Facts You May Not Know About Michelle Phan

Phan's parents are Vietnamese immigrants who, like many immigrants, came to America to help forge a better life for their family. However, her childhood was anything but easy. In a 2016 interview with Mashable, Phan revealed that her father was a gambler and lost most of the family's money. He left when she was just six years old.

"One day, you have a father who's always around," she told Mashable. "And then the next day, he's gone. I was too young to comprehend that. I actually thought he was going to come back." Eventually, her mother met another man — however, Phan says he was incredibly controlling. "He ran the house like a dictator," Phan said in an interview with NYLON. "He didn't want us to clean the house because he believed in his organized chaos. It was disgustingly dirty." They eventually left, but didn't have much money. Phan promised she'd eventually become successful enough to retire her mother — a promise she's kept. 

Phan did not have a picture perfect childhood. Depending on food stamps, her family moved around a lot, and her father was not in her life for some time. This wasn't something Phan was sharing with viewers when she began her YouTube videos. She told Glamour, "I depicted myself as the girl I wanted to be, with money and a great family." However, Phan told the magazine she credits the early difficulties with helping her be the person she is today, sharing "I believe everything happens for a reason. The universe will never give you any problems not knowing you can resolve them and can grow."

In many interviews, Phan discusses her mother and how much she inspired her in life. Phan's mom had moved from Vietnam after the war with less than $20 in her pocket, never having spoken English. She started working as a beautician, and Phan often accompanied her to work after school. This was when Phan began to find her passion. She told the Wall Street Journal she would read all of the beauty magazines and absorb the information.

Her mother wanted more for her daughter, but Phan valued her mother's work. "She didn't feel empowered by it, but I kept telling her growing up, 'You know this is beautiful what you're doing.'" She went on to explain that success isn't always what you think it should be. "There's beauty in everything, and sometimes the media portrays success in a certain way, but I believe everyone has their own vision of success," she said. Now both Phan and her mother are enjoying the benefits of her success — she was able to help her mom retire a few years ago.

According to NYLON, when relatives made a visit to her family's home after Phan and her mom left her step dad, they were so taken aback by the family's living conditions that they gave Phan's mom $10,000 to help with living expenses. Instead, her mom put the money towards Phan's tuition at Ringling College of Art and Design. Unfortunately, they weren't able to afford a second semester, so Phan was forced to drop out, as detailed by Mashable. However, Ringling gave her an honorary doctorate degree in 2014.

Phan said her one must-have item is concealer. "Most days, I just wear a little concealer and that's it. I have nothing to hide. My viewers have seen me without makeup, so it's all good," Phan told Racked Los Angeles.

If this makeup maven's lack of makeup on the daily surprises you, wait until you hear her biggest tips. Here'a a hint: they don't include makeup products. According to Phan, the most important beauty product is water. She says the simple act of drinking it can flush out toxins and rehydrate your body. Number two is sunscreen — not just for wrinkles and brown spots, but health as well. And her final tip is the simplest, just smile. "If all else fails, when you smile... happiness is beauty," she said. Phan emphasized that these tips are not just for women, but men as well.

Phan describes ipsy as a not-for-profit business, even though it isn't filed as that. She puts money into the business in order to "give back to the community and help them reach success," and it looks like that's exactly what she's doing.

She added to that initial success by launching ipsy Open Studios, which is located in Santa Monica. It's a space for beauty creators to come and have the opportunity to shoot videos using all of the necessary tools. And get this — it's free. If a member lives in Los Angeles, they can set up a time to go in the studio. If they don't, they have access to special Q&A sessions and individual beauty mentoring online.

She encourages people to share their interests and invest in their futures. "It's never too late, because someone who looks similar to you and likes your specific style wants to learn from you, not from me or anyone else. It's about making a connection," she said. Phan emphasized that with the internet, there is "a niche market for everything."

Overall, Phan is humble about her success and wants to help others reach that same success. She does not focus on competition but collaboration, saying "It's such an incredible journey, and I want to share this to more people, because if I can do it, people can do it too and they can probably do it better."

Though Phan found extreme success on YouTube and through her ipsy line, she wasn't immune to failure. In 2013, she launched a makeup line, Em, with L'Oreal. The line did not do well at all. "When Em Cosmetics flopped, I was trolled so hard online," Phan wrote in an article for Teen Vogue. "I had Reddit forums dedicated to hating on it."

Phan and L'Oreal officially parted ways in 2015, according to WWD. The bullying sent Phan into a cycle of self-diagnosed depression. "I think I was going through depression," she told Racked. "I don't know because I didn't go to a hospital or anything or get diagnosed, but I was taking a few quizzes online and I felt really sad every day." She began retreating from her public life, posting less on social media. "I wanted to be forgotten, so I began posting less online," she wrote for Teen Vogue.

Phan's departure from social media wasn't an easy decision for her. "It is really scary, because you can become irrelevant. If you don't upload a video or stay updated, within a month you're irrelevant," she wrote for Teen Vogue. However, her need for a break surpassed her need for relevance. "I decided to have an intervention with myself and to remove myself from the environment that was causing all that anxiety, which was L.A," she wrote. "I took refuge in a place where I could find meaningful time to heal, learn, and grow," she said in her first post-hiatus YouTube video. She visited Switzerland and Egypt, and revealed that being in nature helped her find peace. "Nature reminded me that everything we've built around our world that we have today doesn't really matter," she wrote in her Teen Vogue article.