen that a lot lately across the board. Like I am on the skincare side of stuff. So I've seen it on skin talk, I've seen on makeup talk, people are just tearing other people down. And it's like other creators doing it. And I'm like, why are you like why even go down that road? When you can just educate, you know? No, because the simple answer is hate gets you more views than love. That's just that's when when I put it this way in a very polite way, right? Yeah, when someone is speaking, you are their technique. It might take a few years for them to build that audience because it took me a few years to build. I've been doing this since 2008, 19, right? It took me in 2022 is my 2023 is my first video going viral. Right? I'm talking about I'm talking 60 million views. That's what I'm talking about. There's a way to do it fast by showing that somebody else is doing wrong. And this is just the person you are. It goes beyond artistry. It's just who you are inside. And if that's who you are, then that's who you are. And I refuse to be that person, even if tomorrow I get a makeup artist license, I will not be about some of these influences from whom I have learned. It's art. You cannot learn art. You can better it. You can have a different perspective on it by getting trained. But art is art. If you're passionate about it, you will get whatever you want to get to with it, depending on how much time you spend on it. So people can hate. Sooner or later, audience realizes who's doing what. And we have audience by smart. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's actually that. Yeah, it's a great point. And I think we do have to give credit, you know, to the people who are like, I'm here for the right reason. I'm here to learn. I'm here to watch great content, you know, and I agree with you. I just wish the culture would shift, you know, because I'll be honest with you. And this is something I was like dying to talk to you about this, because I was like, I feel like he'd be one of the only people that understands as a woman, a South Asian woman. I mean, I'm 39 years old, and I grew up like going to high school in Ohio, right? And like there was, I was the only brown girl in my school. I never got comments. Like, I got a lot of hate comments, but like at no point did somebody like behind my back, or at least when I heard say South Asian women are ugly, they're, you know, they stink or whatever. And I've been seeing that on social media so much now, where the new generation of young girls in our community is saying, oh, you guys got to stop this, you know, narrative about South Asian girls and how we're ugly and how we're whatever, non desirable and all this. I'm like, guys, when did this start? Because me growing up, all of my friends, like we never dealt with that. So I mean, have you noticed a shift from when we were growing up to like now, you know, in the perception? I grew up, I grew up in India, right? I moved here 20 at 19 or 20, I believe. So, so the thing is, I never had that because I was in the community where everyone looked like me. But, you know, within the community, so there's a little bit of here and there, you hear stuff like that. But when I moved here, yeah, my first introduction was like, how does, how does you, a South Asian person to smell like, how does you, them to talk like, and some people were still by surprise and I could speak in English to add an accent. These, I just think that the more the world expands, the more there's exposure to other cultures and their traditions, people will be shocked a little bit because we do live in a bubble. If you look at me and you, we do live in a bubble, like there's so much more that you and me also don't know about some culture existing in some part of the world. And the thing that comes out, we will be a little shocked and surprised. But the judgment that comes with it, certain people do judge very hard, right? And for them, it's a shock. It's like, there's only one way to exist and that is their way. And again, this is beyond beauty. This is the person who you are. And if that's who you are, then that's who you are. I tend to ignore these stuff. Like it's not, like it doesn't matter to me anymore. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I'm so numb to these things that I'm like, every day, I think I don't even care anymore, you know? Yeah, you've seen that. It's sad. I do see it a lot more now. Like every time I post a makeup tutorial, everybody's like, hey, is that my Uber driver? Or is that my do-delivery guy? And the assumption is that because there is probably a hard-working South Asian person who is trying to make ends meet and support their family by doing that. And I think it's just like that's why we are. It's on to parents to educate their children better, right? But again, sometimes it is what it is. You've got to move on. No, you're so right. And I know I've been asking you a few questions back to back about this, but I just feel like you just really get it, you know, and I really love your insight on this. I want to shift gears a little bit because you went from the corporate world into doing your own thing. Do you think that sometimes people assume that someone leaves corporate America because they just didn't make it there? Do you think there's a misconception there about that? Yeah, I love corporate America because I made much more here. But that's the honest truth, right? I left because I couldn't handle both. I loved corporate America. Absolutely loved it. I loved talking to people. I missed the meetings, the boardrooms, the town halls. I loved, I missed the presentations. Listen, I love attention. That's how you've been to answer. And the attention I was getting at work was great, knowing that they all knew my makeup techniques as well. So it was just like, I had that in anyways, right? Like everybody, like every single person sitting on that table were like, oh, I follow your concealer technique, but let's talk about KPIs right now. You know what I mean? I missed that and I enjoyed it, but I just couldn't keep up. Like I was a superstar, like, and I had to pick and choose one. So I chose this because there's passion. And thank God the universe heard me, some power out there that I was making enough that I could move. A lot of people don't, in fact, a lot of people don't follow their passion because they fear they won't make enough because they actually make much more in corporate America and the health insurance and everything, right? So I think it's a huge misconception that influencers become influencers because they couldn't make it in corporate America. They become influencers because they refuse to let go of their passion. And that's just the truth. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, because I always wonder that as well. I mean, the monetary thing, but also that personal gratification that you get from like doing something that you've been wanting to do and doing it full time, right? I want to actually ask you about how you've represented a like, you know, yourself, obviously, but then also entire community on the global stage. I mean, I know you're a L'Oreal when you walked in the L'Oreal show, that was a huge moment. And I was like, all sidelines cheering. I was like, yeah, you know, go on the because like, it felt so good to see, you know, our culture represented in such a dynamic and beautiful way. And I would love for you to kind of reflect on that experience and talk about like the representation on stages like that, like, where do you think we can improve? And what did that moment leave you with in terms of like, where we're headed and like, as an industry, right, as a beauty industry? Um, I think, I think that was surreal for me. I've been wanting to do that for a while, but I never thought I would be able to do that. Because you, you, I was the first South Asian man, brown man to walk. I believe. Yeah, please check just to have the proof on that. But that's pretty sure you're right. You were because that's why I was like, what? Yeah, there was no benchmark. There was nothing that I would refer to. And it's just like my passion for beauty that caught me there. Honestly, and my community got me there. I say that a lot. Like you could do everything right, but if your community doesn't love you, you won't get there. And I think when your community loves you, you get there somehow you get because it's not just you. It's a bunch of people manifesting it for you. And I strongly believe in that. Like, you know, the karma you put out good, good comes back sooner or later, it might take 10 years, but it will come back. And that's what I believe in. And I think where we are headed to is that you will see a lot more of that, not only from the TV and cinema perspective, where the South Asian community is doing great, but also from the influencing perspective. And at a much smaller stage, but you will see that a lot now. And it's important because sorry, it's important because the what we truly want from from all of this is that there if there's a kid out there who wants to do all of this, there is some kind of a reference because I didn't have a reference, right? I didn't have a reference to most of things in my life. Be getting married, be it being a beauty boy, be it working with brands or be it walking the show. I didn't have a reference. So if tomorrow somebody says, oh, my son wants to be in makeup, maybe this will be his career handbook. Like what do you this is not the only path to go down, but this is a path you can go down because it's right intestine now. And that's what excites me the most because I'm not flexing that I'm the first to do it. But there is a reference level and I'm grateful that I get to be that. Yeah, no, that's incredibly powerful. And I'm glad that you're doing it. Honestly, there's not enough words for me to really applaud what you've been doing because of exactly what you said. I think that especially in our culture, and I'm no way criticizing, I love being Indian. I love every part of my being love loves being Indian. But I think that there are genuinely hurdles for a lot of people in our community when it comes to expressing themselves or even having the, the, you know, like the not desire but like the strength to take a leap in a direction that they don't know if they're going to land or not, you know, and to see that and exactly what you describe is incredibly powerful and it will be for many generations to come. I can definitely see a young boy growing up and saying, well, I did it, you know, I can do it. So yeah, that's beautiful. I want to actually talk about a huge moment. I was like, like screaming, watching you like have this moment was when you met Ashiri Aray. How was that? Yeah, like, how was that whole experience because I feel like every Indian person in the world is like, that is my dream to meet Ashiri Aray. Honestly, that was my dream as well. You know, like you, you get back stage to these events and you realize that it's not as easy to meet people. But the fact that I have somewhat of a global presence. So the teams just knew me, the L'Oreal India team knew me, the US team, I went with them obviously. So I think, I think that's that somewhat played a role because they knew what I'm bringing to the table. And she was right there and they were like, would you like to meet her? I was like, wait, even though you're on the same, same place backstage, everyone's getting ready, there is a boundary and respect that you don't cross, right? You're all professionals there. You're, you went to do something there and you have to focus on that. And already it's very overwhelming because it was my first time we were getting hair and makeup done. Kendall just walked by Eva Longoria sitting next and then Ashiri Aray walks in and the whole room freezes like everyone went, went quiet when she walked in because she's stunning. And she walks in with the grace and persona and you're like, whoa, like someone important walked in. Like even people, I don't think anybody does not know her anymore. But even if somebody doesn't know, they'll be like, pause for a moment and be like, oh, someone important entered. She has that aura about her. But the most beautiful thing about the interaction is that I was very nervous and she sensed it. So the first thing she did is hold my hand. You don't expect that from Miss World. Like, it's Ashiri Aray. Like it's not a joke, right? And I was like, whoa, this is like, and she was so kind and so sweet. We spoke about our kids. We spoke about my family and my husband and I love her. And that was a discussion on our first date. And she just, it just felt so normal, like a conversation I'll have with my friend. It was one of those. She was super sweet. She was, she wanted to know everything about my life and what people did not see is that off camera, I met everyone out there, her whole team. We all spoke and it was not just once she spoke to me during the tech rehearsal, she came and said hello to me. She was walking by and she goes, I think I'm going to see you later. And she was so sweet. It was so chill. And you know, that's what makes it beautiful because they usually say, never meet your icons because you'll be disappointed. I am more than. I am not disappointed. It gives me a, gives me a reference as to what kind of a person I can be, even though you're famous. Like I'm nowhere there. Absolutely. I never get there. But imagine the amount of attention she's gotten globally. And she's still so humble to down to earth and her values never change from day one. She's been that graceful, poised woman and she continues to be that and I love that. That's so awesome. Yeah. Like I can only imagine like, because she's always conducted herself so gracefully too. That's the big thing is like, and I think that's what like, and that's honestly, that's why I brought up what I brought up to you earlier was that the way you respond also, like there's a level of grace and I just feel like people need to understand that like when people of color are being like putting to situations, like we are expected to act in a certain way. Like we're expected to have for grace, you know. They expect you to be aggressive. Yeah. Progressive. You cannot be too loud because then you're just the person of color who is loud and aggressive. Yeah. Exactly. You have to understand that. I mean, that's the truth. And it's kind of like, I mean, you think that we don't get mad, you know? Like that's what I want to say to the world is like, you think we don't have moments where we're mad, but we can't do it because there's so many stereotypes, you know, but exactly. Yeah. This is so cool because I mean, honestly, I want to also ask you about brands because you work very beautifully with brands. I think the way that you showcase products that you truly believe in is extraordinary because it's not gimmicky. I've seen that a lot in the beauty industry. I'll be very honest. Someone wants to come after me. Go ahead. You know, but I've seen a lot of BS, you know, in terms of people are just promoting products and it's like, have you even tried it? Have you even played around with it? And I feel like I have never seen that with any review you've ever done. And I want you to, I would love for you to speak on this about the authenticity that is required in the beauty community and where you think we are right now as a community and where you would like to see us headed. I think there's two ways to look at this. When you're a smaller creator, unfortunately, there isn't much you can do. And I've said this before, you are at mercy of the brands. Like you want to make the paycheck, you want your career to start, you need money for that. And unfortunately, a lot of people do what they do, right? But as you grow as a creator and you have the opportunity to pick and choose the projects that you work on, then it says a lot about you, what you pick and choose. Now, like today, God's grace, I'm in a position where I can say yes or no to projects and it won't affect me that much. Like it's always hard to say no to something which will give you a paycheck, right? Like because I still have to run my house. Like it's my bread and butter. I'm being honest. Like nobody questions when a nine to five person gets a paycheck every biweekly. But there's so much, so much questioning and spotlight on influencers when they do something paid. Like I cannot create this content. I cannot look like this. And be hungry all the time. And we broke all the time. So make money. That's just it. If you don't understand this, get off internet. That's what I'm going to say. But there's a way of doing this and still being authentic is cultivating that relationship with the brands. When this phone is off, when this nine by 16 phone is off, who you are goes along with how brands like Q&A love you. How do you conduct yourself outside? How is your communication so it doesn't have to be that you have to speak in American accent. You can speak in whatever accent you want. But who you are as a person when you're offline. And a lot of people, influencers unfortunately kind of slip there because they think their job is done ourselves. The camera is off. They're fake jobs. But the thing is, it's not a job. It's a lifestyle. It's your passion, which you took up as work. Do you realize how grateful you should be to the universe for even giving you this chance? Because I work the financial thing, right? I've been broke. I've had student loans. And I've seen how difficult it is to make a paycheck and build from there. And now here you're getting these amazing opportunities. So you have to be honest about it. If you don't like something, you have to say no to that paycheck. And if that costs you that paycheck, that's weird. That's just it. That's your relationship. And that's what you owe your consumer base. That's what you owe your audience that you're being honest. And it's okay. Paychecks come and go. But if I'm honest to the brands that I love and if I speak honestly about them, that's a relationship I've cultivated. And things like L'Oreal happen when you have stuff like that, right? Because you can be a one hit trend or one hit wonder. But there's a different beauty when you really love a brand and you're honest about what you like about that brand and what you don't like about that brand. And I think that is something that's very, very important to me. Yeah, no, it definitely shows. It definitely shows. And I love that you said that because there is this like, there's a narrative right now going on about how brands reach out to creators to understand what they've done wrong. But really, sometimes like I've heard people say, they might send you a product, have you try it, have you criticize it? And then they're like, that's their homework that they did. It's like, I don't know. I don't know what to believe as a consumer, right? Like I get so confused about all these things. Like, I don't think creators could be blamed there because it's happened a lot without even us realizing. Yeah, some brands, not all, would only launch a very limited selection of shades. Yeah. And then all of us will criticize them for lack of inclusivity. What will happen is those shades will sell out because more eyes on it. And then the brand will come out with next four shades and all of a sudden they become the brand that's listening to their consumers. You do it the first time we get it, you do it the second time, fine. The third time, I mean, come on, it's not even dumb, consumerism dumb. We know what's up. Any, any publicity is good publicity. It's that it's all they some brands just care about selling out. And I'm not saying the formulas are bad, the formulas are fine. It's the approach that's problematic. And now I barely speak about brands which don't launch inclusive stuff. Like, I don't want to call them out because they want me to call them out because they're five million eyes on them. And I don't want to give them that platform. Like, we've done this, like, we're not newbies, like, come on, like, show, find a different way. You know, yeah, I really respect that. I think that's very authentic. And honestly, like, I'm glad that you do because I've discovered a lot of stuff, like a lot of great products through your reviews. And like, I think that is something that I value a lot because there's no fluff. Like, you know, when I watch your content, I'm like, every video hits, every video, it's like, there's a meaning for every single video. It's not just him sitting here and like promoting some brand that needs 15 other skews they need to make before they reach inclusivity level, you know what I mean? So I really appreciate that about you. And, you know, as a follow up question to that, I just want to ask you, like, in your ideal world, because I'll be honest with you, I want you to launch your own makeup. So badly, so badly. I will be your first customer. But I just want to ask you on this line of where is there a white space that you're seeing that you wish people would address, like in the inclusivity realm of makeup? Oh my God. I think to be honest, you know what? Brands are doing a great job now. They're doing a great job now. They're understood because of the humans behind the brands and humans change. Beauty world is very, very small. It's the same person that will move from one brand to the next brand. And they're all learning as they go because you have to understand that it's not just the people who are creating that content who are in charge of everything. There are people above them who look at the KPI and ROIs and they have to, there are vendors who would only carry certain shades. There's a lot that goes on. And I think the more the consumers try to understand this, the easier it gets for them to, you know, like at the end of the day, everyone wants somebody to blame. And sometimes it's more deeper than that. And I think the white space is that, the reoccurring white space is that when we don't see enough of that inclusivity, like fine, you launch 50 shades of foundation. I applaud you. That is way too much. But okay, then you went to 70. That's great. But then you launch four shades of bronzer and all your bronzers are red. I mean, listen, come on, like take your time. We have enough bronzers. We'll survive a year without your bronzer. Do you want to saturate the market with the thing that you want to launch right now? Or do you want to take your time and create the right shade range? And I really respect House Labs for that matter because they don't launch new products all the time. They take what they have, they improve upon the formula, they consolidate the shades and they relaunch it. No other brand does that. You know what I mean? Like they took them, just reformulated them, launched it, they took their blushes, concise them, launched it, the lip product that they had, the atomic shade, they took it and they relaunched them today. They said the formula wasn't good enough, they're going to redo it. And that's mindfulness, you know, that's the artist who's behind the brand and how they understand what kind of relationship they want. Like, yes, there are a lot of viral brands which on one's view are making 10 million. But the respect that House Labs has, that cannot be replicated. You know what I mean? Yes, absolutely. Yeah, I love that you brought up House Labs. I feel like they're like the modern day Mac, honestly. Like I look at them as the new Mac. We do agree. They chase trends and I absolutely respect that. Yeah. Now they're like super like, I mean, genuinely like the inclusivity in the best way. And I feel like their team, whoever's behind the scenes, like, you know, like huge audience. And I hope she looks at all this because she's a great group of artists. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, I'm such a fan of like, honestly, like I said, every product that you really get behind and like staying authentic. I mean, I think that's kind of one of my closing questions for you is this idea of like, as you move forward, because I mean, you are going to do even more amazing things as we all know going forward. What are some things that you are very like kind of stuck to in your life, whether that's your ethos, whether that's like your belief systems, like share some of that wisdom with us for people to kind of understand like these are your non-negotiables in life. And no matter what deal you get, no matter what opportunity you get, this will never change, that kind of thing. I mean, listen, I have favorites in the beauty world, right? After doing this, I have something favorite stuff doesn't mean I'm not going to try new stuff. But I'm always going to compare and and some listen, there might be something which is great, there will be 10 things which are good doesn't mean the good stuff is not good enough. I just eat one face how many things would you use, right? I can review them, but I will always go back to what I really, really fell in love with. And that's the truth for every influencer out there was still human. So you will see me use a lot of products. And then I'll have three favorites out of those. So does that make me inauthentic? And am I a liar? No, because I have such a huge audience space now. Thank God that 10% would like a product 10% would like some other product. But the formulations are different and different things work for different people. Some like waterproof mascara, some like regular mascara, some like tubing mascara, I don't care about you mascara, you know, but I will review it because that's my job. That's literally my job, right? I have to give honest feedback on stuff like that. So that you will see, I will always talk about makeup, I'll always be passionate is a brand in the future. Yes, there would be a brand in the future. But I feel like it's very saturated right now. And I'm having fun and I want to have fun. And the day I have a brand, it will be so simple. That doesn't make sense. And I have to feel the passion. I just I've seen a lot of brand owners who are, there's a lot that happens when you create a brand, right? It becomes your identity. And then your image has to be handled with the PR. So the brand's image. And you know what? I am kind of a wild child. Like my audience has to be ready for it. And I feel like they will get ready in a few years, but definitely there will be a brand. And one last thing which is non-negotiable for me is that honesty, like I will be honest about the thing. I have pulled back this year from two contracts already, where I've used the product and I did not like it. And that's just it. Does that make me unprofessional? Then so be it. But just because I signed something, I'm not going to go ahead with it. Because my trial time, the one or two months I was trying to product, it didn't work out. And it doesn't make sense for me. You know, would it be easy for me to just pick it? Absolutely. It will be. But would that be the right thing to do? No. And that this is this is not a game. It's a lifestyle. It's part of my life. And I can't do that. Yeah. Yeah. No, I love that. I really love that about you. Thank you for being like that. Genuinely. Like we need that in this space. Like I feel like there are so many people who don't know what to believe online. Like I know that for a fact, because I was there. I think all of us were there at some point, you know, when the YouTube era of creators was going on, everybody was watching every video, you know, trying to figure out what's good for me, what's not good for me. There were a lot of products that were just not a fit for especially for people of color. And we spent a lot of freaking money on them. You know what I mean? And so. Nice, right? So that's that. Yeah. Yeah. No, I love that. Well, just to close out, I'd love some words of wisdom from you for the next generation, for the current generation that wants to come into this world of, you know, being just more on social media, you know, putting themselves out there, like anything you can share that would be words of wisdom for them to kind of approach it in the right way. I think it will be summary of all this. Social media saturated place. I've said it before. Come with a unique perspective and don't expect instant gratification on the first day. You will not go viral. You might, but that will not sustain. You're not building a trend. You're building a legacy. So be consistent with what you do and be true to who you are, because sometimes it takes five years to be discovered. Like I've done this since 2019. 2023 was the first time something went viral for me. So it takes a while. It takes a while. It's like work. You have to work hard to get promoted. And that's what it is. Second thing is that putting someone else down is not going to put you at next level. Maybe temporarily, but that's the hate clout that you're gathering. And one day they will turn on you. So that's just that. And there's a way of calling out brands without being rude and demeaning and the cancel culture, you know, there's a way of doing it. It's makeup, calm down. It's not Yeah, exactly. Like blush, move on, pick a different one. It's your whole existence doesn't have to crumble around the blush not being your color. And you're not like, I get it. For theatrics, we all have to do it. But know when to detach and be like, it's a blush didn't work for me. Moving on, you don't have to drag the whole brand like come down. It's not that serious. And these are the things it's actually sweet chill about stuff. Like it's a race. It's what did they call it? It's not a sprint. It's a long marathon or something. Yeah, so calm down. Like and have respect for the people who did it before you. That's the most important thing. I love that. That's awesome. I love that so much. Well, thank you so much. This has been, like I said, an honor and I am a huge forever fan. And I just can't wait to see what you do and how you grow and like what you come out like I said, please, please make us a makeup friend. I will literally be the first customer. I'm not lying. I can't wait to become brand. But this year, you will see things which I will make. I'm going to leave you with that. Okay. Well, sneak peek then. Okay. Thank you. I might have to follow up with you on that. That's exciting. Yes. Well, thank you so much. But thank you so much. I'm looking forward to it. I hope you like it. I know I will love it. So, okay, thank you. Take care.