YouTube Makeup Star Lauren Luke Covers Up Her Bruises in Powerful Anti-Domestic Abuse PSA

It can be so easy to get public service announcements wrong—to veer into the cheesy, trite, or overly terrifying. But this new PSA from a group called Refuge, which helps victims of domestic violence, is kind of genius. It uses YouTube makeup tutorial megastar Lauren Luke as its spokesperson, and in the video she’s seen giving tips on how to cover up the bruises she has from being beaten up. The message of “Don’t Cover It Up” is a powerful one and is intended to reach the 65 percent of domestic violence victims who hide their abuse. Luke, 30, says she’s no stranger to being afraid of a romantic partner:

The bruising on my face for the video wasn’t real, but my emotions in that video were. I had a bad experience in the past with a previous boyfriend. He never physically hurt me but I did sometimes fear what would happen next if I said the wrong thing. He could be overprotective and embarrass me in front of my work colleagues or friends because of his aggressive behavior. Sometimes it was like living with a volcano which could erupt at any second—I felt I was walking on egg shells just to keep him from exploding and smashing something across the room.

That’s a sentiment that will be familiar to much of Luke’s audience of teens and young women, and for that reason they’re smartly rolling the video out on YouTube as though it were an actual tutorial. Luke hopes it will speak to women and make them realize it’s okay to ask for help:

To open up and be honest about something like this makes us feel weak among our friends and family, but in actual fact there is nothing weak about it. Those who are abusive behind closed doors are the ones who are weak. Back then I knew the whole situation wasn’t normal, but I didn’t know about the help that is out there. And that is why I wanted to work with Refuge—to get the message out to anyone who may need help and support that it’s time to stop covering it up.

With its title of “How to look your best the morning after,” the video is sure to get some serious views, and let’s hope it makes as much of an impact on young minds as all of those eye makeup tutorials do.