In the vast world of YouTube, Michelle Phan is one of the brightest stars.

Once a struggling art school student , she parlayed her makeup tutorials (which are focused on topics ranging from the basic smoky eye to kitty litter face masks ) into a profitable beauty career with over 8 million YouTube subscribers. Phan went on to launch her own cosmetics line, Em with LOral (which her subscription-based company Ipsy bought back ), and she recently partnered with Dutch production company Endemol Beyond to create an international lifestyle network called Icon .

Business is booming for the young mogul and she shares plenty of career and life advice in her "Pillow Talk" series . But, we recall a time when her popular YouTube channel was mostly videos of Phan morphing into Japanese anim characters, Disney princesses and Hollywood stars. It's pretty amazing what she accomplished with a little makeup, a camera and a laptop.

Watch 10 of her most astonishing makeup transformation tutorials below!