Does Michelle Really Donate to Charity?

Michelle has a charity channel on YouTube under the username "ricebunny." She claims that every month all money accumulated from her charity channel will go toward "a selected charity from the viewer's request." Yet she has only uploaded six videos since her channel was created in 2006.

On November 5, 2010, she posted the following on her Facebook fan page:

"Thinking about doing hauls and reviews on my charity channel." 

 Okay...

"Haven't updated that channel cuz I didn't know what to update it with!"

Michelle, didn't you just say hauls and reviews? So...what's the problem?

Today is December 19, 2010 and currently the most recent video was uploaded on February 4, 2010. Obviously donating to charity is not as important to her as she would like her fans to believe. Is it really that difficult to find the time to film a haul or review video? She has no problem updating her Twitter with various pictures of her recent purchases, yet she can't seem to incorporate that into a video. C'mon guyz! I'm makin videoz dat mak da moneyz 4 me!

Now, you could give her the benefit of the doubt and say she probably donates to charity on her own time, regardless of how often she updates her ricebunny channel. However I'm not so sure that's the case with Michelle...

Project For Awesome, or P4A, is a community on YouTube that encourages people to promote a charity of their choice in video format one day a year. This year it took place on December 17, 2010, and the project channel uploaded several videos containing interviews with well known users from YouTube. One video was with Tay Zonday (the Chocolate Rain guy) and Michelle answering questions from people off of Twitter. The first question directed toward Michelle was: "What charity is absolutely closest to your heart and why?" She responded with the following:

"That's a really good question. Um, recently I've been donating to...the school..."

The School? Wait, what charity is that again?

"...I feel like kids are the future and I really stress on education...I kinda feel like I'm a lot of girls' big sister, like they see me as a big sister, so I feel like I should um, I should focus more on the kids and everything...but um, that's one charity that I really love..."

Wait, I'm sorry, did you name a specific charity?

"...another one is, is charities for people that are...hungry..."

Charities for People that are Hungry. Hmm. Sorry Michelle, I don't think I'm familiar with that one either. Lulz... If that isn't embarrassing enough, Tay follows up with her response by saying he donates to the Electronic Frontier Foundation which is actually a specific, legitimate charity. Gee Michelle, are you really so lazy that you couldn't even research one single charity and at the very least pretend to donate to it? You're being interviewed on a channel that supports charities! What the fuck did you think they were going to ask?

The video contains even more awkward moments with Michelle answering questions and failing miserably; everything that comes out of her mouth sounds completely fake and it's pretty clear she folds easily under pressure. And by pressure I mean not being able to rehearse her lines and edit out imperfections...

Still think she donates money to charity? Or does she pretend in order to appear less vain, and gain respect within the YouTube community? I'll let you decide.

xsparkage > MichellePhan

Poor Phanny, her "uniqueness" continues to go unappreciated with fellow makeup guru xsparkage, AKA Leesha, posting a video titled "Flashy Candy Cane Eyes." All I can says is, bravo Leesha! I know you didn't intend on making Michelle look like a total jackass; but if it makes you feel any better, these things tend to happen naturally with her.

I've always been a fan of Leesha. She's cute, has a spunky, genuine personality and even though her makeup is sometimes a little too dramatic for everyday wear, she doesn't make lame or ridiculous excuses when people write negative comments about her tutorials. Also, she doesn't get "delete happy" with her comments, or bully people when they have a difference of opinion.

Michelle on the other hand is starting to lose the respect of her subscribers. Just take a look at the following comments from Leesha's video to see what I mean:

(Please note: these people did not agree to be displayed on this blog so as a courtesy I blocked out their user names. If you are intent on seeing that information, it is open to the public on the comment section of Leesha's Flashy Candy Cane Eyes video)

That is only a very small portion of comments left comparing Leesha's look to Michelle's half-assed CC tutorial. Sometimes I think the problem with Michelle is that she is so focused on the theatrics of her videos, she rushes through the actual makeup process. Leesha doesn't have an intro or silly props, and when she speaks it comes across very natural. Michelle's voice-overs sound like a mix between a Disney princess and a robot. Maybe if her concentration leaned more toward the makeup aspect of her videos and if she allowed some of her true personality to shine through, she might actually gain back some of the respect she is now losing.

Michelle Hears Voices

Phanny is truly special. Not only is she hearing voices now, but they're telling her that people are confusing her "uniqueness" as flaws:

Michelle is right. Receiving thousands of dollars despite a lack of talent is most definitely unique. I can't say I know anyone who sucks as bad as she does at their trade and still manages to be successful. Lulz.

Obviously she's not taking the negative comments on her Candy Cane Eyes video too well. I mean, who is she trying to convince here? Her fans or the people criticizing her?

I give this Michelle Phan Facebook update an official PHAIL stamp of approval.

The Candy Cane Eyes Video - Michelle's Sloppiest Tutorial Yet?

Ah, yes, the Candy Cane Eyes video... What a fucking steaming pile of shit. How can she possibly call herself a Makeup Artist? I have never in my life seen such sloppy work. No wait, I'm sorry - my friends five year old daughter might be one step below in makeup artistry when she slabbed eyeshadow all over my face and called it purple blush. I'm on the fence with that one.

Anyway, I am seriously trying to wrap my brain around the fact that Phanny makes a living doing this. I really don't think I give her enough credit, because only a genius could manipulate over one million people into thinking this is the work of a professional. And what the fuck is on top of her head? Is that a bird's nest with peppermint candy hanging off? I mean, I get that she's trying to incorporate wearable art into her videos, blah blah blah, but grabbing a random Christmas decoration from the craft store isn't exactly creative. I'm sure she'll tell people she hand-made it though.

The ridiculousness of it all only gets better. When she first uploaded the video, people began to comment on the messiness and lack of blending (what do you expect, she uses her fingers). So Michelle changed the information in the description box to say:

Frost you say? Please, enlighten us Michelle. What does frost have to do with candy canes? Oh wait, it doesn't! Simply put, you noticed that people were commenting on the cottage cheese chunk stuck on the inner corner of your eyes so you quickly came up with an excuse for it. Nicely done. We wouldn't want you having to re-do a video where you take your time, use blending brushes, and oh, I dunno...try! Gosh, wurking for moniez is so hard guyz.

To top it all off, this look is not even a "Phanny Original" (Is there such a thing?). A not so well-known guru on YouTube that goes by the name ThePinkLadyJ uploaded a video titled "Holiday/Christmas Inspired Eyeshadow" on December 25, 2008. It contains pictures of her wearing several different holiday-themed eye makeup. Fast forward to 0.54 seconds and you'll see the following two images:

Oh Michelle, Michelle. Stealing from other gurus again? Oh, I'm sorry. You didn't steal from ThePinkLadyJ, you were inspired by her. At least that will be your excuse if someone decides to call you out on it, right? That or, "ThePinkLadyJ? Who dat?" LOL!

Welcome to "The Phanny Project"

Michelle Phan is a popular well-known blogger and YouTube "Guru," creating video tutorials on makeup and skincare. She has been uploading videos since 2006 and recently reached over one million subscribers (some have said she purchases subscribers, however that's up for debate), currently making her the #1 subscribed female and Guru on YouTube. She claims to be the co-founder and CEO for a line of skincare products based out of Thailand called iQQU (or as I like to say, iCKeww!) and recently became Lancôme's first video makeup artist. Michelle has certainly reached a significant degree of success with her videos, which is quite apparent when browsing through her Twitter and Facebook photos of expensive purchases.

But who is Michelle Phan? Is she a Makeup Artist or an Esthetician? Is she a Dermatologist? Actually, no, she is none of those things. According to Wikipedia, she briefly studied illustration at the Ringling College of Art and Design, eventually dropping out when her YouTube career took off. It's been stated that her mother wanted her to major in dermatology at Tampa Bay Technical High School but she decided to pursue an art major instead (it should be noted that TBTech does not have a dermatology program and never has). Yet Michelle earns a living applying and endorsing makeup, as well as providing skincare recommendations for thousands of young and impressionable girls worldwide. Despite her success with YouTube and selling skincare products that are not even backed by the FDA, she does not have the credentials or even professional experience in makeup and skincare to back up her advice or claims.

Michelle's YouTube videos began as a hobby, and with that hobby she created a business. Now, I'm sure most of you have no problem with that. I certainly don't! After all, it's one of the many reasons America is such a great country to live in - working for yourself and turning an at-home Internet hobby into a full-fledged career is completely possible. With that said, I too have the right to use the Internet in various ways, and I have chosen to create a "quality control" blog of sorts. To be more specific, Michelle has not only created a business, she is a business, and every business needs quality control in order to ensure certain requirements are being met. Obviously I do not have the credentials to be in the business of quality control, but considering Michelle does not have the credentials to be in the business of makeup artistry or skincare, well...we'll leave it at that.

There are other blogs out there exposing the truth about Michelle, most notably is the Tumblr blog, Michelle Phail, which provides a significant amount of information regarding her credibility. She is also the most discussed Guru on the popular forum, Guru Gossip, where her videos, photos, and overall antics are screen-capped and analyzed everyday by people who see through her visage. A lot of my information comes from that forum, and I recommend checking it out for an even more in-depth look into Michelle's moronic makeup advice and sloppy application skills. Even her personal life is picked apart quite harshly, but please understand - it is not my intention to focus on that aspect so much, however certain topics may be brought up from time to time if deemed necessary.

I don't expect everyone to agree with me, and I'm sure if this blog receives any amount of attention I will be bombarded with negativity. I'm okay with that though, this is my little place on the Internet and I'll do as I please with it - even if I never change a single opinion about Michelle Phan. :)