Meet the beauty blogger who is using her platform for social change

This feature is a part of #KanvasLive, an interactive, cross-platform content series brought to life on the Kanvas app and AOL.com. See more on coverage here.

You might know Deepica Mutyala by name if you're a beauty junkie, but for everyone else, chances are you first saw her on your Facebook news feed when her video "How to Mask Dark Under Eye Circles" went viral. The makeup tutorial blew up after Mutyala used red lipstick on top of her dark circles to mask the color. It may sound crazy, but anyone who has watched the clip can vouch that it really works. The video became a beauty revelation for many, and the hack quickly made it across the web, being featured on everything from lifestyle magazines to the "Today Show."

Deepica's overnight success also meant that Deepica could give a voice to many Southeast Asian women who felt like they were being silenced from the beauty industry. As she explains, "That's the reason I'm doing what I'm doing. I want to really grow a following and make change happen." Whether it's encouraging brands to create makeup in different skin tones that aren't being represented or being a role model for young girls everywhere, it is clear that Deepica is using her massive YouTube platform to make the world a better place.

We recently caught up with the beauty vlogger at this year's Shorty Awards and talked to her about diversity in the social space, her reaction to being nominated, and more!

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What was your reaction to being nominated for a Shorty Award?
The Shorty Awards started following me on Twitter and I was like, "Why are they following me?" And then I realized the list went up and that I was nominated for Best YouTube Guru of the Year and I literally freaked out. It's so surreal. It was a year ago that I uploaded my first YouTube video that went viral and now I'm nominated a year later. This feels crazy.

Who are you most excited to see tonight?
All the dogs! And DJ Khaled obviously.

Why did you choose YouTube over any other medium?
I was working for a company and they asked me what South Asians I follow on YouTube and I was like, "There really isn't anyone who had my skin tone." And I thought, "I could do this!" I had been involved in the beauty industry for so long, why not fill that niche. So I started without thinking much about it and I filmed it on my iPhone and that's when it went viral.

What is the one piece of beauty advice you'd like to give to people?
I feel like my biggest piece of advice is that we spend so much time trying to mask the things that we don't love about ourselves. But my favorite thins is to enhance the features that I love instead of focusing on the other stuff. So I have really big eyes and I used to be so self conscious about it and now I love doing fancy eye makeup. The more you focus on the things you love about yourself, the better you will feel.

What do you think social media's role is in making sure certain voices are heard?
That's the reason I'm doing what I'm doing. I want to really grow a following and make change happen. Thats something I'm really passionate about. It has been something that I've struggled with my whole life since it was tough to find makeup that matched my skin tone and I really want brands to realize that the more people like me who are out there and putting a face to it, the more I think bigger the demand will be to create products that match everyone's skin tone. Growing up I wanted to change so much about myself since I thought I had so many things that didn't work for me. I wanted blonde hair and blue eyes and I'm hoping the more ethnic people will help create a change that would make my 13-year-old self a lot happier with who she is.

This feature is a part of #KanvasLive, an interactive, cross-platform content series brought to life on the Kanvas app and AOL.com. See more on coverage here.

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