I Waited In Line With Hundreds Of Teens To Meet YouTube Superstar Michelle Phan - Here's What Happened
With more than 7 million subscribers and 1 billion views, hair-and-makeup guru Michelle Phan is a certified YouTube superstar.
Young people love Phan for her friendly, relatable persona, and she's landed national advertising deals with big brands like Lancome and Diet Dr. Pepper.
And as of this week, she's now a published author. Phan's book, "Make Up: Your Life Guide to Beauty, Style and Success - Online and Off" was released by Penguin Random House's Harmony Books this week.
Phan was in New York City last night to do a book signing at the Strand's Club Monaco store. Business Insider stopped by to check out the scene.
The signing event was limited to the first 250 people, and a line had already formed when we arrived an hour early.
Madeline Stone / Business Insider
You had to have a copy of the book to get in, and people - mostly young girls - lined up to make their purchases. One girl briefly held up the line when she used a bag of quarters to pay for her copy of the book.
Madeline Stone / Business InsiderSince the event was limited capacity, everyone who purchased a book got a little ticket for entry.
Madeline Stone / Business Insider
A group of girls proudly show off their new purchases.
Amy and Yuriya are both 16, and they've been big fans of Phan for years.
"There's that phase where we all kind of want to be famous on YouTube," Amy told me. "I was looking around for makeup tips and found her videos."
They're here on a visit from Japan, and decided to check out the signing after they saw Phan post about it on Instagram.
When I asked what they like about her, they say a big reason is that she seems so nice. "I like her voice - it's so soothing," Yuriya said.
Madness erupted when someone came around to give away samples from Em, Phan's cosmetics line.
Phan started signing books at 6:00. By 6:30, the line had moved a few feet forward.
Fifteen minutes later, we reached the entrance to the room where Phan was signing books. A girl behind me screamed, and people started reaching their phones up to get pictures.
A girl in front of me in line told me she had met Phan once before, at her pop-up makeup shop in New York City's SoHo neighborhood.
"The first time I saw her, I cried," the girl told me.
Phan took the time to chat with each of her fans.
And plenty of selfies were taken.
