The day I turned 15 I received a small makeup palette from my mom. My mother, a former part-time Avon saleswoman, spent years swatting my tiny hands away from her lipsticks and eye shadows.

I spent years before turning 15 playing around with the few luxuries she let me use: lip gloss, mascara and, if I was lucky, a few terribly pigmented eye shadows that seemed to blend instantly into my greasy, adolescent eyelids.

To me, the gift was better than a car, sweet 16 party and Spring Break trip combined. It was makeup — makeup that I quickly realized I had no idea how to use. Then, as if the clouds parted and the Sephora gods shone down their mercy, a little answered prayer in the form of beauty bloggers who reared its head into my Wi-Fi.

It’s no surprise beauty and fashion bloggers create the same waves at fashion shows that style icons Emma Watson and Lady Gaga make these days. With street style blogs, DIY websites and YouTube beauty tutorials as the new go-to guides, average women from all over the world are the new faces for fashion and style.

In 2008, my mouse clicked on then-little-known guru Michelle Phan’s “Basic Foundation Tutorial.” Now, Michelle has over 2 million subscribers and travels to fashion shows across the globe, including this year’s Fashion’s Night Out during New York Fashion Week. For self-called beauty groupies like me, the emotion manifests itself into that of a proud parent’s tears. Tales like these are more than a typical success story for fans and viewers; they’re the new business model that brands and designers stick to these days.

This year for both New York and Paris Fashion Week, scores of bloggers from all over the Web made their way onto street style shoots and into front-row seats for shows. On Sept. 12, The New York Times reported that brands pay popular bloggers $2,000 to $10,000 to make an appearance near the runways. Others are given gift cards and have their expenses paid.

In terms of endorsements, bloggers are the new “it” faces, becoming another outlet for companies to advertise their name-brand statuses. The results are almost always successful. From Michelle Phan becoming the new face of Lancome in 2010 to blog hosts like Tamu McPherson of All the Pretty Birds publishing their fashion week photos for subscribers, online stores and hikes in sales are all too common within seconds of the first upload.

The argument for and against bloggers becoming label gurus remains strictly subjective. For loyal viewers like me, there’s nothing but pure pride when YouTube favorites like Christine Nguyen of Xteeener or Tumblr darlings like The Clothes Horse get the recognition they deserve after years of hard work. When Nguyen, host of over 200,000 subscribers, announced her partnership with Sigma Beauty, it was happy streams of black mascara-filled tears that hit the keyboard — not clenched fists of nail-polished fury.

Yet some subscribers do feel a sense of betrayal when their beloved fashion or beauty teacher “sells out” to the promising dollars and products of a world-renown host. In the end, it’s how the guru uses her newfound financial resources and fame to please the loyal audience. Nguyen hosts monthly hundred-dollar giveaways while Phan collaborates with Lancome to create new palettes, all of which reach their loyal fanbase first.

If, in the end, beauty and fashion bloggers are still teaching clueless makeup lovers the tricks of the trade with added and exclusive perks from the industry, then more power to the guru.

Daisy Becerra is a junior magazine journalism major. Her column appears every other Monday. She can be reached at dsbecerr@syr.edu.

Published on October 7, 2012 at 11:39 pm