Michelle Phan (born April 11, 1987) is an American YouTube personality and entrepreneur.[3][4] She is the founder and owner of EM Cosmetics, a cosmetics brand she relaunched in 2017.[5]
Michelle Phan was born on April 11, 1987, in Boston, Massachusetts.[3] She was raised in Tampa, Florida, alongside her elder brother and younger half-sister. Phan has publicly discussed her family's financial struggles, including her father's gambling addiction and mother’s separation from her stepfather.[6][7]
In 2005, Phan had a personal blog where she posted makeup tutorials, which led her followers requesting for more.[11] She began posting tutorial vlogs on Xanga under the username "Ricebunny" and then began posting on YouTube in May 2007.[12]
BuzzFeed featured two of Phan's "How To Get Lady Gaga's Eyes" makeup tutorials in 2009 and 2010, which helped them go viral and brought her over a million subscribers.[13][14][15] In 2010, Lancôme made Phan their official video makeup artist after she featured some of their products in her videos, making her the company's first Vietnamese-American spokesperson.[16]
Phan abruptly went on hiatus from YouTube in 2015.[20] On June 1, 2017, Phan returned with her first video since the hiatus explaining why she took her break. Phan cited legal troubles, the failure of EM Cosmetics' initial launch, and her issues with self-image as what led her to take a break.[21] She continued her hiatus until officially returning to YouTube in September 2019.[22]
Business ventures
In 2011, Phan co-founded MyGlam, a monthly beauty product subscription service. It launched in September 2012 and has since been renamed Ipsy.[23] Ipsy is a sponsor of the Generation Beauty conference.[24] Phan became a YouTube advertising partner and launched FAWN, a YouTube MCN (multi-channel network), in 2012.[25][26]
On August 15, 2013, L'Oreal launched a new cosmetic line called EM Cosmetics by Michelle Phan,[27] dedicating the brand to her mother. In April 2015, Phan bought L'Oréal's share of EM Cosmetics through Ipsy, which she confirmed on her Instagram in December 2016;[28] she later acquired the company from Ipsy and relaunched it in April 2017.[29] During this time, Phan also resigned from Ipsy in order to focus on EM Cosmetics.
In May 2014, Phan announced her partnership with Endemol Beyond USA to build a talent network to feature people from YouTube and create content for millennials. The ICON network, dedicated to "beauty, lifestyle and entertainment," launched in March 2015 online and on television via Roku.[30][31] In September 2014, Phan partnered with Cutting Edge Group to launch Shift Music Group.[32] Phan published a book with Random House in October 2014, titled Make Up: Your Life Guide to Beauty, Style, and Success -- Online and Off.
Other career ventures
In 2017, Phan launched a webtoon titled Helios: Femina.[21] In 2021, Phan lent her voice to Blackberry Cookie, a character in the video game Cookie Run: Kingdom, which was uncredited in-game.[33]
Personal life
Phan's sister-in-law is fellow beauty YouTuber, Promise Phan. The two have collaborated on each other's channels throughout the years.
In July 2014, Ultra Records sued Phan in the United States District Court for Los Angeles for copyright infringement relating to the music used in her YouTube videos.[35] Ultra sought up to $150,000 in damages per infringement for up to 50 instances of alleged infringement, for a total of up to $7.5 million.[36] Phan's representatives stated that she had received permission from Ultra to use the music,[37] and Phan filed a countersuit against Ultra Records on September 18, 2014, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. In August 2015, both suit and countersuit were dropped when both parties agreed to settle out of court. The terms of the agreement were not made public.[38]
1 2 Wick, Krista (May 26, 2012). "Meet Michelle Phan, Accidental Millionaire". The Insider. ET Online. Archived from the original on February 17, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2013. Phan is the second-most popular female personality on YouTube and has become spokeswoman for Lancome thanks to the success of her online videos. She also recently partnered with Glamhouse for her Jewelry line Ever Eden.
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