As a frequent watcher of YouTube, I pride myself on being up to date on all the latest tea and Shane Dawson has been spilling a lot recently. 

Over the past few years, Dawson has transformed his channel into a documentary series, giving viewers an inside look at the lives of some of the most infamous YouTubers, like Tana Mongeau and Jake Paul. These videos, although almost an hour long, are always highly entertaining and fascinating to watch. It’s interesting to see people who spend their days behind cameras become vulnerable and share their private life with Dawson. Although Dawson is still capturing all of this on camera, the YouTubers still seem more relaxed and real when talking to him.

Over a year ago, Dawson started this documentary transition with a series on beauty mogul and controversial figure, Jeffree Star. Star is known online for being brutally honest and at times judgmental, but the series allowed viewers to see a different side of him. After watching that series, I gained more respect for Star because I was able to see his commitment to creating quality products and that he truly cares about his viewers.

After that series on Star, I figured that would be the last we would see of him on Dawson’s channel. This changed a few months ago, when Dawson announced that he would be doing another documentary series with Star, though this time it would be more focused on the beauty industry. As the premiere of the first video of “The Beautiful World of Jeffree Star” grew closer, it became clear that Dawson would be collaborating with Star’s makeup brand, Jeffree Star Cosmetics, to put out his own beauty line. This was surprising to me because Dawson has never been a part of the beauty community, but after Dawson’s talent and interest became clear, I was excited to see what he would come up with.

This documentary was truly groundbreaking. It’s a series that makes the beauty world more transparent, giving consumers the inside scoop on how much profit the company is actually making at our expense. Star, having been in the beauty industry for quite some time now, says that most makeup brands, looking at eyeshadow palettes specifically, will upcharge their product monumentally, by about 700%, compared to what they are paying to produce the item.

The information that Star and his team shared was eye-opening and showed me that I need to pay more attention to the quality of the products I am buying and how they compare to the price. Additionally, I had also thought that Star’s products were on the pricier side just so he could make more money, but the series has demonstrated that Star’s brand is more expensive because the quality of his materials is better. He could actually be charging more, but he chooses not to, which indicates to me that this is not just about the money for Star, but it is a way of connecting with his audience and a form of art and expression for him. 

This series also showed how much Dawson and Star’s friendship has blossomed since Dawson’s first documentary on Jeffree Star. Star believed in Dawson so much that he wanted to collaborate with him. He noticed that Dawson had an eye for color and makeup and has supported Dawson every step of the way. Dawson was concerned from the beginning that his products wouldn’t sell and he wouldn’t be taken seriously. However, Star always had faith in Dawson and knew that this collection would sell very well. And when the day of the launch came around, November 1, that’s exactly what happened. I knew based on the fact that most of the videos in this series have surpassed 20 million views each that the website would have a lot of visitors the day the collection dropped. Dawson had created two stunning palettes, the Conspiracy and the Mini Controversy palettes, six liquid lipsticks, a lip gloss, a lip balm, and several accessories including hand mirrors, makeup bags, and purses; all of which people were anxiously waiting to purchase. 

Clearly, the website’s ecommerce software, Shopify, was not prepared for such a large influx of customers. The website crashed within minutes of the collection being released for purchase, causing widespread panic and frustration from people clamoring for the products. There were several cases of people who actually got through and had purchased their products, only to be sent an email that what they had just purchased was sold out. It was a madhouse. As much as I was disappointed to not be able to purchase the palette this time, I was happy for Dawson’s success. He has been posting Instagram stories where he is barely able to speak, in awe that people actually bought his products. There is no doubt that his 23 million subscribers were happy to support one of the most down to earth YouTubers on the platform. 

All products are currently sold out online and in Morphe stores across the country. Apparently, the material used to make that neon yellow shade in the Conspiracy palette, Food Videos, is a rare material and 6 years worth of the product was used in two months to create the shade for the palette. This means that Jeffree Star Cosmetics will only be able to produce a select amount of palettes for purchase this year. Once this round of the Conspiracy palette is sold out, it will not be restocked until next year. Make sure to get your hands on it while you can because those swatches look SICKENING.