Imagine if beauty YouTubers made cooking tutorials.
David, a 23-year-old from New York City, did just that. Recently, the clever TikTok user shared a clip of himself pretending to be a social media makeup artist — but instead of giving viewers step-by-step tips for contouring or creating a smoky eye, he showed them how to cook spaghetti.
The funny clip has now been viewed over five million times, with fans going wild for the way David presents his ingredients, talks about the process, and even paints swatches of tomato sauces on his arm.
Chef MUA! David, a 23-year-old from New York City, imagined what it would look like if a beauty YouTuber made a cooking video
Unboxing: The funny clip has now been viewed over five million times, with fans going wild for the way David presents his ingredients
David has clearly watch a fair share of makeup tutorials and knows their style pretty well — and he’s a pro at mimicking them.
‘Hey guys! Welcome back to my channel,’ he begins, brandishing a spatula with a flourish. ‘Today we’re gonna be cooking.’
‘The amazing people at Barilla sent me this spaghetti, and I cannot wait to try it out’ he says, holding spaghetti up to the camera with one hand flat behind it — much the same way beauty vloggers do when they present products to the camera, in order to get the camera to focus quickly on the label.
He slowly pulls the pasta out of the box, oohing and aahing over it.
‘Oh my god, are you guys seeing that?’ he said, once again holding the pasta up with his hand behind it.
Look at that beauty! David has clearly watch a fair share of makeup tutorials and knows their style pretty well — and he’s a pro at mimicking them
Buzzwords: He deadpans that the ‘bristles’ of this pasta are stiff, but they’re ‘water activated’
Primer time! He calls olive oil ‘moisturizing food prime’ and shows it off the way beauty vloggers show products, with his hand held flat behind it to focus the camera
‘And now it’s time to apply the product,’ he says before adding the spaghetti to the water
‘The bristles are pretty stiff but this product is water activated,’ he says, holding the uncooked spaghetti in front of him.
Pointing to a pot of bowling water, he says enthusiastically: ‘OK, so the water is oxidizing, which means it’s ready.
‘So, we’re just gonna go in with this moisturizing food primer,’ he goes on, holding olive oil up close to the lens with, once again, his hand flat behind it.
‘And now it’s time to apply the product,’ he says before adding the spaghetti to the water.
‘I also picked up some sauces,’ he says, gesturing to three glass jars of Bertoli sauce in Olive Oil & Garlic, Vodka, and Alfredo.
Next: He shows off three glass jars of Bertoli sauce, explaining: ‘These were not sent to me. They’re by an independent Italian brand and I’m really impressed with their range of shades’
Too funny! He goes on to ‘swatch’ them like vloggers do with lipsticks and eyeshadows, showing how the shades look lined up on his forearm
‘These were not sent to me,’ he adds, mimicking how beauty vloggers will mention when they got products for free and when they purchased them on their own.
‘They’re by an independent Italian brand and I’m really impressed with their range of shades. They come in these absolutely stunning glass bottles, and oh my god, you guys, we have to swatch them.’
He then swatches the sauces — a popular practice for beauty vloggers and Instagrammers, who take products that come in lots of different shades and draw parallel lines down their forearms to show their range on skin.
David really does ‘swatch’ them, dipping a finger into each sauce and drawing lines of them on his arm.’
David’s title indicates that he may be doing another video in the future — but this one alone has earned tons of positive feedback, with 4.4 million views on Twitter alone.
One fan even nicknamed him ‘Cheffree Star’ — a play on beauty vlogger Jeffree Star.
Clever: One fan nicknamed David (right) ‘Cheffree star’ — a play on beauty vlogger Jeffree Star (left)
Cracking up: Commenters have gone wild for the funny video and are demanding more
‘I would watch a whole cooking show like this,’ wrote another admirer.
‘The way you “ applied the product” and just tossed in the noodles took me,’ said one more.
‘I just laughed out loud on a bus at the swatches,’ tweeted yet another.
One more called it ‘the best thing on the internet today, while another wrote: ‘I feel like this is how james charles cooks.’
Some did have criticism, however — but about David’s cooking techniques, not is humor. Dozens have pointed out in strong language that one should never put oil in pasta water because it stops sauce from adhering to the pasta. What’s more, pasta water should be salted first.