With over two million subscribers on YouTube and more than 777,000 followers on Instagram, Lindy Tsang of BubzBeauty is one social media powerhouse. Known for her beauty videos and bubbly personality, the mother of one (to son Isaac) manages to balance a successful career without compromising on family time. In this interview, she shares with us more about life, beauty and of course, she dishes out her favourite beauty tips.
Melissa Lwee-Ramsay: You’re one of the most successful YouTube stars out there, but how did your career as a YouTuber begin?
Lindy Tsang: Well I studied graphic design when I was in university and back then I knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do. However, I didn’t know how to tell my parents that so I graduated and just kind of stuck to it and even though it was the economic crisis (back in 2008), I managed to find a job as a magazine designer. I was very lucky but I wasn’t fulfilled so I quit and helped manage my father’s restaurant for awhile. This mean that during the day I had a lot of time on my hands so I made videos. Back then there weren’t a lot of YouTubers around but I thought I would just learn as I went along. It was scary but eight years later, I’m still here!
You are known for your beauty videos. Why beauty?
Growing up I had a real passion for beauty and this was a community that was really involved as well. I always felt that the videos were there for me to learn because you learn best when you teach something. I was teaching people how to do their hair and make up but I was also learning at the same time.
I’m glad the tutorials were helpful but I think a lot of them see me as a sister and friend so they also come to me for advice on confidence, happiness, dealing with jealousy and similar issues. So I wanted my channel to be much more than just about make up and beauty. It is very important to me that my viewers feel beautiful inside as well. I know it’s cliche to say this but that’s really what my channel is about. Beauty isn’t just about looking good. To me beauty is confidence and being comfortable in your own skin. I think knowledge is beauty. I think kindness is beauty. I think someone can look pretty but I think being beautiful is another thing.
How has your work changed ever since you became a mother?
Motherhood has impacted my life in so many ways! I don’t have as much time as I used to so I started to do a lot of things differently. I think we all know that as mothers your life doesn’t just revolve around you anymore. I do a lot more vlogging now than the beauty videos. And you know, my viewers really gave me so much since I had Issac — they gave me emotional support and wonderful advice. When I was trying to deal with the changes of going from two people to three, they really encouraged me to slow down and told me that they will be there no matter what. And of course, Issac has taught me to slow down too. I always prioritise my family but if inspiration for a video comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, I don’t sweat about it.
Can you share with us your beauty regime and favourite products for a busy mum?
For make up, illuminating foundation is a big thing for me because it refracts light and helps to contour your face better. Less is more these days for me as I don’t have a lot of time so I just stick to the basics. Brows, concealer and tinted lip balm. That’s basically my look these days.
Skincare-wise, I still spend a lot of time cleansing my face. It really is the key to having good skin, I don’t sacrifice any of that. Also using a serum is important and it is good to seal that in with a moisturiser. I’ve also been using Skin Inc’s Optimiser Voyage Tri-Light. I really like it because it’s so handy and easy to travel around with. The blue light is for acne, yellow light for dullness and the red light is for anti-aging. I really think it helps to contour my face and it really helped to lock in the moisture when my skin is dry.
Do you have any tips to share with other busy mums like yourself?
I’ve learnt that you can’t do everything at once and even if you do you’ll do a bad job at it. Nobody’s going to remember if I cleaned my room a week ago but my son will remember that I played with him so I believe in using time efficiently. I don’t sleep very much and sometimes, I need to go to another room in order to get work done but it’s all about the mindset, you just need to find a way to make it work.
