#bestyoutube

So I had a major fail with providing the second part of my gift guide, but I do plan to have a couple posts up soon wrapping up 2014. First, though, I've had a lot of questions recently about how I got into makeup and what beauty gurus I can recommend. 

I started really using makeup after a bad break-up at the end of college. I had used some makeup on and off for years for utilitarian purposes until I happened to watch my first youtube makeup tutorial. I can't remember what it was (probably about a smokey eye), but I was instantly hooked by the transformative (and fun) properties of correctly applying makeup. Nearly 5 years later, youtube is now a giant place full of thousands of beauty bloggers/vloggers- it can be hard to know where to start or who to really watch. Below, I've listed who I think are the absolute best beauty ladies on youtube. 

1. Best Tutorials & Favorites Vids: Amelia Liana. British Amelia pops out high quality videos like no other, meaning there is always a really well done get ready with me routine or favorites or something else fun to watch up on her channel. Plus she always goes to fancy events and has an adorable dog, Duke. 

2. Best Editing: Claire Marshall of ohhaiclaire. LA-based Claire is the queen of editing, full stop. Her makeup is always fierce- lots of winged liner and contouring here- and she has amazing style so her fashion videos are fantastic too. But it's the CRAZY GOOD editing she does that makes her stick the most; check out her singing all of a nicki minaj song just to show off different MAC lipsticks. 

3. Best Going-Out Looks: Barbara of ThePersianBabe. British Barbara is by far my favorite youtuber to watch- she's got the friendliest and most humble demeanor but is also super glam. 

4. Best For Drugstore Makeup: Hollie of HollieEatsLipstick. Another California girl, Hollie keeps stuff real. You could easily be listening to the check-out girl at any basic mall store (she used to work at Target!), but for her amazing attention to detail. Hollie goes out of her way to find new drugstore makeup and review it super quickly and thoroughly- you will see every shade of a new lipstick line swatched on her mouth. 

5. Best for High-End Makeup: Anna of ViviannaDoesMakeup. British Anna has the cutest way about her, but keeps her makeup relatively simple, which is best to show off some awesome high-end stuff. She mixes in drugstore stuff as well, but I always seem to end up coveting something expensive I've seen Anna use. 

6. Most Inspiring: Marlena of MakeupGeek. Marlena is definitely the first youtuber I watched multiple videos from, and it's because girl keeps it REAL. She is the most authentic and driven beauty gal on youtube or perhaps in the world. What hooked me initially were her candid videos about divorce and weight struggles (she also does cute outfit videos for curvy girls), but I've stayed with her because of her girly-girl tutorials and hot product reviews. In the past few years she launched a huge and extremely popular line of makeup products- a company she started from scratch. The rest of the makeup world (both on and offline) is giving all her affordable products rave reviews. 

7. Best Product Reviews: Tati of GlamLifeGuru. First of all, Tati has the most soothing voice on earth. Like Amelia, she is constantly churning out great videos, but the ones to watch are her in depth reviews of new high end and drugstore finds. She's extremely candid about what she liked and didn't like, which means I trust her opinions. 

8. Most Down To Earth: Estee of essiebutton. A Canadian living with her cool boyfriend Aslan (who has his own cool channel theworktop) in London, Estee is a fascinating character. She has a real country charm and humbleness to her, but has a knack for beauty and hair stuff. Her vlogs with Aslan and their adorable greyhound Reggie are always fun to watch. 

9. Best Face: Alix of icovetthee. This British girl's beauty is beyond. Her style is exactly what I aspire to be, and I constantly long for her whole look. She uploads infrequently, but her tutorials and fashion videos are always on point and use a lot of NARS products, so you know I'm in. 

10. Best Vlogs: Mary of TheAnothergirlslife. Lastly we come to Mary, who has the best accent of anyone on earth and is the funniest person alive. She does the same makeup look most of the time, but it's a good one, and is a hairdresser so there's always awesome shots of that type of stuff. Plus her and her boyfriend are hilarious together.