Trust this male beauty blogger who really knows his lippies
15,000 lipsticks sold in 15 minutes.
That’s what Li Jiaqi achieved once over a live stream.
We have recently been obsessed with Austin Li （李佳琦）, and we are so late to the game. In late 2017, Li shot to fame when he tried on 380 lipsticks on a two-hour livestream video on China’s e-commerce platform Taobao. Since then, the 27-year-old male Chinese beauty blogger has become an Internet sensation as a top seller of lipstick by livestreaming his reviews of the shades on social media. He also goes live on DouYin (China’s TikTok), where he gained 13 million followers in just two months after joining. Check out this compilation of his videos and see how addictive they can be:
On Singles Day 2018, Li even took on Alibaba Group co-founder Jack Ma to see who could sell the most number of lipsticks over a two-hour livestream session, and guess who won? Li sold 1,000 while Ma sold just 10.
Dubbed the “Lipstick King” (or, “Lipstick Brother,” if you directly transliterate from “口红一哥”), Li is making headlines as a Chinese man unabashed about regularly putting on makeup and loving it. He represents a growing generation of young men in China who are more and more interested in their looks. Still, Li did not rise to popularity on luck or some marketing gimmick by Taobao; he really knows his makeup. More than that, he is genuinely passionate about makeup and beauty.
He tries every single shade of lipstick on his own lips (we feel for his lips) and shows them off at different angles for his viewers. For every lipstick collection, he would go deep into the details, ranking his top three shades and talking about the packaging, texture, smell, whether it is moisturising, its wearability… And most of all, Li is super entertaining in his videos, enthusiastically exclaiming his love for certain shades.
Whenever we watch one of Li’s videos on DouYin, we would instinctively reach for our notebook and start writing down each of the products he recommends. In just five minutes, we have filled out a whole page. For those who also enjoy his videos, or just want lipstick recommendations, we have compiled 10 lipsticks and their shades that Li thinks you should get. In his words, ~oh my god~ BUY! BUY! BUY!
1. Tom Ford Lip Color Matte #08 Velvet Cherry, $76.00
Although this Tom Fort lipstick has a matte finish, it also has a silky texture and looks sheer, too. This particular Velvet Cherry shade, which Li Jiaqi describes as “so pretty he could cry,” is a warm and elegant burgundy.
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