I spend a lot of time on YouTube. Maybe even too much time on YouTube. Over the years, I have carefully curated my subscription box with the best YouTube personalities I can find and I wanted to share some of them. I think most of these people are relatively underappreciated, so you should definitely subscribe to them if their content sounds interesting to you!
- Snitchery
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I don’t watch a ton of beauty YouTubers and by that I mean I only watch one beauty YouTuber: Snitchery. I followed her initially on Twitter where she posts really cool cosplays and then found her YouTube from there. Her channel focuses on more toned-down daily makeup looks and she has a series where she explores different ways to do your makeup that suits your facial structure and personal style. If you’re a fan of beauty YouTubers and are getting sick of James Charles and his drama, I would definitely check out Snitchery for a fresh take on YouTube beauty.
- Kat Blaque
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Kat Blaque is an activist, artist, and YouTuber who discusses everything on her channel from sex positivity to trans and racial issues. My favorite part of Kat Blaque is her willingness to engage in dialogues with her audience, as well as her honesty and authenticity. She does a weekly series on her channel called “True Tea” where she openly talks about an issue, sharing her feelings unscripted and inviting her viewers to comment their own thoughts and feelings. I think Kat is a super inspiring person; I’ve learned so much and been very entertained by watching her videos.
- paperbackdreams
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Also coincidentally named Kat, paperbackdreams is a big name in a niche part of YouTube, called BookTube, where YouTubers talk about and review the books they’re reading. If you’re interested in reading more, checking out BookTubers like Kat is a great way to find new recommendations you may have never heard of otherwise. I especially like Kat because she’s also in college and somehow finds a way to read as much as she does, which I find very inspiring. She reads a ton of genres from YA contemporary to horror, so you’re sure to find something that interests you in the long list of books she talks about!
- ContraPoints
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Natalie “ContraPoints” Wynn is probably my favorite YouTuber of all time. She’s a political video essayist with a flare for the dramatic, and her informative videos are accompanied with elaborate sets, makeup, and costumes. Her scripts are well thought out and well-written. She has a video for everything. Her videos on cancel culture and her journey of figuring out her sexuality are two of my favorites, but every single video she makes is truly excellent.
- KickThePJ
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KickThePJ is a name you might remember from the early 2010’s, especially if you were a fan of Dan and Phil (which I totally wasn’t…), but his content has really matured since then. His newest videos are aesthetic, artistic, and fun, and his personality is bubbly and easy to watch. He makes a lot of art videos, like ones of him drawing Among Us costumes and making Animal Crossing content, or this one of him ranking the hourly music in New Horizons. All of PJ’s videos are calming and light, and it always makes me really happy to see a new video of his in my subscription box.
- Julien Solomita
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Julien Solomita is probably someone you’ve heard of. He’s Jenna Marbles’ boyfriend and in the months since Jenna took her leave from YouTube, I’ve found a lot of joy in watching Julien’s videos. His videos nowadays are mostly cooking ones. He’s both gluten free and vegan, but that doesn’t stop him from trying out different recipes and adjusting them in interesting ways, like using a crazy mushroom instead of lobster when making lobster mac ‘n’ cheese. Julien has a big, loud personality that makes his cooking videos very entertaining and worth watching even if you’re not much of a cook yourself.
- Sarah Z
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Last but not least on the list is Canadian video essayist Sarah Z. Sarah makes a lot of videos about movies, TV shows, and other pieces of media, oftentimes delving deep into Internet lore to uncover the strangest and craziest things that have ever happened on the Internet. Her most recent video, The “Author” of My Immortal Emailed Me and Then it Got Worse, is a crazy deep dive into a mystery surrounding the Internet’s most infamous fanfiction, My Immortal. It had me gasping every five minutes. Sarah’s videos are always well researched and depending on how long you’ve been on the Internet, will fill you with nostalgia. She’s a criminally underrated video essayist and I highly recommend checking her out.