I’ve been watching Anne for quite some time. I originally liked her channel when it was all about crafting and became intrigued as she transitioned to beauty.  She is a no-nonsense, down to earth, honest beauty blogger who isn’t afraid to speak her mind when it’s appropriate. Her approach to beauty has been evolving from make up to more skin care focus. (Something I am a firm believer in.) Anne is always entertaining and educational!  Enjoy this delightful interview!

I originally found your YouTube channel when I was looking for different methods to use for a craft and your channel came up.  This was when you were in transition from crafting to beauty. You seem to really have found your niche since your move to Florida. What do you attribute your change in genre?

I started my original White Lace Cottage channel so I could share painting tips. I just thought seeing it would be better to understand and follow than typed up on a blog. When we decided we were going to move to Florida I was purging most of my home décor. I wanted to keep my blog running and my channel as well. I decided to start a new channel and share makeup tips.

I have always loved makeup and was watching YouTube videos for a while. I wasn’t seeing many mature women with beauty channels at that time and I felt that I had something to offer. But I didn’t have the courage to start a channel for a while because being in front of a camera intimidated me. And then I thought that’s the perfect reason to start a channel.

Please share a bit about yourself and how and why you decided to host a YouTube channel?

When I was little my dream was to be an actress and a singer. But as I went through my childhood I was bullied because of my birth defect. I was born with a cleft lip and after a few surgeries; never ever did I think I’d have the courage to put myself out there in any way. But after the to move to Florida I got rid of most of my home décor. I have always loved makeup and worked as a stylist/nail tech for many years. I also took a few makeup workshops while working. I didn’t see a lot of mature channels at that time and thought I had something to offer.

What has been the most rewarding part of becoming a YouTube beauty channel?  What has been the least rewarding?

I love when women tell me how my tips have changed their makeup game. Many stopped wearing makeup because they didn’t have the confidence and seeing me on my channel has brought them confidence. I also love when they tell me I make them laugh or I feel like a good friend. I always want my subscribers to feel a connection to me as I have one to them. Even though we’ve never met I feel like I know them just from chatting in the comments.

Least rewarding is the cliques and jealousy that goes on. As a blogger I’ve never experienced that. There are so many groups of women that support each other. But YouTube is different; it is very competitive. What makes me happy is seeing women supporting other women. Especially when I see bigger channels helping smaller channels.

Social media can be brutal. You have been outspoken about not allowing negativity to seep into your channel. (I agree on this principal.) You made a tough call for the right reasons. Have you seen a more positive interaction since you have stood your ground? How would you approach this differently, if at all?

It’s always hard voicing an opinion because no matter what I say there will always be someone misunderstanding what I mean. But one thing that I’ve learned is that I have to stay true to myself. I will never make everyone happy. I’m a people pleaser and so it’s been an adjust ent for me and a learning experience that not everyone will like me or my content and that’s okay and I can’t change to be someone I’m not just to make a few people happy.

YouTube is an amalgamation of every type of person and interest. If you could wave a magic wand and eliminate/change one thing on YouTube what would you eliminate/change and why?

I would love to see the drama channels go away. I just think they focus too much on the negativity which makes an entire community look bad which isn’t fair.

Who are some of your favorite beauty bloggers? What do you like about them?

  • Laurie Pride In Photos Beauty – She is a good friend. We help support each other. I love the excitement she shares in her videos. She is supportive and kind and has always been by my side when I was being bullied on my channel.
  • Michele Wang – She is one of the most supportive YouTubers in my niche. I see her cheering on smaller channels all of the time. She recently made it to 100k subscribers and still shouts of channels with under 10k subscribers.
  • Mel Thompson – She is not only talented but kind and supportive as well. I’ve seen her channel grow and she’s stayed grounded and true to herself. I love and respect her so much.
  • Kandee Johnson – Her channel was one of the first I watched. I love her positive energy and her inspirational words. She is extremely talented and is so humble and down to earth. I’ve heard many people that have met Kandee and they’ve said how sweet she is in person. She never brags about her success but always offers encouragement. I love her!

You have done a number a collaborations with other YouTube beauty bloggers. Who would you most like to do a collaboration with and why?

Hands down Kandee Johnson. I know it will never happen, but if it did I would be so thrilled!! She has so much positive energy and is so encouraging. I would love to just sit and chat about makeup with her. She is absolutely one of my favorites. I’m sad that she doesn’t post as often on YouTube. I really miss seeing her videos.

What do you do in your spare time?

Ha! I actually don’t have much spare time. I’m constantly working on my blog and channel. I do it all myself. But in the spare time I have I enjoy our pool. Before the pandemic my husband and I were visiting different beaches here in Florida along with going to Disney World. We live 45 minutes from the park and were visiting often. I’m thankful that we can enjoy our pool and we live somewhere with beautiful weather all year round because I can’t imagine being stuck inside with nothing to do.

If you could do a makeup collaboration with any brand, what would the brand be and why would you collaborate with them? What would your end product contain?

 I have to be honest, if I were to do a collaboration it wouldn’t be makeup. I would love to do a jewelry collaboration or a handbag collaboration. Makeup is tricky and if the colors or the formula aren’t right there’s too much drama. I’ve seen so many collaborations go sour because of that.

Who is the most interesting and/or famous person you have met since starting your blog?

I have met many famous people but not through my blog. Just randomly running into them at airports. I don’t attend blogging events so I’m just going to share a famous person I met years ago. My husband and I attended a Joan Jett concert years ago. After the concert, she set up a table so you could get photo and autograph with her. This was before September 11th. The line was quite long and she didn’t leave until everyone got a photo and autograph from her. She was so nice and down to earth. Not full of herself at all. I’ve always been a fan but after that I really admired her more.

Since Covid begin, what one thing have you been doing  that would surprise most people who know you?

I don’t wear makeup under my mask. I was doing that and even though I only go out once a week for groceries my face was getting breakouts. So now I just go without it and really no one can see my makeup anyway. I always wear sunglasses and with my mask on you can’t even see my face.

If we looked in your purse right now, what would the most surprising this be? What are the beauty related things in your purse that you never leave home without?

I have my wallet, keys, sunglasses, anti-bacterial spray, mirror, lip liner and lipstick. I don’t wear lipstick right now but I never leave without lipstick or my liner.

If you could only pick one of these categories, makeup or skincare, and deliver only that type of content on YouTube, which would you select and why?

This will surprise you but I’m going to say skincare. I’ve been getting into it more recently. I’m really upping my skincare game over the past few years. I think as I age I’ll have to keep tweaking it because I don’t want to get any procedures done. I have nothing against anyone that goes that route. It’s just not something I want to do.

If money etc. were no consideration, would you live in Paris, New York, the Maldives, or _________ (fill in the blank) and why)?

I would have a beach house somewhere on the coast of Florida. I absolutely love it here but I would love having a little getaway that’s drivable for us. I would love to visit other countries like Italy or France someday. But living here in Florida is a dream come true for me. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

If you could host a makeup session on your channel and include three famous people (living or dead), who would you include and why?

  • Carol Burnett – because she is so funny, seems to down to earth and is such an inspiration to me. I just love her.
  • Pat Benatar – She inspired me as a child. At one time I wanted to be a singer and seeing a female singer in a mostly (at that time) male dominated industry was inspiring when I was younger.
  • Barbara Stanwyck – She is one of my all time favorite actors. So many questions I’d love to ask her. She always looked beautiful on screen.

You are a huge fan of Disney. What type of character would you most like to develop and why?

Well it’s been done and her name is Edna. I just love her personality. She is sassy as I am and I just adore her. She is my spirit animal.

What do you most want your followers to remember you for specific to your YouTube career?

I always hope they know that what they see on camera is me. I don’t write scripts for my videos. So what you see is what you get. I hope I inspire them to embrace who they are. Makeup is a fun tool but always embrace your beauty no matter what.

What is the most out of character thing you have ever done?

I can’t think of anything. I don’t do anything crazy or anything that I’m not comfortable with so I don’t think I’ve done anything out of character.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I’m sharing something I’ve never shared with anyone. My plan is, when I turn 60 (which is actually 6 years from now) I am retiring. I love what I do but it takes a lot of hours. I don’t know if I’ll still keep my blog but at that time, I’m planning on stepping away. I’ve been doing this since 2011 so I’ve been at it for awhile.  I’m sure I’ll find something else creative to do but I don’t see myself doing this after that point. And who knows it could happen sooner. But right now my plan is to keep doing this as long as I’m enjoying it but planning on stopping in the next 6 years.

What one piece of advice would you give your 21-year-old self?

To be more confidant and not to let others opinions bother you. It took a long time for me to build my confidence. It really wasn’t until I started my channel. I still get rude comments but it doesn’t bother me anymore. I just wish I felt the confidence that I do now back then. I worried too much about what people thought about me. That’s the beauty of aging. As we age we care less and less about what other’s think about us.

What are the top 1-5 things that we can look forward to from you in 2020-2021?

I don’t know because I don’t have any plans. I am on TikTok now and I’m having fun with it. I love that it’s another way to be creative. I don’t know what will happen or how much it will grow but it’s really a lot of fun and I feel like I can do things on that app that I can’t do on Youtube because of copyright. There’s music you can lip sync to and dance and it’s just so much fun!

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