Aisling on Beauty: How an acne sufferer took on the trolls

Online beauty vlogging is a huge business, and videos dealing with acne concealment are among the most-watched. When they are good quality, it is not unusual to see view counts in the hundreds of thousands or millions.

In the past few months, former model Em Ford began posting make-up tutorials on her blog and on YouTube. She suffers from adult acne, and most of her videos demonstrate techniques to deal with it. She bravely shows us her unadorned face and says she has experienced pain and loss of confidence because of severe acne.

You would imagine honesty such as this would be applauded. Unfortunately, YouTube is a notoriously nasty place, and the phenomenon of anonymous commenters publishing hate-fuelled remarks is well documented. Along with the praise Ford receives, she also receives so much personal abuse and online bullying that she documented it in a video called You Look Disgusting, which has racked up millions of views.

Her make-up techniques are practical and extremely helpful to anyone suffering from acne. Ford typically begins her make-up application by using primer to fill in pores: Pixi by Petra's pore-minimising cream and L'Oréal Infallible Mattifying Primer are favourites. As she prefers concealer to do the heavy lifting, she is not an advocate of thick foundation. Nyx Studio Fix, L'Oréal True Match, Nars Sheer Glow and Mac Prep and Prime BB Cream are recommended, to be applied with a foundation brush or beauty blender.

Up to three different concealers and concealing highlighters are applied. L'Oréal Paris Perfect Match concealer is used liberally under the eyes and then placed over all the areas where she wants extra coverage – usually everywhere, as she wryly points out – and patted in.

Follow this with another concealer, dotted on with a small concealing brush for targeted coverage. Bourjois Healthy Mix concealer or Collection lasting concealer are favourites.

Light-reflecting Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer is used to brighten under the eyes and the bridge of the nose. Buff it all in with powder, using a large brush to ensure seamless blending. I have seen Ford use Ben Nye Neutral Set Powder in almost all of her videos.

• Watch Em Ford tutorials at mypaleskin.blogspot.ie

amcdermott@irishtimes.com 

Twitter @aismcdermott