‘I’ve always been around the oddball, quirky, side of things’: We spoke to Brighton beauty YouTube creator, Heather Moorhouse

Brighton is home to many YouTuber creators, both those who have made it (Zoella's Brighton house is huge), and those new creators on the block. Watching Heather’s videos, it is clear she isn’t your average beauty blogger. Using vibrant colours and art to inspire and create her looks, she transforms into an array of characters, creating colour popping styles.

The Sussex Tab sat down to chat with Heather Moorhouse, the latest Brighton-based YouTube creator taking the scene by storm.

Heather first got into makeup when she was a university student herself, "I never used to wear makeup when growing up, I wasn't really a tomboy, but I wasn't girly either," she says.

"It wasn't until I started going to more fancy-dress parties at uni that I started messing around with makeup and becoming different characters like David Bowie and Siouxsie Sue" she explains.

Heather studied History of Art "I studied History of Art at the University of Essex", explains Heather.

"It's not particularly related to digital media or makeup, but I think learning about colour composition and texture definitely impacted my view of makeup as an art form, along with understanding current trends," she says.

Nowadays, Heather doesn't have to balance work and YouTube, but before "it was a fairly hard slog", she admits.

"It was tiring, but it was motivating, because you only have a set number of hours in a day and you have to get something out of them, so it almost forces you into being more creative," she says.

Brighton's renowned quirky style has influenced Heather's art: "I grew up in Brighton and I've always been around the oddball, quirky, side of things. So, I think that must have seeped in over time, particularly the drag scene, because I don’t adhere that much to 'pretty makeup' and I try to experiment and not focus too much on gender norms. As you can tell, as I have no hair" she adds, pointing to her fabulous shaved 'do.

Are you really from Brighton if you can't create a Sussex inspired look? Heather rose to the challenge, suggesting that "it would have to be extremely colourful. Perhaps a rainbow or two in there. I think Sussex is a very vibrant place to be so lots of colours, and maybe some clashing textures."

It was here that we made the brilliant suggestion of adding in some seagulls, to which Heather responds: "Oh yes, squawking, it would have to be a sound piece also!"

In true Sussex style, we dug deeper into how Heather explores gender politics in her makeup, she told us that "it's a political statement for a woman to not try to be pretty in the conventional sense.

"Having a large platform where I'm playing with physical appearance in loads of different ways is a subversion of beauty standards in itself. Even though you can do it in a way that's polished, playing around with beauty is sometimes a controversial thing", she says.

Getting into blogging can be a tricky process. Heather advises students looking to get into blogging to "just do it.

"I think the more you think about it, the more you will put it off and think that is is scarier and harder to get into than it is. If you just do it, you will realise you have so many more ideas and creativity than you think you have, and if it is rubbish to begin with, it means you can improve and get better".

Getting those all-important followers is essential, "being consistent and finding a style that is your own" is Heather's advice.

"It might not be the quickest start if you have a particularly quirky style, but once people find you, they will really latch on to you because you are more authentically yourself and that interests' people" explains Heather.

After watching Heather's videos, I began to question whether I had been doing my makeup wrong my whole life. Asking if you should do your eye makeup before your face, Heather reassuringly says "you can do it any way you like!

"For me I go pretty bold on the eyes usually, which means slapping things on pretty willy nilly, so a lot of powder will fall down onto my face" says Heather. "So, if I do my foundation first it will stick and then I am done for. But you can do it any way you like, there are no rules!"