Michelle Phan

About

Michelle Phan (born April 11, 1987) is an American YouTube personality and entrepreneur. She is the founder and owner of EM Cosmetics, a cosmetics brand she relaunched in 2017.

Phan Tuyết Băng Michelle was born on April 11, 1987, in Boston, Massachusetts. She was raised in Tampa, Florida, alongside her elder brother and younger half-sister. Phan has publicly discussed her family’s financial struggles, including her father’s gambling addiction and mother’s separation from her stepfather.
She attended Tampa Bay Technical High School before enrolling at Ringling College of Art and Design. Due to financial constraints, she left the college before completing her degree. In 2014, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts degree from Ringling College.

In 2005, Phan had a personal blog where she posted makeup tutorials, which led to her followers requesting more. She began posting tutorial vlogs on Xanga under the username “Ricebunny” and then began posting on YouTube in May 2007.
BuzzFeed featured two of Phan’s “How To Get Lady Gaga’s Eyes” makeup tutorials in 2009 and 2010, which helped them go viral and brought…