Since launching her YouTube channel and publishing her first-ever beauty tutorial in 2011, New
Jersey native Carli Bybel has risen to online superstardom.
Along with beauty how-to's, she posts Q&A's with her boyfriend, fellow YouTube star Brett
Cap, runs the fashion blog The Beauty Bybel, as well as secondary YouTube channel, Inner
Beauty Bybel.
But even though she lives in the public eye, this beauty guru still has some surprises
up her sleeve!
Awkward start
Bybel has come a long way since her very first video, and she's the first one to admit it.
Uploaded in 2011, the superstar's debut tutorial, titled "Curl Hair with Straightener," may
have garnered over 300,000 views, but it still makes her laugh.
Asked by Sanders Kennedy in 2014 if she ever revisits her first foray into the world of
YouTube tutorials, Bybel admitted that she totally does.
"Me and Brett will go watch it and we'll literally pee our pants"
"I remember editing it for the first time and being like, 'Oh my god, this is so good!
This is the perfect video!'
Meanwhile, it's just horrible quality, no lighting, so — it's funny."
Making bank
Bybel no longer needs to hold down a day job, telling New York's Fox 5 she's able to make
a living exclusively off of her YouTube videos.
"I'm signed with a network called StyleHaul, so they're the ones who will pay me for the
ads on the views."
And that revenue is nothing to scoff at.
Analyzing the top 20 beauty and style YouTube channels ranked by income, subscribers, and
more, AdAge found that Bybel came in fifth in 2015, earning a whopping $16,644.60 per
month.
All that, thanks to an exploding viewership, with tutorials that garner over 11 million
views each month, and close to 3 million devoted subscribers — which jumped to over 5 million
by 2017.
Total shock
In a hometown interview with Fox 5 — which included a visit to Bybel's New Jersey home
where she shoots her popular videos — the celebrity vlogger recalled how her mother
didn't exactly believe in her mission to become internet-famous.
"My mom, in the beginning, she was just like, 'What are you doing?
This isn't going to take off!'
But things changed, when her mom witnessed her daughter's event at Macy's Herald Square.
"There was like a six-hour line and she was like, 'Ohhh, so you are doing something with
your life!'"
Surprising herself
Despite having over 5.5 million devoted YouTube subscribers as of August 2017, Bybel still
has a tough time wrapping her head around her fame.
She told PopTV she often forgets that she's a public figure.
"It's so funny because sometimes I'll be with Brett and I'll be like, 'Why is that person
staring?
Is something on my face?' and he's like, 'Are you kidding me?'
I think I get more nervous than they do."
And the fun with fans hasn't worn off for her either.
"I just think it's so cool and it's awesome getting to meet the people that are watching
my channel!"
Penguin problem
Bybel may be totally obsessed with all things makeup, but few know about her second biggest
love: penguins!
During a 2014 interview with Sanders Kennedy, the influencer talked about what she'd be
doing if she had never gone viral.
"Well, I was a freelance makeup artist before, so I'd either be doing that, or I'd be working
at the penguin exhibit at SeaWorld" "I'm obsessed with penguins.
It's a problem."
She confirmed her true love via Facebook, when she posted this pic, writing, "Found
a baby penguin on the wall randomly in the Mall of America.
Cute widddddle baby!" and again, with this shot on her 25th birthday, saying, "Thanks
baby for the best surprise birthday gift EVER!
I got to feed and play with widdle precious penguins yesterday!
An amazing memory I will never forget."
Giving back
In March 2017, Bybel joined the Water And Healthcare foundation, an NGO "dedicated to
improving the lives and conditions of rural communities through water, health and education,"
as a Global Ambassador.
Bybel's role includes raising funds to help disadvantaged girls living in third world
countries to attend school.
Water and Healthcare founder Christopher Wilson said, "We are very grateful and excited to
have Carli as our Global Ambassador.
Carli's global influence will help change lives and give underprivileged girls an opportunity
for a brighter future."
The YouTube star established a scholarship with the foundation to allow 120 girls to
go to the Bright Hope Institute in Cambodia for four years by covering all of their tuition,
housing, food, and book expenses.
She raised money for the cause through the sold out sale of signature bracelets made
available on her Pranava Beauty website.
She was on Project Runway
If you're new to the world of Carli Bybel, you may have missed her strutting her stuff
on the runway — Project Runway, that is.
Bybel appeared on a December 2013 episode of Project Runway All Stars with other YouTube
fashion icons.
Not only did she look fabulous on the show, but of course she also looked gorgeous for
the viewing party as well.
#Goals.
She has eczema
Just because you're a beauty icon, that doesn't mean that you don't struggle with skin problems.
Bybel has been dealing with eczema for years.
Frustrated and getting fed up, Bybel shared her first trip to the allergist to see what
she might be allergic to that could be causing her eczema flare ups.
She learned that she's allergic to "...pollen, fresh cut grass, every animal (even hypoallergenic
ones), melons, apples, kiwi, peanuts, basically all raw nuts, and nutmeg."
To help with her itchiness, her dermatologist recommended a bleach bath.
Bybel shared in a video that "definitely soothed it a little bit," but ultimately decided that
more drastic changes were necessary.
She's vegan
One of the ways that Bybel has dealt with her eczema is by adopting a vegan diet.
After posting a video about her former diet routine, other YouTubers reached out to her
and shared that they had personal experience with a vegan diet clearing up eczema and generally
bettering their health.
So Bybel started doing her own research and what finally made her take the leap wasn't
just the possibility of clearing up her skin; it was the moral implications of eating meat
that got to her.
And that eventually led to another major lifestyle shift.
She's changed her beauty routine
Her new emphasis on vegan and cruelty free products didn't stop at food, it also extended
to her beauty products.
Though the transition took longer than her diet, Bybel eventually changed out all of
her makeup as well, sharing the results of a cruelty free Sephora haul with her fans
in February, 2017.
Hey, who doesn't love shopping for new makeup?
She's tried microblading
It's all the rage these days, so it's only natural that a beauty blogger like Bybel would
try out microblading to give her fans a first hand account of what the beauty procedure
is like.
Bybel's verdict?
"I think it's a really awesome thing to do if you guys have thinner eyebrows and you
want to try it out, especially for the summer when you're at the beach and all that.
But it's definitely not a necessity."
She's had lip fillers
In September, 2016, Bybel responded to speculation that she was having work done by revealing
she had gotten lip fillers.
She told her viewers,
"...the reason that I did get my upper lip done… almost two years ago, was because
I've always had a bigger bottom lip and I figured it would even it out."
Bybel emphasized that the reason she didn't share it with her viewers sooner was because
she knows she has young fans and didn't want them, or anyone, to feel like they need to
get lip fillers or any kind of procedure to be beautiful.
Up next
In August 2017, Bybel celebrated six years as a beauty blogger by recreating her debut
video.
"Almost six years ago, August 25th, was the first time I ever posted a video on my YouTube
channel.
From this room!"
She took the opportunity to encourage fans to never give up on their dreams, adding,
"Be a good person, do your best every day and never give up on what you love."
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