Name: Airah Morena
YouTube Channel: @airahmorena08
Twitter: @airahmorenatv
Instagram: @airahmorenatv
How long have you been using MagicLinks? 6 months
What does authentic communication with your subscribers mean to you? It means a lot to me. I feel connected to them on a personal level. I feel like I have a bunch of cousins all over the world. I love that I don’t feel alone in my struggles. I love that they come to me for advice whether it be about makeup products, makeup application, skin care, relationships, pretty much everything. It makes me feel so special that somehow someone looks up to me for answers of certain things.
Have you ever struggled to stay authentic on a particular topic, or with a particular promotional or vlogging partner? Yes and No… No, because I stayed true to myself on all of the my videos. When I don’t like certain products I make sure I let my viewers know why I don’t like it. I’m a simple woman that likes simple things and I want my viewers to see that. Personally, I enjoy and respect honest reviews, it helps me with my decisions whether or not to purchase a product and I apply the same courtesy to my videos. Yes, because I feel like I can only do so many videos about foundation routine, “how to contour and highlight”, or even smokey-eye tutorials. It’s a constant struggle to find an inspiration for my next video. Maybe I should go out and socialize more often hahaha I’m such a home body.
How and why did you decide to start your channel? I started my channel 6 years ago. Back then I was just starting to get into makeup and youtube tutorials helped me a lot. I was born and raised in the Philippines, then moved to New York City to pursue my career 7 years ago. I’m alone here, all my friends and family are left back home so social media was my only outlet to stay in touch with them. Playing with makeup helped me stave off my homesickness, anxiety, and sadness due to living alone. So I would play with makeup every day and afterwards when I’m done, I’d post my “final” looks on my FB page and this would start a thread of conversation with my friends and family members back home. Until one day a friend of mine asked me to do a “tutorial” because they wanted to learn too. At first, i was hesitant because I feel like there were too many people doing youtube tutorials already, but I really did want to help. So I eventually decided to post a tutorial, which is how my channel started.
What is the most difficult challenge you’ve faced as you’ve grown your audience? The most difficult challenge is definitely coming up with new ideas every week. My channel’s strong point is makeup application, tips, and tricks, but I also wanted to elevate my video quality and editing skills. So I would spend hours and hours watching different editing tutorials and applied them to my videos. It was such a slow process at first and was a bit frustrating but I’m really glad I got to experience that process. Looking back at how my videos looked when I first started versus how much they’ve improved now is something I’m really proud of.
What inspires you? I grew up with the saying “Give as much as you take”, which is why I like to share all of my knowledge about makeup and all the tricks I’ve learn a long the way. My experience with makeup before youtube was such a hot mess (ie- my foundation was too light, my blush was too bright, my eyebrows were too thin, etc). So, if I could save one girl from experiencing those mistakes, then I feel like I’ve done my part as a “Beauty Influencer”.
What are your favorite topics to vlog about? Definitely makeup products (especially cruelty-free ones), and makeup application. Also, products that are being talked about – I talk about them on my WTFuss Wednesday series. Sales! Sales! Sales! – I’m a coupon/clearance rack girl and I take pride in saving money, especially when I find super cute stuff that’s cheap, hahaha. I also like to cook so every once in a while i would post a cooking video. I’m also getting older and more introspective/conscious so lately i have been talking about cruelty-free skin care on my channel.
What causes do you care most about, and how are you involved in them? Being cruelty-free, as I grow my interest and love for makeup, I’ve also grown as a person and learned about how some companies produce their products. Two years ago I came across a really poignant video of how these poor animals are treated in laboratories, and it really opened my eyes to reality. So, for two years now I only feature products/brands that are 100% cruelty-free and or PETA certified. I also do my own research to find other cruelty free companies and introduce them to my viewers as an alternative to standard products. I use my channel and other social media platform to educate my viewers/followers about how beauty doesn’t have to be cruel. If I could turn one person to go cruelty-free then I’ve done my part as a “Beauty Influencer”. I also like to spread love, respect, and positivity across my channel. When someone is being negative in my comment section, I would reply to them with kindness. I also encourage my subscribers not to cyber bully the person that would leave negative/rude comments on my videos. I feel like the world is ugly as it is and i want my channel to be someone’s happy escape from the real world.
Do you have any pets? We love pets at MagicLinks! Yes! I have two furry babies (dogs). A 12 yr old German Short Haired Pointer (her name is Candy), and a 1 yr old Sharpull Terrier (her name is CoCo) – she’s a real handful, lol.
What is your favorite MagicLinks feature? That would be the Link Wand, and with the new update it makes sooooo much easier for me to create/share links without having to keep logging in. For a busy beauty influencer like me, it helps a ton! Like I mentioned before, I like to share and I love the fact that Magic Links allow us to share the blessings to our fellow beauty Influencers or Bloggers. I make extra money, they make extra money. I’m happy, everybody’s happy.
What is one of the best comments you’ve ever received on one of your videos? Omg, I have so many, but definitely my favorite ones are when they say I helped them a lot and they are appreciative of my videos being short and honest – they’ve even said that my videos saved them. It always puts a huge smile on my face.
What is your favorite place to shop? Amazon and Ebay. It’s so bad that I honestly barely go out my house, hahaha.
Is there anything you’d like to share with others in the community about your experience with MagicLinks? Changing your Instagram account to a “business” account. I started doing this probably a month ago and it really helped me. If you haven’t done this yet, then you should. Usually, when you do this, Instagram will ask you to connect it to your Existing Facebook page. Then, once connected, every time you post something on your Instagram page don’t hesitate to share all the products you use, including your magic links in the description because of two things:
1. Instagram is now desktop enabled. Meaning, if people search your Instagram account on their tablet or Laptop/Desktop all the links that are provided in your descriptions are easy to copy and paste in their browser. Same goes for when you share your Instagram post to your twitter.
2. When your share your post to your FB, all the things that you put in your description will show up in your FB Wall/Page and all the links are clickable. Clickable links = Easy Access = More Extra Income.
Link each and every product you’ve shown, you wore, you used in the video. Even if you didn’t mention the product, like your camera/filming equipment, the nail polish you’re wearing in the video, the brushes, the chair, the book shelf in the background, everything! I also recommend to suggest a product and link them. For example, if you’ve shown a certain product and you didn’t really like it but you’ve used a somewhat similar product in the past but didn’t show that one in the video, recommend them. Most of the time now, I have the regular product link that was shown in the video, then I’ll have a recommendation product link that’s either cheaper or better but both links are provided in the video descriptions.
P.S. Interested in being a Featured User on the MagicLinks blog? Contact janet@magiclinks.org!
