In the world of YouTube and social media influencing 26-year-old Lauren Curtis is a relic.

Back when she started her platforms in 2011 there weren’t a whole lot of people to compete with.

Oh what a difference eight years make.

Now close to a decade on, the tides of social media appear to be pivoting, fans are demanding more transparency about brand deals and they’re also demanding more real content. The era of highly edited, and highly curated content is over.

Lauren knows exactly what went wrong.

 

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Leave a ???? emoji if you’ve ever struggled with winged eyeliner… ???????????? and leave a ???????? emoji if you’ve watched my latest video (swipe left) sharing my life changing eyeliner hack ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Direct link in my bio ???? ps. Everyone is asking if I just had my lips done in that video (and my recent posts too)… no! Not for a while now. Just outrageously overlining my lips for the first time in a while ????

A post shared by Lauren Curtis (@lozcurtis) on Feb 21, 2019 at 12:17am PST

“There’s less of a focus on education [nowadays] and more of a focus on entertainment,” she told Mamamia.

The recent James Charles/Tati Westbrook saga is proof of this.

Millions of drama greedy viewers got sucked into watching a blow-by-blow between two influencers who had a public fight via their YouTube channels.

Everyone who is anyone was suddenly an expert in the world of beauty influencing and ready to have their say.

You can watch a snippet of the video that started it all here. Post continues after video.

Lauren is a juggernaut in this very industry, she boasts more than 3.5 million subscribers, and she’s not OK with the tearing down of Charles she witnessed last week.

“I do find it sad that when something like this happens, a lot of people in the online community seem to really enjoy watching someone fall from grace. It’s an ugly side to social media,” said Lauren.

The Perth local started her YouTube channel as a creative outlet – a place to combine her love of photography and makeup.

“I was discovering all of these amazing new products and ways of applying them and wanted to share it with others,” she told Mamamia.

This is how and why many of the original influencers started their platforms. To share and educate others about what they’d learnt or taught themselves.

What they didn’t go into the YouTube world aiming for is ‘fame’ and ‘success’ probably because that wasn’t a thing when they started. 

For the handful of originals, success and a career were a happy coincidence.

 

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Morphe Fluidity Foundation review + wear test ⚠️ I’m super apprehensive about uploading this to YouTube so for now I’m just sharing this super brief snippet to Instagram ???? In terms of the foundation formula and shade for my skin tone, I was really impressed. It provided a flawless finish that kept my skin looking like skin and held up well throughout the day. The concealer wasn’t a major standout to me, I think I’d have to try it again to develop a more solid opinion on it, but it was really nice and performed similarly to the left side of my face where I applied Too Faced Multi-Use Sculpting Concealer (my current fave). The powder I used was fine, as was the moisturising primer. All in all my experience was positive, but I know there are many people who couldn’t say the same. I’m interested to see what you guys think, and if you’ll be trying it out for yourselves? Let me know in the comments ????????

A post shared by Lauren Curtis (@lozcurtis) on Jan 15, 2019 at 1:30am PST

“There are so many influencers competing for views now that whatever you can do to grab someone’s attention in the shortest amount of time usually takes priority over informative content with depth,” said Lauren.

“I’ve noticed a huge shift in the style of content being produced now compared to back then [in 2011], and I believe a lot of it is due to that,” she explained.

Lauren has a dedicated and loyal band of followers, many of whom have been with her from the start.

Her focus on creating and never faltering from quality content has seen her grow her business, and stay relevant amongst the rest of the noise of YouTube.

She knows timing has a lot to do with her luck, “I always say I’m grateful to have started when I did, because who knows if I’d be where I am today if I had waited a few more years,” she admitted.

Just like any job, this one comes with its ups and downs.

“It can be SO much fun but it can also take a huge toll on your mental health – you just need to find a good balance,” Lauren said.

Being an influencer is a world of glitz, glamour, and PR invitations to every hot party in town, you only have to follow a lot of the more recent additions to the game to see that.

“Personally, I don’t really like going to events and mingling purely because I’m an introvert who would rather be at home in my pyjamas,” Lauren told Mamamia.

 

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Currently sitting on the couch with my main gal working on my new business (I spend the majority of every day working on it) (I’ll be able to announce it very soon) (I’m terrified) (but also ecstatic), holding a heat pack to my ovaries in anticipation of aunt flow’s visit (I’ve also ran out of naprogesic yay) (thank you to the Lendlease girls for this cute gift, it has already been put to good use), drinking a chai latte in my comfy pjs while it rains outside ???????????? What are you doing right now?

A post shared by Lauren Curtis (@lozcurtis) on Aug 21, 2018 at 12:45am PDT

For Lauren her success lies in her ability to make her followers feel like friends.

“There’s a relationship that forms between the ‘creator’ and the ‘viewer’, similar to that of a friendship,” she said.

“Many of them [my followers] have grown up with me which is so incredible, so I feel like we’re all on the same page with our values and outlook on life,” she said of her audience.

One of the things that Lauren and her social media influencer colleagues are having to do more and more nowadays is check themselves and put ‘disclaimers’ on any opinions they choose to voice.

Lauren admits it’s her least favourite part about what she does.

“It’s taken me a long time to develop a thick skin, but what helps me the most is remembering that you can’t please everyone,” she said.

But the positives definitely outweigh the negatives.

Lauren gets to be her own boss, and has complete creative control.

“I’m working on my social media platforms as well as my loungewear business and three other businesses/projects that I am yet to unveil,” she told Mamamia.

In fact this week, she just launched her own podcast Mental Makeover. 

Gone are the days when Lauren simply uploaded makeup tutorials, she is now a powerhouse of a lady startup who has big plans for her future.

She is one of the social media names that’s survived the test of time, and outlasted all of the fame hungry that have come after her.

No matter what spanners the YouTube, Facebook and Instagram gods throw at her, Lauren’s got it covered.

She’s figured out how to play the influencer game, properly.