The Look
On October 9, 2015, Nelly Toledo decided to upload a makeup tutorial video on her YouTube channel that shows her going from bare face to beat face. Click here to view the video. The video was titled “Fall Grungy Smokey Eye”; this video was made for her daring subscribers or anyone who wanted to re-create the stunning makeup look. This video provides a step by step process on how to achieve the makeup look as shown on the left. This video is very informative as she displays each product before using it and also lists the products as well as the company they belong to in the description box below the video. For example she used Jordana Eggplant Lip Pencil and Milani Black Cherry Lipstick on her lips to create her vampy lipstick combo. Nelly Toledo’s channel provides more videos where she created other makeup tutorial whether the look had been simple or extravagant.
The Experience
One of the most subtle rhetorical moves in Nelly Toledo’s video was that she showed off her experience to her subscribers by creating this makeup look. In TYFA, the tool is described as having experience makes a speaker more trustworthy. As Jay Heinrichs, the author of TYFA explains to the readers that “usually in an argument, experience usually trumps book learning” (70). Therefore, when experience is shown by the speaker it leads to more credibility with their audience. Nelly Toledo is a MUA/YouTube Beauty Guru. She shows off her skills by providing makeup tutorials of different looks she has created on her face or inspired looks from celebrities’ makeup. Although, Nelly’s video displays a complex look she still makes it look easy to achieve. Nelly’s channel shows that she can cater to any and everyone who likes makeup or wants to go from bare to beat face.
In this video, Nelly acts similarly to a name dropper. Nelly hopes her subscribers could see that she knows what she is doing and isn’t showing decorum in her videos. Like a name dropper drops names of their powerful friends in conversation hoping listeners will notice their power, wealth, intelligence, or etc. Nelly uploads different videos every week hoping her subscribers tune in to a video each week and learn something new about makeup. Nelly’s use of this tool in the video and other videos was smart, since this is important when it comes to her videos because it shows her subscribers that she knows her stuff when it comes to makeup.
Simple and Straighforward
Another rhetorical move Nelly uses in this video is simple speech. According to Heinrichs, using this tool is when the speaker “doesn’t use fancy language when getting emotional” (95); meaning the speaker jumps straight to the point and doesn’t spend time rambling about their life or why they are doing this look. To the audience these type of things are irrelevant because their mind is set on seeing one thing and in this case that one thing is the makeup tutorial. Usually, Nelly has a two to five minute speech describing the look and why she chose to do this look. Even though that is important, that is not the reason her subscribers click on the video; they clicked on the video to see a makeup tutorial. In this video, Nelly is very straightforward and displays simple speech in this video by not having that short speech instead she showed little glimpses of the look and gets right into the video. Another way she displayed simple speech was using a step-by-step method to her subscribers. Nelly showed the product and the makeup brush she was going to use beforehand; doing this provided a visual to the subscribers for what each product looked like in its original package.
This will come in handy just in case a viewer wanted to purchase the product. When Nelly uses this tool it reminds me of when kids want to go somewhere and they have to ask their parents and their parents are trying to give them a long speech on how to behave or what to be prepared for; kids are looking to hear an answer, in this situation the kids want the answer to be “yes”. In the video, Nelly gives what the audience what they want which is a makeup tutorial not a long talk and then the tutorial. By Nelly using this tool, simple speech, she is making it easier for the audience by not having to skip through video. The subscribers automatically know what look is about to be created and all they have to do is follow the step-by-step process provided in the video. Also, this can increase the more views on Nelly’s videos if this trend continues.
Keeping "My" Attention
Although, it’s needed neither when making videos everyone doesn’t always use nor have it. Nelly seems to display cognitive ease throughout her video. According to TYFA, cognitive ease is “keeping your audience in an easy, docile, instinct state, and your persuasion goes down more easily” (103). The more your audience is entertained, the more the audience will demand for what is being offered. While Nelly’s video does provide a makeup look in accordance to the weather, she also makes this video a bit simpler by providing a detailed how to tutorial. Also, the video keeps the subscribers entertained and anxious to see how certain products are used or Nelly’s aspect on these certain products.
Nelly’s use of this tool reminds me of when a sibling is trying to stop her younger sibling from crying, they do this by trying to keep the crying sibling entertained with something to get their mind off what is or has happened. Just as the older is trying to keep the younger sibling entertained with toys or candy; Nelly is trying to keep her audience entertained with new makeup tutorials every week, with the looks going from simple to extravagant. Nelly’s use of this tool will set her up for more success because she understands her audience ‘s needs and wants which in this business helps you keep your subscribers and always having them coming back for more.
Will You Go Check Her Out?
Overall, Nelly Toledo did an amazing job on her “Fall Grungy Smokey Eye” video. Nelly’s video provided what it said it was going to provide based off the title Nelly provided. She made her point in proving she can create a gorgeous beat face. This video can open a lot of doors for Nelly, she proved that makeup is a skill of hers and she seems to do it well according to video. As I stated earlier, she didn’t have a long discussion about why she decided to do the look or any of the nonsense most YouTubers seem to have in their video which creates disinterests in the subscribers’ mind. When Nelly uploaded this makeup look, you got a feel of what time of year it was; therefore, you can conclude that Nelly not only for special occasion, but for the different seasons. Nelly has truly showed her talent of makeup throughout these videos. But don’t just take it from me go look at some of her videos for yourself!