Pokimane No Makeup

About

Pokimane No Makeup refers to an image of Twitch streamer Pokimane without makeup taken from an October 2018 stream. The image sparked outrage online as some people used it to call Pokimane unattractive and suggest she's tricking people into watching and simping for her by using makeup, which also inspired many web users to defend Pokimane, calling those who judge her for her appearance without makeup incels. The image saw continued use over the years by critics of Pokimane to paint her as a con-artist and generally call her unattractive, including changing their profile pictures to the image. It is also used in various Photoshop edits and as an exploitable format or reaction image. In mid-February 2022, Pokimane posted the image to Twitter herself in a viral tweet.

Origin

On October 23rd, 2018, Pokimane streamed on Twitch without any makeup on, notable since she usually wears makeup on stream.^[2] Clips from the stream were reuploaded to YouTube^[1] two months later, gaining over 1.5 million views in three years (shown below). Poki said at the start of the stream, "[…] I think it’s good to not always just be promoting ‘I look like this naturally.’ Because girls just don’t. When you have makeup on, you look like you have makeup on." It is unknown who originally took and posted the viral screenshot of her from the stream.

Spread

Response

Both criticism and support for Pokimane's stream spread across Twitter the day of the stream on October 23rd, 2018, along with a screenshot from it, used by many to paint her as unattractive (shown below).

On October 23rd, Twitter^[6] user and streamer @sjokz wrote, "Just wanna say @pokimanelol is one of the most beautiful people I know inside and out, and people giving her shit for putting herself out there streaming barefaced should check themselves. We love you Poki," gaining over 7,100 likes in three years. Some also posted memes, including Twitter^[7] user and YouTuber Twomad, who posted "for all you dudes who have never had a girlfriend this is what pokimane looks like without makeup," along with an unrelated photo, gaining over 3,000 likes in the same span of time (shown below).

On October 24th, Pokimane posted a collection of other photos without makeup to Twitter,^[8] writing, "To conclude yesterday’s drama, here are some no make-up selfies but from regular/cute angles and with natural lighting 😌🌸 no one looks good 24/7, and a lot of different things can affect someone’s appearance! We’re all only human, so let’s be kind to one another ❤️," gaining over 74,000 likes and 6,000 retweets in three years (shown below).

On the same day, YouTuber Gloom posted a video reacting to the comments about Pokimane, gaining over 1.4 million views in three years (shown below, left). Pokimane posted a video about the drama to YouTube on November 16th, gaining over 900,000 views in a similar span of time (shown below, right).

On May 22nd, 2020, YouTuber Viditro posted a video criticizing the image, comparing it to various old woman characters, gaining over 208,000 views in just over a year (shown below).

Use As A Profile Picture

The image is sometimes used as a profile picture on Twitter in an effort to shame Pokimane for being perceived as unattractive by those who dislike her. For example, streamer Jidion made the image his profile picture on January 13th, 2022, in the midst of a drama surrounding the two where Jidion received a ban from Twitch for raiding Pokimane's stream with hate comments (shown below). The post has since been deleted but was archived.^[9]

2022 Pokimane Post

On February 15th, 2022, Pokimane posted the image to Twitter,^[3] writing, "this face makes more money than you’ll ever see in your life," gaining over 269,000 likes and 13,000 retweets in a day (shown below).

After Pokimane posted the image, she received both support and criticism, including negative tweets from Drama Alert host Keemstar, who wrote a rating of "2/10" for her^[4] and streamer The Quartering,^[5] who wrote, "Not a good look. In either sense," gaining over 10,000 likes for the former and 1,700 for the latter in a day (shown below, left and right). In contrast, Poki received support from streamers including Valkyrae, JSchlatt, and Tina Kitten, among others.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References