YOUTUBE CHANNELS THAT I OBSESSIVELY WATCH TO DECOMPRESS

I have been meaning to do a YouTube article for awhile. But I can be really fickle about my YouTube tastes and didn’t want to create a whole article about my faves, only to find that they have changed within a month. However, I have been super obsessed inspired by these channels lately, and figured I would just take this article by the balls and run with it. It’s also 100% possible that within a month from now, I won’t like any of these channels. Regardless, for now, I’m here to share with you the YouTube channels that I obsessively watch to decompress.

These channels are mostly all about female beauty with the exception of one channel. But they all aid in my end-of-day-decompression efforts. Topics about beauty and beautifully filmed videos just calm me down and let all the air out of my mental tires, you know?

[I apologize in advance for the lack of racial and class diversity among these channels. I am a 41-year-old, white, cis, female from Pennsylvania, USA, and I suppose I gravitate towards the vibes I find most familiar and relatable. Whether or not you can relate to this demographic, I hope you still find some fun in this article.]

THE PITFALLS AND DANGERS WITH YOUTUBE

In so many ways, I feel so dumb that I’m doing an article about YouTube channels. Before quarantine, I was so against spending any extra time engaged in unnecessary media absorption. I had a life, basically. And now, I kind of don’t have a life.

I used to feel super drained by media over-stimulation, and still sometimes do. But, here’s the thing. I don’t do well when I don’t have a lot going on in my life. If work is quiet, and if life is quiet, I go to dark places pretty fast. I needlessly snack and/or catastrophize in my mind when there is literally nothing wrong. My mood goes blackish-brownish and I get restless. And I create problems that don’t exist, just for something to do. So, during this odd quarantine time, I have really had to make do. And watching the occasional YouTube video on a daily basis, has just become part of my routine.

I rarely go into a YouTube spiral. I know people who can get stuck on a channel and be planted for HOURS in YouTube-ville. No, I can’t do that. But, I might go for three or four videos at a time, in one day, if I’m really into it. Otherwise, I do put it down. It just feels too gross to do more than that. And I try to absorb only positive content that makes me feel good.

I hope these channels make you feel good as well! So, here are my favorites, in no particular order…

FREDERIQUE BROS

I have probably been following Frédérique for the longest and she is one of my absolute favorites. I also had the privilege of featuring her in my article WOMEN ANSWER: WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT BEING A WOMAN?. Frédérique’s channel is all about French beauty and a French way of life. She is an interesting bird and although she grew up in France, she has lived all over. She is now based in Australia and films from her adorable home in Queensland.

I love Frédérique for so many reasons. Firstly, I really do view her as a goddess. She’s in her mid-forties and she’s accomplished so much. However, she’s totally accessible. She truly and honestly answers every comment. I’m not sure if she’ll be able to keep this up when she becomes even more popular than she already is, but she really does appreciate her audience. [She just recently surpassed 100k subscribers!]

She also laughs at herself ALL of the time, and she has a fabulous laugh. She never takes herself too seriously, but she is serious about her life, her work, and her passions. Frédérique creates videos about her skin care routine, and she does tons of tons of home fashion shows. She really is a French beauty and often reveals French beauty secrets and insider information about how French women roll.

Best of all, she has the most adorable French bulldog named Oscar de la Renta. He is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen, and her relationship with Oscar is just so heart-melting and endearing. She loves and cares for Oscar so much, and also laughs at all of his silliness–especially his loud snoring.

I really never a miss a video of hers and neither should you!

VIOLETTE_FR

Speaking for French beauties, I’ll move right into Violette. She is a French makeup artist and just released her own makeup line. Her brand is hugely successful and just keeps getting bigger and bigger. She is stunning and has an amazing sense of style. I love her older videos the most because they just take me to a dreamy place. These shorter videos follow her as she stops in a cafe or sits on a stoop, just to redo her makeup. She’s very into “mood makeup” and she creates these really fantastical, romantic looks with just a few elements of makeup. The music is soft and the colors in the video are always so feminine and lively.

Violette is truly an artist with an artist’s soul. She really did go to art school and she sees the world through artist’s eyes. She’s inspired by something like a thin shaft of light crossing over the surface of a marble sculpture. Violette notices the subtle beauty in everything, and that’s why her videos are so beautiful to watch. They calm me down and just make me feel romantic and in love with the world.

MY ENVY ISSUES WITH VIOLETTE_FR

Do you ever come across a woman (or any person, really) that isn’t doing anything wrong? She isn’t flaunting her shit and she is perfectly nice. But, for whatever reason, you feel super jealous of her and envious of her life. And no matter what you do, you feel kind of bad about yourself when you’re around this person.

I write more about my struggles with jealousy and envy in my article, CONFESSIONS OF AN ENVIOUS GODDESS.

I love Violette so much, and I find her so inspirational, as I’ve mentioned. However, I have had to watch less and less of her because I find myself getting triggered by her videos. However, this is not Violette’s problem, it’s mine.

OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH

I receive Violette’s newsletter, and she is truly a lovely woman. She cares so much about women and individual expression, and really champions all forms of beauty. And I think I continue to watch her videos because I am trying to work through this part of myself that feels jealous of her. Ultimately, if I continue to feel not great about myself when I watch her, I will stop. Because, why do that to myself? But I think there is an opportunity for growth here, and I just wanted to share this with you.

I would also love to know what you think of Violette!

KACKIE REVIEWS BEAUTY

Kackie is a more recent obsession of mine and one that keeps growing. She does mostly makeup product reviews and tutorials, but like, next-level quality. I know there are a TON of makeup tutorial videos out there, but Kackie’s are pretty original.

Firstly, she’s a burst of energy and is super playful. And at first, it seems like this gal is just really good at putting on makeup in an animated way. She’s very down-to-earth and hilariously blunt. And she’s also incredibly knowledgeable about what she’s talking about and gets super granular and detailed about her subject matter, which of course, I love.

But she’s also incredibly sharp, deep, and multi-faceted. She possesses the unique skill of cramming a ton of words into one breath, and yet all of her words pack a punch with power and meaning. She has a true skill for curating her thoughts. And even though there is a lot of information coming out of her in a short amount of time, every piece of it is solid, and thoughtful, and interesting, and entertaining. I need to work on that skill as I think I tend towards a lot of empty babbling!

Kacki is also profoundly self-aware. So much so that her meta realizations are effortlessly ingratiated into her everyday kinda talk. Although the topic of her channel is ultimately a superficial one, she makes everything more deep by just being her. She unites the super root chakra, base material stuff, with sprinklings of elevated crown chakra speak, and creates a well-rounded flow of heaven and earthly monologue. All while talking about and/or applying makeup! She is truly my kinda goddess.

Admittedly, and I honestly should have mentioned this before, I don’t wear any makeup. I whip out the liquid liner and mascara MAYBE once a year if I’m going to party or a wedding. Usually, I use lip gloss on a daily basis, sorta. But honestly, I might also just reach for some basic lip balm. I just don’t wear makeup, but I really am obsessed with women who do. Obviously. Anyway, I just thought that was important to share.

Kackie has also recently started vlogging, and I don’t know why, but I just love it. There is something intriguing about watching another goddess go about her day. Maybe her vlog validates my at times seemingly boring, yet no less meaningful, mundane life. She vlogs about pruning her roses, or making a BLT, or drinking her coffee and contemplating her day. I also find it incredibly endearing that she holds such precious regard for all living creatures. She talks to her cats, and her dog, and the birds, and the bumble bees, and her roses, like they are her darling little babies. It truly warms my heart, and she is just a lovely woman.

So, give Kacki’s YouTube channel a whirl the next time you want to be entertained, even if you are like me and clueless about makeup. I love the beauty stuff, I really do, but I watch Kackie for Kackie, because she’s just that great!

DR. SHEREENE IDRISS

Ok, so this is my newest YouTube relationship, so I might just be talking out of my ass this early in the game. However, I have only watched a handful of Shereene Idriss‘s videos and I’m kind of hooked.

Shereene is a dermatologist and does lots of “whistle blowing” videos about the skin care industry. And since I don’t wear makeup, I REALLY put a lot of attention and effort into skin care.

Shereene has legitimately valuable skin care information to share. And as a diligent, skin care consumer, I want information and I want it to be solid. So, if you are interested in the science of skin care, she breaks it down and really gets you thinking about the products you are using and not using.

ANDBLOOM

I have such a loving and soft spot for Denise Boomkens’s AndBloom brand. I’m discussing her YouTube channel here, which I love. But honestly, her entire brand is so beautiful, including her website and her Instagram feed. Denise is a fashion photographer in her 40’s, and focuses pretty exclusively on “The Art of Aging Unapologetically,” and capturing that in portraits and personal vignettes. She honors and champions the inherent beauty of women over 40, and her brand is truly a celebration of beings.

I also had the privilege of including her in my WOMEN ANSWER: WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT BEING A WOMAN? article. She is a busy woman with over 190k Instagram followers, and yet was so gracious to take the time to share with me. Her response to this question was so lovely.

Denise does not do a ton of YouTube videos, but the ones she does post are just as lovely as she is. She will often do a behind-the-scenes photo shoot video. And I also really enjoy her vlogs. Her life to me is a dream, and just so inspiring. I absolutely love and adore the contribution she is making, and I so value her ability to make everything she touches beautiful and breathtaking.

COOKING TREE

So, the moment you have all been waiting for. This is the only non-beauty related video from my list. But in a weird way, to me this still falls under the beauty category. As much as I love baking and sweets, I love the Cooking tree channel, mostly because of the beautiful footage and superior visual quality of the content.

Not gonna lie, I also LOVE the sound effects. This channel is strictly about baking. No talking, and we never see the baker’s face. We just see the sensuousness of the baking process, and we HEAR all the downright sexual-sounding intricacies of each step. She amplifies the swishing sounds of the eggs and the creaming squishy sounds from the butter. You can almost distinguish between every grain of sugar from the cane waterfalls hitting a bowl of whipped cream cheese, the sound quality is that amazing. The videos are purely about sensory stimulation, and yet are also so calming.

I will watch these videos when I am particularly stressed and in need of decompression. They are truly transportive and relaxing, and they are just so beautiful. The lighting is natural and delicate, and the music is equally comforting.

She seems to savor the process of baking and really takes her time with every single step. Each finished piece is like a work of art, and the process is just as beautiful as the final product. This channel is a gift to the world!

THANK YOU

So, there you have it folks! What did you think? Have you seen any of these channels? Do you like the same shit I like? What are your all-time favorite channels for decompressing and uplifting your mood?

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PHOTO CREDITS

Featured photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash