by Tanya Burr
I ended up working on the Laura Mercier counter for two and a half years. While I hope I always did a good job with regards to the make-up, I always used to get into trouble for chatting too much! It was the same in every job. Mum reminded me the other day that when I was working at Starbucks, I was never particularly good at the job because I was quite slow at making coffee and I’m not that tidy, so I was never that good at cleaning up. However, I always enjoyed talking to the customers and some of them only wanted me to serve them. There were three Starbucks in Norwich and they always put me in the one that they thought would be the quietest!
I loved my time working at Laura Mercier and it felt like a real learning curve. I always worked at the weekends, but that meant I would get a couple of days in the week off and I would go and hang out at the university library with Jim and just read books, or I sneaked into his lectures with him and his friends. I officially moved into Jim’s house one day after he pointed out that it would make sense for me to have a few things there because I was there all the time.
Most days, Judy, Nic and I walked to Jarrolds together and if Jim and I were working, we always tried to get the same morning break and lunch break – we begged our respective managers – so we could see each other. Sometimes we’d pop out to get something to eat but most of the time we would sit in the café at Jarrolds and have beans on toast. They also have the best scones in the world and I always had one for my morning break. In fact, thinking about it, I must go back and have one when I’m next back in Norwich!
I discovered YouTube when I had been working at Laura Mercier for about a year and a half. Sam had started uploading tutorials to help her and Nic’s clients, then people started requesting celebrity-inspired tutorials. So in some of the videos where Sam wanted to re-create the look of a younger celebrity, like Hilary Duff, Scarlett Johansson or Megan Fox, she would use me as her model. I felt really flattered by this and loved the whole process. Sometimes the viewers would leave comments, saying things like, ‘Tanya needs her own YouTube channel!’
Sam suggested that I should start filming videos, just to practise different looks and build up my confidence. I filmed my first-ever video in her make-up studio, which was cool because it meant that I could use all her products. I filmed it on the webcam on Jim’s MacBook. After Sam had given me a few basic instructions, and with a lot of help from Google, I edited it and uploaded it. I know it sounds naive, but I didn’t care if people watched it or not, and while I always enjoyed reading the comments, it was over a year before I even noticed the viewer numbers below the screen. YouTube just wasn’t such a big deal back then. For me, I just thought it was cool to have a video I had shot online and it was a fun and creative outlet. My new project then became to get a little video portfolio of my favourite looks online.
When I started to get a bit restless at Laura Mercier, I decided to work with a different skincare and make-up company because I thought they could teach me even more. I thought it would be good to have a new challenge but, eventually, it ended up being a bad decision. I have no idea how, but they found out about what I was doing on YouTube and said it was a conflict of interest, so I left.
At this point, my YouTube career wasn’t earning enough money for me not to do something else, so I got a job at Topshop. I was only working part-time, which meant I had more time to work on my YouTube channel and to do some freelance make-up work on the side. As I had got more confident, Sam told me that she thought I was good enough to have my own clients, so whenever she couldn’t do a wedding because she already had one booked, she would pass it over to me. They paid very well but I was always really nervous beforehand. For my first wedding booking, I went on my own and it was in the middle of nowhere and I ended up taking a taxi, which got lost. I found it really daunting and for a long time I preferred assisting Sam. After the first wedding disaster, Kate used to drive and assist me. I just wanted the company and the weddings were always out in the countryside, so she would pick me up in her car and we’d go together. I also did make-up for the odd TV shoot. I worked on a sofa advert in Bury St Edmunds and Dad came to pick me up. Everyone always rallied round to help me and I’ll always be so grateful for that. As well as being obsessed with make-up, I loved the business side of it and being my own boss, even if it was slightly terrifying that everything was happening so quickly!
I was really getting into my videos then and would film every day before work, and I loved reading the feedback. Sometimes I would receive some negative comments on some of my videos and it did upset me, but it doesn’t bother me at all now. After two months of working at Topshop, the subscribers to my beauty channel had doubled and I started making a bit of money through the ads on my YouTube channel. I had also built up lots of freelance make-up work, which was often at the weekends, and that helped me to pay my rent.
I started thinking about ways I could do different things. On my videos people always asked me what jewellery I was wearing, so I thought I could try and set up my own little business. Dad made me my own e-commerce website and I wanted to find a jewellery company that would let me buy their jewellery at wholesale price and sell it on my site. I partnered up with a company called Tallulah Tu and they were awesome. The jewellery was really lovely costume-type pieces, like statement necklaces, stud earrings and rose gold bracelets. I didn’t have much money, so initially I could only buy ten pairs of earrings in each style, and I sold them for the same price they were being sold on the Tallulah Tu website. I wore the jewellery on my videos; it really took off and it was really frantic packaging up lots of boxes and sending them off. In the end, I found it quite overwhelming because I had to buy so much stock and I couldn’t keep on top of the postage and admin. I contacted them and they suggested giving me my own page on their website and I could help design the pieces, for a royalty fee. I told Sam and Nic about it and they suggested I talk to their manager, a guy called Dom Smales, about it. I ended up calling him and asking his advice and so that’s how I ended up being managed by Dom’s company, Gleam. In the end, my relationship with Tallulah Tu fizzled out but I loved it at the time!
After Jim finished uni, we decided to go travelling. We had spoken for ages about taking three months out to visit Thailand and Australia, so I quit my job at Topshop. I wasn’t too worried about work. I knew I could pick-up with the weddings and freelance make-up work when I got back, and I had pre-recorded enough videos for two video tutorials a week while I was away. I worked really hard to get them done and Kate, who was studying at university at the time, said she would upload them for me – what a star!
We had some real adventures when we were travelling together in Thailand, which I’ll talk more about later in the book. We have some amazing memories too – we made some great friends there and partied a lot. From Thailand, we travelled to Australia, where we stayed in Sydney and lived with my cousin for six weeks.
When we got back, Jim started making YouTube videos, too. He had a lot of free time on his hands while job-hunting. Originally he thought he’d like to be a primary school teacher but the job wasn’t quite what he expected. He had some short-term contracts doing various things but, eventually, his YouTube work took off too, so we spent all our time making videos.
Before I went away, I promised my viewers that, after travelling, I would buy myself a new HD camera. All the videos until then had been terrible quality because they were done on my webcam. I got back on 6th January 2011 and told my viewers that by the 7th, there would be an HD tutorial online. It was a pretty big promise and the day I got back, I had dreadful jetlag, but I went straight out to John Lewis and picked up an HD camera. It looked so much better and it also revived my love of filming.
My YouTube channel was growing and I loved reading all the comments from viewers. I never really knew where it was going to go; I just loved the connections that I formed with people. I loved filming, editing, making something look amazing and reading everyone’s thoughts. I knew I had found a job that made me very happy.
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MY TOP 10
EXPERIENCES THAT HAVE SHAPED WHO I HAVE BECOME
1. HAVING BIG PLANS
Dad was always so entrepreneurial and did whatever he needed to do to provide for us. I think I’ve always been quite like him and am really business-minded. My granddad reminded me recently that when I was a teenager, I used to make long written plans about how I was going to build a business so I would be able to afford a flat overlooking Central Park in NewYork because I loved the TV shows Friends and Sex in the City. So you can see that I have always dreamed big!
2. CHOIR, PAPER ROUND AND MY SATURDAY JOBS
Following on from what I’ve just said, I have always worked. I started off in the church choir when I was about ten. We would rehearse on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and then perform on Sunday at church and I was paid a pound every time I turned up. I remember one time when I was carrying the heavy cross up the aisle and it was so heavy that I almost knocked out half of the congregation! Sometimes I would ring the bells at church too.
When I was twelve, I got a job doing the paper round and it was really hard. The papers would always be delivered to the house and there were stacks of them. Every week it always felt there were more papers than the week before! The worst part was when they gave us piles of leaflets as well. I would have to get one of every single type of leaflet and put them in every paper. Then I would pack all my papers into this huge fluorescent bag and pop on my bike and deliver them and then come back to the house and fill my bag up and go out again, until every paper had been delivered. Then of course, I went on to work at the farm shop and at Starbucks.
3. MY DANCE SHOWS
I would always be involved in all the shows the dance school I belonged to put on every year. We performed at one of the schools nearby that had a really big stage and we always got made-up with thick foundation and red lips. I loved the excitement of being backstage, and even though I used to get really nervous, I think being on stage has made me really confident and not worried about performing in front of lots of people. We also did competitions and when I was about eight, I danced at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London.
4. MY LOVE OF READING
I have always loved reading. When I was tiny, Spot was my character of choice. I was very quick to learn to read and when I was about five, I loved this series of old-school LadyBird books called Puddle Lane. They came in five different sets, each one harder than the next. Mum bought the first ones from a car boot sale but they were out of print, so we would always try and find more at charity shops and car boot sales and would be so thrilled when we did! At primary school, I would always read books at lunchtime and was put into the second year before my friends because I was such a bookworm. I read my first novel, Pretty Polly, by Dick King-Smith, when I was six. When I was slightly older, I sometimes read the books that Mum was studying for her degree, like The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilmore, which was a bit weird but I enjoyed it. I have always read quite widely.
5. ENJOYING THE SIMPLE THINGS
We had a simple childhood and didn’t have lots of expensive toys or holidays and, even now, it’s the little things that bring me the most pleasure. Using a pretty mug to drink my tea out of, being given a beautiful bunch of flowers or just spending time at home with my family bring me the most pleasure.
6. HARRY POTTER
A huge part of my life growing up was about JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series. I absolutely loved it. Tasha and I always made Dad take us to the midnight launches at Jarrolds so we could queue and be one of the first people to read the books the day they were released. I wouldn’t leave the house and read each one in about two days. I was really obsessed with the whole series but particularly with Hermione. Sometimes, when I was younger, I used to be self-conscious about how bossy I was, but Hermione became such a role model for me and I think she made it OK for girls to take control. I must’ve read all the books about three times and watched the films ten times. I don’t think my love of Harry Potter will ever disappear!
In May 2013, we went to the Warner Brothers Studio to see The Making Of Harry Potter with some other YouTube friends and it was the best day ever. I even got a picture of me flying on a broomstick!
7. DRESSING UP
As I mentioned before, Dad used to buy us lots of vintage jewellery and outfits from car boot sales and I always loved dressing up with my friends. I think this has really contributed to my love of fashion and experimenting with clothes.
8. THE INFLUENCE OF STRONG WOMEN
I feel like I’ve had some really strong women in my life. Firstly my mum. She’s a lot stronger than she probably thinks she is, and she did an amazing job bringing us all up whilst working and learning to be a teacher. Jim’s mum, Judy, is strong in different ways to my mum and has been an incredible positive influence on me. Lastly, I’ve been influenced by books I’ve read growing up. Due to what my mum was studying, I ended up reading quite a lot of feminist texts.
9. EVERYONE BELIEVING IN ME
My dreams were never limited by anyone around me. All my family, friends and most of my schoolteachers have always made me believe that I can do whatever I want. Dad is so funny because I think he actually believes I could do anything I want to. If I said I wanted to be a singer, even though I have a terrible voice and definitely can’t sing, Dad would say, ‘Of course you can do it. We’ll get you some singing lessons and you can be a star.’ That is just what he is like. I’m a big dreamer and until now, if I’ve wanted to do something, I’ve always tried my best to make it happen.
10. YOUTUBE
YouTube has really shaped my personality. It’s given me so much confidence and encouraged me to be really open as a person. Before I started filming videos, I think I could be a bit awkward and shy in social situations but as I have done more and more videos, met more people and other opportunities have arisen because of my YouTube videos, I have become surer of myself.
List the top ten things that have shaped who you have become …
List the people who have had a positive influence on your life and why …
List your funniest or most embarrassing moments …
Beauty starts with smooth, healthy and glowing skin, so before talking about make-up, I thought I’d start by covering a few skincare basics. It’s easy to look in magazines or on television and think everyone has perfect skin, but this really isn’t the case at all – I promise! They often have expertly applied make-up on or the pictures have been lit in a certain way or retouched afterwards. Everyone has moments when their skin doesn’t behave in the way they want. When I was younger, I was always so self-conscious if I had a little blemish or spot on my face and it would ruin my day. I’d love to be able to go back in time and tell my teenage self that I know it felt like the end of the world but no one ever notices! I don’t tend to have crazy breakouts these days but I know when that happens it can really make you feel self-conscious. No one’s skin is ever predictable and often hormones and other skin conditions are out of our hands. However, it is worth developing a good skincare regime because this can really help improve the condition of your skin.
There are four basic skin types: oily, normal, dry and combination. They are all what they sound like: if your skin feels dehydrated and flaky, then you probably have dry skin; if your skin is often greasy and shiny, then you probably have oily skin; and if you don’t have any issues with it, it is normal. Combination skin is where your skin type varies on different parts of your face or it changes and is a combination of dry or oily. I have combination to oily skin and get some shine around my T-zone, which is the area around my forehead, nose and mouth. It’s called this because it is shaped like the letter ‘T’.
When I was working on the Laura Mercier counter, I learned that in the UK, on average, we spend five minutes on our skincare and twenty-five minutes on our make-up, while in Japan they spend twenty-five minutes on their skincare and five minutes on their make-up, which is why all the people there have such am
azing skin! Spending time on your skin really does pay off. My own routine isn’t that complicated but it’s taken me time to get to know what products work for me and you should do the same, so your skin always remains fresh-looking and glowing. When it comes to trying out new products or different brands, I would recommend that you decide on a set and use them for at least a month to see clear results. Also remember that your skin will change over time and you will need to update your regime on a regular basis in order to keep your complexion in tip-top condition.
CLEANSING
Cleansing is probably the most important, easiest and least expensive element when it comes to maintaining healthy skin. Cleansers remove bacteria, make-up, dirt and any oil that builds up on your skin during the day and will also help prepare your skin for any moisturiser or serums, so they can be easily absorbed.
There are loads of different types of cleansers to choose from and some contain more soap than others. I use a gentle cleansing balm that doesn’t strip my skin of moisture and leaves it moisturised afterwards.