Beautycon began in 2012, as an insider event for about thirty vloggers.

“What if you could take Sephora and Coachella and smash it into one thing?”

Now a multicity cosmetics festival, Beautycon saw the opportunity to repackage beauty as a user-generated fan community, steeped in the self-empowering language of Instagram. “It’s always, like, ‘Do you hate those aging spots on your face?’ As opposed to ‘You’re already fierce, you’re amazing, you slay. These products are for people who feel great about themselves.’ ”

Some paid an extra four hundred and fifty dollars to attend the Beauty Academy, where rows of vanity mirrors were set up for seminars. Throughout the weekend, attendees could meet the beauty “influencers” who give makeup tutorials on YouTube.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/09/25/how-millennials-like-their-makeup