Forget reading product reviews, we’re rushing to TikTok to see whether the moisturiser in our shopping cart has been approved by American skincare expert Hyram Yarbro.
And with over 10 million followers and subscribers to his name on TikTok and YouTube collectively, it seems that plenty of other people are doing the same.
WATCH: Hyram’s Winter Skin Care Routine for Dry Skin
Girlfriend caught up with Hyram to speak all things skincare, starting off with whether there are any skincare questions he’s sick of answering.
“When I’ve done events or when I get to meet subscribers or talk to them, I always love being able to answer any of their skincare questions,” Hyram says passionately, before confessing that sometimes it can be startling when people “come out the gate” asking about skincare.
“I have had interactions with people where they just kind of come out the gate asking a bunch of skincare questions when I haven’t met them or when I don’t know who they are and I’m just like ‘Oh, can I get to know you first?’. But honestly, I love answering skincare questions and I love when people ask them and I think, if anything, the amount of time that I’ve invested into trying to learn about skincare, if it can help you out then, hey, use me how you want to, you know?”
Hyram certainly has spent a generous amount of time learning to be across all things skincare. When asked about TikTokers without the same level of knowledge joining the industry, Hyram suggests that as long as they’re getting their facts straight, he doesn’t mind who joins the skincare realm.
“I think one thing I love about this space is that there’s room for everyone. There’s so many different people and so many different skin concerns and things that have worked better for them. I think there’s so much value to the individual being able to share what their experience with skincare has been and what’s worked for them and been beneficial.
“I’d say so long as you are doing your part to combat misinformation and educating yourself, I think it’s amazing that people are sharing so much information. Where I do feel some level of frustration is when people will spread misinformation without making an effort to correct it or solely do it for virality or views when, in reality, those recommendations are not endorsed by dermatologists, they’re not recommended in the space – that’s the only time I get a little frustrated.”
However, the 25-year-old goes on to point out that the internet is pretty quick at calling people out for any um… questionable beauty advice.
“As we’ve seen with TikTok, if you are promoting harmful information surrounding skincare, you will have a big group of people who will very quickly respond and probably criticise your recommendations.
“Being held accountable for misinformation is important and I think one of the great things about this space. So long as you’re receptive to that and you’re making an effort to combat misinformation, I think there’s room for everyone.”
The skincare industry in particular is one of the biggest “rooms” there is, one which may celebrities have entered. We’ve seen the likes of Rihanna and Selena Gomez step foot into the space, and now even Harry Styles may even be starting some form of beauty brand?? Manifesting that the latter one is a real thing.
When it comes to celeb skincare brands, Hyram tells GF which are his favourites.
“I love Jessica Alba’s line Honest. I am a fan of that one. I think the philosophy is very in line with my own and the products are affordable. Even the way that Jessica interacts with her products and the brand, you can tell that it’s something that she’s really interested in and passionate about and believes in.
“I also really love the ingredient lists of Pharrell Williams’ skincare brand (Humanrace) – I enjoyed that one too.”
As for which celebs Hyram would like to see dip their toes in the skincare pool, the 25-year-old tells us he would love to see models Karlie Kloss and Ashley Graham drop their own lines.
“I have seen (Karlie’s) skin in person. I got to give her a facial in a video collab and her skin is pristine, like I was actually in shock at how beautiful, glowy, moisturised, amazing her skin is. Once I saw that I was like ‘Wow, I feel like I need to learn a lot from you about taking care of your skin’.
“Or even like Ashley Graham I think could be really cool too with how big of a key figure she’s been in promoting body acceptance and the confidence she exudes – I think it could be cool to see a skincare brand from her.”
Hyram’s passion and knowledge surrounding skincare is what led him to create his own range, Selfless by Hyram. And while there are no plans to collaborate with anyone as of yet, he does tell GF who he would love to work with if he got the chance.
“In an imaginary world it could be fun to collaborate with, say, a key figure in the skincare space like Liah Yoo, or Dr Shah, or James Welsh, or people like that, because I think this community of skincare content creators has given me so much.
“Or I could also see the brand going in the direction of partnering with an activist or someone very active within the philanthropy community because of how important the selfless message is to me of wanting to make the world a better place every single day. So, you know, an activist – Greta Thunberg or someone like that.”
Greta Thunberg, hit Hyram up! When you’re not busy saving the planet, that is.
The “selfless message” Hyram speaks of truly is central to his brand, which helps to provide clean drinking water and protect tropical forests from deforestation.
With skincare and philanthropy being his main passions in life, Hyram stresses he is “so fortunate and grateful” to be able to make a career out of the combination, emphasising just how critical ethical and sustainable skincare is in the current climate.
“I didn’t want to start a skincare brand until I realised it could be a catalyst for social change and, for me, I was looking for an opportunity to be able to use my platform to channel it towards bigger issues and social good; it was only when I realised that pairing my passion for skincare with that desire would fill a really big void in the space.”
He continues: “Having been in the cosmetic industry for a while, it’s an amazing industry that’s focused on self-empowerment, self-beauty and self-love, but in this exploding space that consumers know is very profitable, I felt that there needed to be more focus on philanthropy and social good and talking about bigger issues, especially in this current climate with the world rapidly descending into climate change and so many different problems happening around the world; human rights problems, lack of access to basic resources.”
Hyram goes on to say how “encouraging” it is that Gen Z as a generation is “extremely passionate about social issues”. And he hopes that because “people really believe in the mission”, this will start more conversations about how to utilise these platforms to bring attention to important issues, as well as offer solutions.
The 25-year-old says that philanthropy is “pretty much the central focus” of his brand. “My team kind of has to remind me: ‘Hyram, remember people are interested in skincare, talk about the skincare, don’t just talk about the social change part’ and I’m like ‘I know, I just love it so much. I’m so excited about this’.”
Selfless by Hyram is available in all Sephora locations – in 29 countries – as well as online.
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