The Rise of Hyram Yarbro
Why do we trust the beauty counter worker turned skinfluencer?
Like many of Skincare by Hyram’s followers, I first came across his videos during quarantine. I’ve been a YouTube beauty consumer for a few years now and I’m extremely selective about the people I watch consistently, let alone the people I actually take recommendations from.
Hyram’s appeal to me was how digestible the information was. Looking at an ingredient list is daunting enough. Imagine standing in the skincare aisle at Target reading labels and Googling ingredients until you realize you haven’t moved for 15 minutes and still have no idea if this moisturizer has that thing that dries your skin out. This happened to me constantly and I ended up just leaving whatever I had my eye on to do further research on my own time. Enter Skincare by Hyram.
Brands that were touted as life-changing by beauty influencers were being deemed “meh” at best on his channel. Some of my go-to’s like Origins and Kiehl’s were making me completely skeptical. It was when Hyram sang the praises of Versed that I started to become a Hyram skeptic.
Versed is a brand that has earned a pretty good standing in Hyram’s book. Their website and marketing are built around a “formula first” mentality — exactly the kind of product Hyram and his following would gravitate towards. I was struggling with acne for months and after watching his videos and doing some of my own research, I decided I would give the brand a chance and purchased four different products from them.
The products I purchased yielded no results after working with them for 2 months and some even caused new acne. It popped into my mind to comment on the video and see if he could help me break down why these were my results. Immediately after that, I thought “Why in god’s name would that be a good idea?” The only person who could actually answer those concerns is a dermatologist.
Gen-Z is mostly responsible for his success.
Gen-Z is characterized as the best-educated generation so far. So why are they turning to him and not board-certified professionals? Hyram has all the makings of what attracts a Gen Zer. He stays informed, continues to educate himself, and shares his findings on platforms they use. He also makes a point to include content that would be useful to varying skin tones such as his video titled “The BEST Sunscreens for Dark Skin Tones”. And because Gen Z begins with those born in 1996, they have no memory of life without access to a smartphone. They use technology and the internet for help with all their problems, including skincare. With Hyram’s choice of medium, his inclusive and informed content, there was no way he wouldn’t become the skincare Dr. Lipschitz.
Millienial beauty gurus have also endorsed him.
Trends are changing with Gen Z entering the customer base for many beauty brands, old and new. As a result, influencers also need to adapt to maintain their audience. We’re seeing content creators who have been on the platform for years tuning into Hyram’s content for their skincare needs. For example, KathleenLights, one of YouTube’s OG beauty gurus actually referenced Hyram’s channel in a recent video stating that one of the products she received in a subscription box wasn’t Hyram approved and she was unsure about using it. Other creators such as Jamie Paige from Jamie Paige Beauty have also aligned themselves with Hyram’s platform, citing his remarks on several brands such as Inkey List and Youth to the People.
He’s more right than wrong.
With Skincare by Hyram’s rapid exponential growth, brands need to respond not to Hyram specifically, but to the issues he brings up repeatedly on his channel. He may not be a dermatologist or an esthetician or even an expert, but he’s not wrong about fragrance being unnecessary and harmful. It doesn’t take having a formal degree or training for people to generally agree with you when you advance the agenda of brands that use environmentally sustainable practices in their operations.
Hyram is really just an extremely educated consumer who just happened to make a YouTube channel at exactly the right time. Right when we realized we couldn’t go out and that our makeup often couldn’t survive masking, we started really looking in the mirror and going “Huh. I guess I should start thinking about preventing crow’s feet and skin cancer.” Hopefully, the influence gen-z has on consumerism will result in the emergence of brands and products that are more transparent and results-driven. If Hyram’s channel can bring that change about faster, no one should stand in the way of that.
