Like any other 11-year-old in Berkshire, England, Jack Bennett loves riding his bicycle and playing with his Jack Russell terrier, Coco. He also has 4,67,505 Instagram followers, 61,258 likes on his Facebook page, and over 6,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel — all for his make-up skills.
Jack (@makeuupbyjack) is among the youngest of Instagram’s “beauty boys” — as described by Marie Claire in a 2016 article — and can probably do a full face glam quicker and more perfectly than any of us could ever hope to in a lifetime. He is as adept at contour and crease cuts as he is at cartwheels, and his eyebrows are always on fleek. No wonder brands like MAC and NYX offer him products to create looks. Since his first post in February 2017, the journey has been quite wild, especially since his videos went viral last May. “It has been surreal,” he says, via e-mail. Although the initial hate and scepticism — both online and at school — almost stopped him from posting, he says, “I’ve learned to stop listening to haters because I am happy and confident in what I do.”
His mother Stacey Bennett, who handles his Instagram (the minimum age to have an account is 13), concurs. “As his parents, we think his talent is outstanding. The negative comments simply come from a place of ignorance, so we ignore them.” For parents who are struggling to accept their kids’ alternative choices, she adds, “Love them for who they are, not what you desire them to be.”
As Jack creates fierce looks in his vanity mirror, his videos show a typical kid’s room, plastered with posters of Rick & Morty and Stranger Things . He only wears make-up while filming and for events, not to school and in everyday life (although he makes sure his hair is set every morning before heading out). In a YouTube video on his summer routine, we notice that quite aptly, his tea mug reads in gold lettering, “Follow your dreams.” Ask him what his dream is, and he replies, “One of my goals is to do a collaboration with a big brand. And I aspire to have a full collection of products from my own brand. Now that would be amazing!”
