Lauren Luke is the other British YouTube sensation. And unlike Susan Boyle, she hasnÁ¢€â„¢t been hospitalized for exhaustion. Instead, Lauren Luke has gone from making videos in her bedroom showing people how to put on makeup to having her own makeup line.

Luke started selling makeup brushes on eBay to help make ends meet. To promote the brushes, she put up a few home-made videos on YouTube showing people how to use the brushes to recreate the looks of various pop stars. Want to look like Miley Cyrus? Or Avril Lavigne? Lauren Luke has a video for you.

Part of her charm is that Lauren Luke is every gal. She is not a socialite or a professional makeup artist, but rather an English woman in her twenties with a kid and dogs, enrolled part-time at beauty school, who at first dreamed of little more than a job at the local MAC counter. People found her videos and loved them. Luke has about 178 videos online, all of which seem to be rated with five stars. SheÁ¢€â„¢s appeared on the BBC, has a column in the Guardian, and even met the Queen. ItÁ¢€â„¢s such an impressive confluence of motivation, technology, and marketing that simply could not have happened even ten years ago.my-smokey-classics

LukeÁ¢€â„¢s kits are lovely. They are packed as large, elegant black compacts, complete with mirror. All include primer in two shades and a cake of black eyeliner, three eyeshadow shades, one blush, and two lip colors. I tried Á¢€Å“My Smokey Classics,Á¢€ following along with the video. The mirror makes it easy to watch and apply.

The colors were great and her directions are clear. Given that Luke started her beauty career selling brushes on eBay, itÁ¢€â„¢s no surprise that her tutorials are brush-intensive. Her kits do not come with brushes (although more products in her line are slated for release later in the year). I have a few brushes of my own, but not many, so I could not follow all of her directions. No cake eyeliner for me!

I liked the kit, and I was able to more or less match LukeÁ¢€â„¢s look. However, I was shocked to discover that putting in makeup the right way takes time! My routine takes about three minutes, while the Smokey Classics tutorial runs about 14. It takes 23 minutes for Luke to recreate the dramatic eyeshadow in Kylie MinogueÁ¢€â„¢s Á¢€Å“In My ArmsÁ¢€ video Á¢€” and thatÁ¢€â„¢s after applying foundation and before dealing with cheeks and lips. Yikes!

When the occasion arrives that I want to exude more glamour that the average freelance writer, well, now I know what to do.

By the way, at one point, there was discussion of all of the Popdose staff testing this makeup. Everyone backed out but me. Too bad, because Luke wants everyone to look lovely. ThatÁ¢€â„¢s why she has a tutorial for doing guyliner a la Green Day. ItÁ¢€â„¢s only 10 minutes long.

Consumerism, Product Tests

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About the Author

Ann Logue

Ann Logue is a freelance writer and consulting analyst who is fascinated by business and technology. She has a particular interest in regulatory issues and corporate governance. She is the author of "Emerging Markets for Dummies" (Wiley 2011), “Socially Responsible Investing for Dummies” (Wiley 2009), “Day Trading for Dummies” (Wiley 2007), and “Hedge Funds for Dummies” (Wiley 2006), and has written for Barron’s, Institutional Investor, and Newsweek Japan, among other publications. As an editor and ghostwriter, she worked on a book published by the International Monetary Fund and another by a Wall Street currency strategiest. She is a lecturer in finance at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her current career follows 12 years of experience as an investment analyst. She holds a B.A. from Northwestern University, an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. How's that for deathly dull?

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