6.6M People Have Watched Michelle Phan's Comeback
After a 10-month hiatus from YouTube, uber-influencer Michelle Phan, 30, who rose to fame when her first-ever makeup tutorial took off in 2007, recently uploaded an animated video, "Why I Left," that's racked up nearly 7 million views in just four days. (For perspective, the last video she uploaded before going dark received about 1.6 million views, and she has more than 8.9 million YouTube subscribers.)
In her newest clip, which runs a little longer than 11 minutes, Michelle explains how motivation to make money for her family and achieve "success" changed her for the worse: "Once I was a girl with dreams who eventually became a product, smiling, selling, and selling," she said. "Who I was on camera and who I was in real life began to feel like strangers."
Her success in monetizing video content only fueled her drive. "The taste of success was like a drug and I couldn't get enough," said Michelle, who'd moved away from her family in Florida several years ago to pursue career opportunities in California. There, she felt isolated and increasingly detached from loved ones and fans.
"I felt so alone and I had too much pride to let you see me at my weakest," she said, addressing her viewers. "I felt so depressed and I didn't know why. I wanted to be forgotten so I started posting less online."
As she grew more successful, Michelle also became increasingly critical of her appearance - ironic, considering it was largely beauty content that helped her amass such a substantial following. "I became imprisoned by my own vanity and was never satisfied by how I looked," she said. "The life I led online was picture-perfect but in reality, I was carefully curating an image of a life I wanted, not had."
Michelle goes on to explain how during her recent hiatus, she packed her bags and flew to Europe, where she disconnected and took refuge in nature. She vaguely refers to having spent the time learning, dreaming, creating, and exploring the depths of her curiosity in a quest that's far from over.
Now that Michelle is slowly returning to the public eye, her priorities have shifted. "Back then, I was just someone showing you how to look more beautiful. Now I want to show you how to feel more beautiful," she said.
Her ultimate takeaway message appears to be resonating among viewers, many of whom who've contributed to the video's 33,810 comments. That message: Money can't buy happiness, full stop.
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