SSIN-sational

She has the glossy hair and can apply a smoky eye with the skill of a top makeup expert – but SSIN is anything but your average beauty vlogger. Editor-in-Chief Claire Starkey talks to the girl whose unique voice has set her on the path to YouTube domination.

- Claire Starkey

It’s 1am on a Saturday night in a photo studio in Seoul, Korea and SSIN has a question: why her?

Normally, CLEO puts celebrities on the cover. Was this a special edition?

Well it is our beauty issue. But, as I point out, she definitely fits that “celebrity” moniker.

After all, this is SSIN we are talking about – a fearless beauty YouTuber with over 1.2 million subscribers; who is regularly stopped in the streets; collaborates with Korea’s top beauty brands on new products, and gets invited all around the world to places like LA and, well, Singapore, to talk on panels.

She is without a doubt a star in her own right.

But what’s interesting about SSIN is that she’s a study in contrasts. As she asked that question, she was dressed in shower slides, a baggy tee and a black hat – with a face of perfectly applied glossy makeup from the shoot. She runs a company but still cries at sweet YouTube comments from her fans. Her tutorials feature a face that looks air-brushed, which she won’t hesitate to screw up into hilarious expressions. And while she has amassed 260,089,839 views (and counting!) on her main channel alone, she isn’t quite sure what she’s doing on the cover of CLEO. How can you not want to know more about this paradox?

You became interested in cosplay and theatrical makeup in high school. Do you remember what first sparked your interest in makeup?

I was part of a cartoon club in middle school, and at the school’s festival held every year, we had to do cosplay, which involves putting on makeup. I always liked drawing, so I helped everyone in the club before I started putting on makeup myself. That’s how it all started.

Who was the first person you tried to copy the makeup of?