When it comes to YouTuber’s, it’s hard not to fall in love with the the upbeat personality of Bethany Mota, and with nearly 10 million subscribers, the 20-year-old is clearly on to something. Having started her channel as an outlet to showcase her beauty hauls and demo hair and makeup tutorials, Mota’s fan base quickly grew and her entrepreneurial spirit landed her with clothing and beauty campaigns, a guest judge on Project Runway, and a finalist on Dancing with the Stars.
Since her YouTube channel’s creation six years ago, the evolution of her content has greatly progressed. “Since my start, production wise I have improved a lot with the quality, camera equipment, editing and overall style,” Mota explains of her videos. “I’ve found what my vibe is and warmed up a lot to the camera. When I first started YouTube I was so shy and now I’ve become more open and able to express myself. Because my audience has been so encouraging I was able to grow and be more comfortable with myself and my videos. I used to only make videos doing makeup. Now I do DIY’s, music and even a little bit of comedy. I’m so thankful to be able to share all of those pieces with them.”
Suffice to say, her ease in front of the camera was prevalent as she stunned her way through our beauty shoot. Though online she’s known for her gorgeous natural waves, (“I’ll curl my hair and give it loose waves with my wand,” she tells us), we wanted to transform the beauty into a #girlboss SHE-E-O for the day, enlisting stylist to the stars, Scotty Cunha, to work magic on her tresses.
First up was a slick and chic look for the doe-eyed beauty with hair that was tastefully placed inside a bold metal choker.
“I feel like this was our edgiest look of the day and I LOVED IT!” says Scotty. “I like that we started with this look because it was super sleek and chic and I knew that we could build on it for the rest of the shoot.”
“To create the look, I started with Bumble and bumble thickening spray on the roots and then used Kardashian Beauty Black Seed Dry Oil on the ends. Then I used the end of my Kardashian Beauty Rat Tail Comb to create the perfect middle part. I started my blow dry with my Harry Josh Pro Tools Blow Dryer and an Ibiza large boar bristle round brush. After setting the middle part with a no crease clip on each side, I used ORIBE Soft Lacquer Heat Styling Spray on the ends, brushing them with my Sheila Stotts flat brush while flat ironing with my GHD Flat Iron to make the ends super shiny and straight.”
Next up was a high fashion top knot, similar to what we’ve seen on the red carpet earlier last year. So easy to recreate, Scotty explains that this look can easily be done on yourself in just a few simple steps. “For the top knot, I grabbed all the hair towards the center top of the head and twisted the hair all to the right. ThenI just grabbed the hair and shaped it into a bun, wrapping my Scunci elastic around the knot. I love fly-aways and baby hairs so I pulled out a few hairs around the hair line and ears using Leonor Greyl Elclat Naturel on the ends so they looked piecey and not frizzy.”
Known for her travels around the country giving ‘Motavational’ speeches, Bethany is definitely a rising star who uses her vast fan base to empower her viewers. “I think at the end of the day, everything I’m doing is to encourage everyone, not just women but everyone, to be more fearless and to go after what you truly desire. I was so shy and limited because I allowed myself to be restricted by my fears and insecurities. Starting YouTube was a big step and out of character for me. I almost didn’t do it because I had the fear of not being cool. People looked down on me because of it and I did it anyways. It was the first stepping stone for me to conquering my fears. There were so many other things I wasn’t doing because I was scared of hurting my pride. After my self-realization, I found that being fearless means you do have fear and you acknowledge it but you’re going to have the courage to do it anyways. Find out what your dreams are, even if it scares you. I want to encourage everyone to go after that.”
In this likeness, we wanted to give Bethany a bold look. Scotty decided to give her voluminous brushed back hair that was artfully placed off of the shoulders.
“First, I redampened the hair lightly so that it wasn’t completely wet with my Evian Brumisateur. I did this because I wanted a little extra volume but I didn’t want to add extra product. Then I blow dryed the mohawk section back and set it with 3 velcro rollers. After letting that set, I took them out and teased the mohawk section with my Kardashian beauty teasing comb so that the hair had volume and stayed back and off the face. Using my fingers, I relaxed the tease a little bit then finished by using ORIBE Rough Luxury Pomade to create a more textured result that was rock star and edgy.”
To finish, Bethany was transformed into a sultry starlett with her hair slicked off her face and tucked into a high popped collar. “For this look, I used ORIBE Rock Hard Gel. It’s more of a cream based product, so it’s easy to come through. Then using my Kardashian Beauty teasing comb, I combed everything back and off the face. After it had set I used Kardashian Beauty Pure Glitz Hair Spray on my Swissco tooth brush to tame fly always and to create an extra sleek look “
The best part about working with Bethany? Her willingness to try something new. When we talked hair, she explained, “I see it as a way of self-expression. Growing up, I never really liked doing my hair. I was a huge tomboy and I had short hair that was always messy and tangled. And then I started YouTube and got into doing hair tutorials on my channel. I came up with so many different types of braids! Different hair styles can really make and enhance your look and make you more unique. I actually hadn’t dyed my hair before until about a year ago and now I’m like I love this!! It’s really a great way to reinvent yourself!”
“This was my first time working with Bethany and we had so much fun!” Scotty exclaims. “Working with someone new can be a little nerve racking, but she trusted me right from the start and made me feel confident in trying new styles that I wouldn’t normally do! She was so sweet and we sang BIEBER songs all day together so basically we are besties!!!!”
So what’s next for the 20 year old Motavator? “Well I love creating, that’s my favorite thing to do. I love having an idea and being able to make that come to life! That’s what I can do with YouTube and my clothing line. Anything that’s creative is really what makes me passionate and excited. The next step for me is music, it’s something I’ve always done, but behind the scenes until this year when I started doing a few covers with my friend, Kurt Schnieder. Now I’m ready to put out some of my own music. It terrifies me, but I need to do it because it’s something I’ve wanted to do all my life. So next, I’m going to focus on that and continue focusing on YouTube because that’s what I’m truly passionate about.”
Muse: Bethany Mota @bethanynoelm
Hair: Scotty Cunha @thescottycunha
Makeup: Lauren Andersen @lauren_andersen
Photos: Mike Rosenthal @mrmikerosenthal
Stylist: Nicolas Bru @mr_nicolasbru
Nails: Pilar Noire @pillarnoire
Video: Dave Lang @thedavelang
Art Direction: Desirae Cherie @desiraecherie