Lately, we see shopping hauls, daily routines, vlogs, life hacks and makeup hacks condensed into a few minutes on TikTok. Back in the day, all this was found on YouTube. A place where millennials were rife, and videos could be over 10 minutes long! I had forgotten about these Youtubers that I had grown up watching but news of the OGs Zoella and Alfie Deyes’s pregnancy has made me nostalgic. Expect some déjà vu as I stalk the lives of our childhood influencers.
Zoe Sugg aka Zoella
Of course, we are starting with the queen of messy buns. Yep, I admit she did inspire me to try that dark plum lipstick that seemed to just work on her (not so much for me). She started her beauty and lifestyle channel all the way back in 2009. Her business began expanding in 2014 when she launched Zoella Beauty. I remember really wanting the eye makeup case, if anyone remembers that. This was since disbanded in 2019, but do not fear! We have the Zoella website which posts articles about beauty, books, mental health and all sorts, as well as advertising her Lifestyle range. From 2014-2016 she co-wrote (I think) the Girl Online trilogy and is now gearing up for the sequel to her actual co-authored book The Magpie Society. She has been busy, as well as announcing several photography apps she has been a constant campaigner for the mental health conversation, all while maintaining that synonymous autumn aesthetic on her Instagram.
ThePointlessBlog aka Alfie Deyes
The father to be! I didn’t really follow him on YouTube, but he has done a lot of fun challenges, conversations, gaming and reactions since 2009. He hasn’t posted on his main channel in over a year and his vlog channel seems to have taken over, probably due to this ‘lil pandemic. From 2014-2017 he has released four books. Three take a diary/ activity book format whilst one is his autobiography. Since 2020, both him and Zoe have been ambassadors for A Good Company.
SprinkleofGlitter aka Louise Pentland
Pentland started her channel in 2010, and discussed fashion, beauty, lifestyle and pregnancy. I think she initiated the mommy-influencer thing. In 2016, a year after her divorce, she formally quit YouTube and has since started a podcast, Mothers’ Meeting with Louise Pentland. She has written five books, a mix of fiction and non, with more on the way.
Tanya Burr
Burr started a fashion and beauty channel in 2009, originally creating videos of celebrity makeup looks but hasn’t posted anything new since 2020. She too ventures into book writing and she too has utilised a ghost-writer for the three lifestyle books and cookbooks. From 2014-2018 she ran Tanya Burr Cosmetics through Superdrug, though I don’t really remember it. More recently she has taken up acting and has had guest roles on Bulletproof and Holby City.
Caspar Lee
Lee started out in 2010 doing similar videos to Alfie Deyes, comedy challenges, roasts, pranks and conversations, though he too has been inactive on his channel for over a year. Like Tanya Burr, Lee has been pursuing an acting career, starting in 2015 with two travel documentaries with fellow Youtuber, Joe Sugg in Joe and Caspar Hit the Road. In 2016 he and his mum published an autobiography and surprisingly, in 2020 co-founded a student accommodation company in South Africa called Proper Living. I wonder how they compare to Pollock Halls?
Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr