Viral makeup tutorial features IDF’s ‘camouflage palette’

Move over MAC mascara and L’Oréal lipstick. The latest must-have makeup is the standard issue camouflage palette by IDF. That’s IDF as in Israel Defense Forces, not some new cosmetics company.

A viral video made by an IDF soldier parodying online makeup tutorials and featuring the camouflage palette has racked up close to half a million views on Facebook in the last week. It took off when it was picked up by Pazam, a social network for IDF soldiers.

The video is a total standout, but it seriously makes blending in with the shrubbery seem like a lot of fun and a great way to cover up zits.

The parody tutorial was made on a whim by Hannah Laskow Defore, a 19-year-old American serving in Machal, the IDF’s program for volunteers from overseas. She serves in the mixed-gender combat search and rescue brigade of the Homefront Command.

“We were supposed to do a four kilometer run, and I didn’t feel up to it, so I got permission to stay behind on base,” Defore told The Times of Israel.

“So while I was hanging around, I made the video. I’d made parody videos before, but never a makeup one. But I always thought makeup tutorial videos were funny because the people in them take them so seriously,” she added.

As befitting the genre, Defore takes herself thoroughly seriously on the makeup tutorial.

“So, a lot of you guys have been asking me about my daily makeup routine. And to be honest, it’s changed quite a lot since I’ve moved from LA… I haven’t been using as many products from MAC and Sephora as I used to, but I really do love this new palette. It’s called Camouflage by Neta Avitan. And I just love the colors. It’s really flattering,” she deadpans into the camera at the beginning of the four-minute clip.

In fact, the camouflage paint (not really by Neta Avitan — that’s just the name of the fellow soldier who helped her make the video) is the only thing that Defore has been permitted to apply to her face while on base during her service over the last year and a half. It’s no surprise, then, that she is an expert in explaining how to use it.

‘I always thought makeup tutorial videos were funny because the people in them take them so seriously’

“We actually trained on how to do this during basic training. There was a competition among squads as to who could do it the best. I represented my squad and we won. I guess it’s my hidden talent,” Defore said.

Defore has other talents. While growing up in an Orthodox Jewish family in Los Angeles, she attended a high school for young people pursuing professional careers in the performing arts. However, she decided to leave her acting and singing behind to serve in the IDF.

“I decided to do the army while on a summer program in Israel before my senior year of high school. I called my parents from Mount Herzl and told them I wanted to go to the army after I graduated. Everyone was really surprised by this, because I am the classic Valley Girl. I don’t like exercise. I like shopping,” Defore said.

Hannah Laskow Defore in camouflage. (Facebook)

The soldier’s sense of humor is evident throughout the video. The funniest lines deal with the various colors in the camouflage palette.

She introduces the beige color as “Peace in the Middle East… because all you can see is sand.”

The black is “Kitchen” because it’s the color of all the food the soldiers eat on base. The olive green is called “How Long?” —as in how long will she have to wear her olive colored uniform day-in-day-out. The darker green is “Sundays” because it’s like the other green, only darker — just like Sunday, which is the day soldiers have to return to base. Finally, the white paint reminds her of the light at the end of the tunnel. The color is therefore appropriately called, “Discharge Date.”

Defore originally planned to return to the US after her discharge at the end of this summer. However, she has decided to stay and study entrepreneurship in Israel.

“I just can’t leave this place,” she said.

‘I just can’t leave this place’

Defore has been amazed that people have recognized her on the street because of the video. She’s been asked to do more, but she’s not sure she can top this one.

“I have to live up to a high standard now. It’s a lot of pressure,” she joked.

The bar is actually high for Defore. After she enlisted, she discovered that she is related to Haim Laskov, who was a lieutenant general and the IDF’s fifth chief of staff (from 1958 to 1961).

“My serving sort of closed a circle,” the soldier and new video star reflected.