Two years ago, YouTube's original beauty blogger Michelle Phan announced that she was quitting the platform.
Though she had spent the last 12 years gaining a fanbase of more than 10 million followers with her frank and honest beauty reviews and tutorials, she was overworked, burnt out, and in desperate need of a recharge. So, she refocused her energy on her beauty brand EM Cosmetics and left her signature edited videos on the backburner.
But on Sunday night, Phan surprised fans by posting her first real YouTube video for the first time in two years. Titled "Hello :)," it's garnered more than 260,000 views in just 12 hours.
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In the video, she takes viewers through a day in her life that involves playing with her cat and then shooting imagery for EM Cosmetics, with gooey, glow-y closeups of her new clear lipgloss.
Though it's not a traditional tutorial or review, fans were thrilled at her resurgence none the same — especially in the context of the recent drama plaguing the YouTube beauty community.
MICHELLE PHAN IS BACK OMG pic.twitter.com/bqgxmHdYdP
— ❦ (@mikrokosmos1997) September 16, 2019
Get out of the way James Charles, Jaclyn Hill, Jeffree Star and whoever tf trashy youtubers
— mai ☕ (@_itsmaiii) September 16, 2019
Michelle Phan is BACK bitcheees!!! And she's coming to save the Beauty Community 💖 pic.twitter.com/TbDBsiAtjP
"Only Michelle Phan — the creator — the big bang — of the beauty community can save us," one tweet read.
only michelle phan — the creator — the big bang — of the beauty community can save us
— thomas (@ThomasBeautyy) September 16, 2019
me when I saw Michelle Phan had posted a new video pic.twitter.com/a3sX5KsGBH
— ☀️ (@H2whore) September 16, 2019
there would be no beauty community or gurus without michelle phan & THATS on period
— 𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔞 🦗 (@marajanai) September 16, 2019
As you can tell in the video, EM Cosmetics still remains the biggest focus in Phan's life right now, but thankfully for her fans, she hasn't forgotten just how meaningful it is to see a new video from the OG YouTube beauty guru in their feed. Hopefully this isn't the last.