The YouTube Evolution

In a recent work-training day we discussed make up evolution and how you associate certain brands with a certain age group. You might start off with Benefit, move on to Urban Decay, then onto MAC experimenting with bold looks for a night out, finally you graduate to a Laura Mercier or Nars for a perfect polished look.

I thought maybe this theory could also be applied to YouTuber’s?

Start off with Tanya Burr: Representing the baby steps into the world of make up and YouTube. The likes of Tanya, Zoella, Fleur and Freddy My Love introduce you to pink lip glosses, glittery nails, vanilla candles and lush bath bombs along with giggles and fairy lights.

Graduate with Lily Pebbles: After spending time and money on full coverage foundations and shimmer packed eyeshadows you have reached a stage where you have realised its not cool to wear that much make up everyday. This is where Lily, Vivianna and Kate (from Ghost Parties) step in and you fall in 
love with tinted moisturisers, taupe eyeshadows, grey nails and Jo Malone. 

Get your Masters with Caroline Hirons: Your Muji make up storage is full and Zoeva and Real Technique brushes are cleaned regularly. All this trying and testing different makeup has taken a toll on your skin. You have learnt that without a well looked after base there is little use for the YSL lipstick. Introducing the Don, the Captain the Queen of skincare. Originally the absence of pastels and twinkly music leaved you confused but the Caroline Hirons no frills approach is now refreshing and you regret not paying more attention in science lessons.

Have you been to beauty guru University? Who were your lecturers?

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Dream Vlogger and Brand Collaborations

Blogging and vlogging has reached the stage in which their audience associate certain brands with certain YouTubers. On one too many shopping trips I hear girls picking up items and declaring, "How Zoella it is”.

Vloggers now have the power to create their own brand as well as work with established brands. I have created a list of my dream vlogger and brand collaborations.

Do you agree with my list? What would be your dream vlogger and brand collaboration?

Zoella: Oliver Bones and Yankee.

The Queen of copper. In the past year Zoella has reinvented herself from beauty guru to interior design obsessive (thanks to her beautiful 3 floor Brighton house) slowly moving away from her teen bopper status, Primark hauls have now been replaced with homeware hauls. Oliver Bonas is often mentioned on her channel and it is easy to picture the copper polka dot vases, geometric print cushions and polaroid picture frames.

In a recent vlog Zoe Sugg revealed her candle cupboard. Zoe has an impressive candle collection raging from high street to The White Company and Jo Malone. I think a Zoella Yankee Candle collection would be a hit and accompanied by a rose gold lid.  

Fleur De Force: Alex Monroe, Kurt Geiger, secretsales.com.

Fleur is one of the few YouTubers who hasn’t changed much from her first video to her most recent upload. I think jeweler Alex Monroe with its delicate designs has space for a rose gold star collection.

Along with stars and rose gold Fleur has a penchant for a good bargain and good shoes. I personally would love to see a selection of Fleurs top picks on website secretsales.com. Fleur owns a beautiful collection of shoes from Alexander Wang ankle boots, Hunter wellies to Valentino rock stud heels. I think Fleur De Force would create a great shoe collection for Kurt Geiger where there would be a shoe to suit everyone.

Sprinkle of Glitter: Paperchase, Kate Spade, Next Kids.

Louise is very obviously associated with pink and glitter however in her recent bedroom make-over it shows she is straying from her pink glitter trademark and choosing a grey and copper colour scheme instead. I would love to see how Sprinkle of Glitter would work with a more high-end brand such as Kate Spade with its bows, quirky prints and positive slogans it would suit Louise perfectly.

Paperchase and Next Kids are more obvious choices, Louise has actively shows an interest in stationary and has already created a diary. I think Louise should also go back to the original origins of her blog and create something aimed at mums and young children such as releasing a beautiful sweet and illustrated children’s book or a kids clothing range.

Why YouTuber’s should read Guru Gossiper

THAT website the Voldemort of the YouTube Community. Ironically it was successful Vloggers that introduced me to the gossip site. After a big YouTube drama vloggers were addressing “this awful website” urging their viewers not to read or visit the site. Curious to what they were all talking about I stumbled across Guru Gossiper.

Preparing myself for comments full of hatred and jealousy I was actually pleasantly surprised. Ignoring the occasional cruel and unjustified posts there are insightful and interesting comments and criticisms. 

Before YouTube became such as huge platform comment sections used to be a great way to communicate and create a discussion, but now the comment sections are full of notice me and ‘first comment’ posts declaring their love for the vlogger and self endorsement. YouTube creators used to ask viewers for their thoughts on a video but now just ask for a ‘Thumbs up and Subscribe”. In many ways Guru Gossip is just a comment section in which the vlogger can’t pick and choose what gets posted.

The people who post on Guru Gossip are very obviously fans of YouTube and normally enjoy the popular vloggers. Since they are actually fans and look forward to looking through their subscriptions they can often feel disappointed and let down by their favourite YouTuber. Guru Gossip is a great way to vent frustration and see who else agrees with their thoughts. It is not rare for in a ‘Trash A Guru” section for them to praise a recent upload and notice and appreciate improvements.

On the site it is often speculated if certain YouTuber’s read their “Trash” section and I honestly think they should. The site can sometimes provide genuine feedback and a reality check that I think a lot of the vloggers need, as it is easy to get lost in the hype and “OMG I LOOVVEE YOU PLZ FOLLOW ME” tweets/comments.  These types of comments could also give creators the impression that the majority of viewers are happy with a constant stream of random vlogs, monthly favourites and Q&A videos but on Guru Gossip it is a very different story. Guru Gossip is a tough love that pushes YouTuber’s to up their content, think before they speak, regular uploads and try harder.

The Most Expensive Make Up Tutorials

A while ago I read an article totalling how much an average persons full face of make up costs. It varied from person to person with individuals who are not involved in the beauty blogging world spending less and those who aspire for a Kardashian inspired look spend more. I thought it would be interesting to compare the total cost of beauty products in YouTube make up tutorials.  

I am going to compare 3 videos one from Vivianna Does Make Up, a Bollywood Sunset tutorial from Pixiewoo and an autumn make up look from Zoella. Can you guess who will have the most expensive look?

Vivianna Does Makeup: The Birthday Makeup Menu = £410

Cheapest item is a Rimmel eyeliner for £3.99. Most expensive an Hourglass palette for £56.

Known for her classy taste and love of Space NK and Charlotte Tilbury it is no surprise that Vivianna look totals to over £400. As it is a birthday make up tutorial it is expected that you would use your most luxurious products on a special occasion to make you feel your fabulous best.  Even though Vivianna prefers the natural look it proves that natural doesn’t mean inexpensive.

Pixiewoo: Bollywood Sunset Makeup Tutorial = £263

Surprisingly, professional make up artists Pixie Woo only spent around £30 more than Zoella on this tutorial. Not sticking to only a few brands each product is different and have a unique purpose. Despite the look being bold and ambitious it is noticeably cheaper then the subtle bronzed look Vivianna created.

Zoella: Autumn Makeup = £227

With a Young fan base Zoella included a range of drugstore and high end make up in order not to alienate her younger viewers. She mixes Nars and Charlotte Tilbury with her all time staple Collection Lasting Perfection concealer for £4.19.