Carli Bybel has risen to online superstardom since launching her YouTube channel and publishing her first-ever beauty tutorial in 2011. In addition to regularly filming makeup and hair how-tos for her millions of fans, she also uploads extremely popular Q&A clips, runs a successful fashion blog called The Beauty Bybel, and has even found time to launch a secondary YouTube channel dubbed Inner Beauty Bybel. Despite the fact that she lives in the public eye, the beauty guru still has some surprises up her sleeve.
From Makeup to Mogul: The Rise of Carli Bybel
In the digital age, the term influencer has transcended beyond a buzzword into a legitimate and often lucrative career path. Sisters Carli and Amanda Bybel learned during the early stages of social media how they could build their brand and become full-time influencers.
Being an influencer often starts as a passion project around a niche subject, from makeup tutorials and lifestyle vlogging to gaming and beyond. However, as followers and engagement grow, so do monetization opportunities. Influencers monetize their platforms through various streams, including sponsored content, affiliate marketing, merchandise lines and even their own product lines.
Carli’s foray into entrepreneurship began in high school when she provided makeup services for her friends on the cheerleading team. That turned into her classmates asking for makeup sessions before dates and parties. In 2011, as social media became popular, she started filming makeup tutorials and posting them on YouTube. Initially, Carli handed out business cards to get her name and service offerings into the community. During this time, she became part of the YouTube partner program, earning money from the views and clicks on her videos. The world of affiliate marketing became a stepping stone to her role as an influencer.
Developing trust over the years with her followers, Carli finally felt it was time to launch The Beauty Bybel, a beauty brand with its first makeup line. In November, the brand sold out of its first product in six minutes.
Read also: Weight Loss Guide Andalusia, AL
The Power of Community and Authenticity
“One thing I hear all the time is, ‘You sit around and do nothing all day,’” Carli states. “I’m like, ‘Do nothing? It’s a 24/7 thing.’ I’m up till two or three [in the morning] editing videos. People don’t see the hard work that goes into it. Now that it’s becoming much more popular, people are starting to realize it.” Carli’s approach to interacting with her subscribers and engaging with their questions paid off. She’s amassed over 4 million followers, attracting a multitude of brands for endorsement.
“Community is the biggest thing,” Carli concludes. “That’s always been my number one-building a community and creating relationships with the followers. Because if it’s all about the 15 minutes of fame or the quick buck, people aren’t going to trust you. People aren’t going to feel close to you. My subscribers are like sisters."
The Bybel sisters built trust on authenticity and connecting with their audience. The communities that they’ve built will last longer than the bonds with AI influencers.
More Than Meets the Eye: Unveiling Carli's Personality
Many of Carli Bybel's videos feature her former boyfriend, Brett Caprioni. In 2013, the couple made a video answering questions about their relationship and revealed they first met when Caprioni was in 3rd grade (in the same class as Bybel's sister) and Bybel was in Kindergarten. While they dated briefly in high school, it wasn't until later that they really became a couple. "Timing is everything!" Bybel said. Caprioni gushed in the video, "She wows me every single day. While you'll often see (or hear) Caprioni in Bybel's videos, he has his own channel where he shares fitness and nutrition tips as well as workouts.
Carli Bybel sure has come a long way since her very first video and she's the first one to admit it. Asked by Sanders Kennedy in 2014 if she ever revisits her first foray into the world of YouTube tutorials, Bybel admitted that she does "all the time! Me and Brett will go watch it and we'll literally pee our pants because it's so funny," she admitted. "I remember editing it for the first time and being like, 'Oh my god, this is so good!
Read also: Beef jerky: A high-protein option for shedding pounds?
Carli Bybel no longer needs to hold down a day job, as she's able to make a living exclusively off of her YouTube videos. The revenue is nothing to scoff at. In a hometown interview with Fox 5 New York in 2015, during which the channel visited Carli Bybel's New Jersey home to see where she shoots her uber 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?
Carli Bybel may be totally obsessed with all things makeup, but few know about her second biggest love. No, not her boyfriend Brett, but penguins! During a 2014 interview with Sanders Kennedy, the influencer was asked what she'd be doing if she had never gone viral. Pointing out that she used to work as a freelance makeup artist, the beauty junkie revealed that she'd likely be pursuing that profession, but that her real dream would be to work at "the penguin exhibit at SeaWorld because I'm obsessed with penguins. Cute widddddle baby!" and again in 2015 when she posed alongside a real penguin and her boyfriend on her 25th birthday, gushing, "Thanks baby for the best surprise birthday gift EVER! I got to feed and play with widdle precious penguins yesterday!
Not only has Carli Bybel experienced huge success in the realm of makeup, but her first foray into fashion was a bigger hit than anyone expected. We will be restocking anything that sells out!!! She also called out Missguided for underestimating her popularity, tweeting, "I told them statistics and everything of my palette & they based it off of that. u guys are THE BEST!
It's no secret that Carli Bybel is interested in fashion, especially since the launch of her collaboration with Missguided, but 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.
If you've paid close attention to Carli Bybel's videos, you've probably noticed the tattoos on her fingers. In a 2014 video where she answered questions from fans, she revealed two finger tattoos. On one ring finger she has a tattoo of open hearts. "I got this when I moved down to Florida…. I was with my dad and I was going through a hard time at the moment and it was kind of like a reminder for me to remember that if your heart is always open, love will find its way in. I've always wanted a relationship filled with love… Her second finger tattoo, which she got years later, is on her other hand on her index finger and is the word "love" in cursive.
Read also: Inspiring Health Transformation
It might be surprising that Carli Bybel, being a New Jersey native, is a big fan of country music. Everything from her Lady Antebellum Pandora station while driving, to her trip to Nashville for the 2014 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards where she vlogged from the red carpet (the photo above is from right before that very event), Bybel isn't shy about sharing her love of country music.
It only takes watching a few of Carli Bybel's videos to see that she's close with her family. From phone calls with her mom and sister to mentions of her papa, Bybel doesn't shy away from featuring her family in her videos. In 2016, she went on a cruise with her family, sharing about her sister's birthday and adventures in gambling with her grandmother. Sadly the trip was bittersweet as it was after her grandfather's passing. In a very personal "Draw My Life" video, Bybel shared more about her family life, including her parents' divorce. "Growing up my dad was always my best friend," she shared, so when her parents got a divorce and he moved from New Jersey to Florida, it was really difficult for her. The tension between her parents put a strain on her relationship with her father to the point where she ended up not speaking to him for a long time.
Carli's Health and Beauty Regimen
Just because you're a beauty icon, that doesn't mean that you don't struggle with skin problems. After all, YouTube celebrities are human too! Carli Bybel's biggest skin struggle is eczema, which she's struggled with for years. Frustrated and getting fed up, Bybel shared her first trip to the allergist to see what, if anything, she might be allergic to that could be causing her eczema flare ups. In another video, Bybel shared that to help with her itchiness, her dermatologist recommended a bleach bath. "I was getting really itchy again… it definitely soothed it a little bit. They say that it helps prevent any further ones from coming…
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. While switching her diet was one thing, Bybel was up front about the fact that changing out all of her products was more difficult as she said, "I have more makeup than Sephora!" While the beauty products were longer coming, she said the food transition wasn't hard at all, gushing about her favorite restaurants in her two-month update and shared her newest sushi obsession: avocado, cucumber, and scallion.
You may think that someone who has access to all of the best beauty products in the world would constantly be discovering new must-haves and changing her essentials, but as Carli Bybel revealed in 2015, she actually used to have one beauty product she couldn't live without. When Bybel made the switch to all vegan and cruelty free products, that also meant a change in her go-to as well. Luckily, she has plenty to choose from as she shared in her February 2017 cruelty free Sephora haul!
At this point, you've probably heard about or seen photos of people who have had their eyebrows microbladed. From the numbing cream to the consultation and all the way through each blade, Bybel shares it all (so steer clear if you're squeamish). "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.
When you're in the public eye, people pick apart your appearance. That's even more true when your appearance (and what you do with it) is what made you famous. While Carli Bybel shared her microblading experience with her fans, there was speculation that she was having much more than microblading done. In some of her posts, people were speculating about plastic surgery and other procedures. She told viewers, "Yes, I have gotten my lips done in the past, the upper… lip," adding "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." At the time of that video, Bybel said she it had been almost a year since the last time she got her lips done, which was when she took her mother to get hers and the woman doing the fillers suggested Bybel get a little added to her top lip where there were uneven spaces (it had been a year since her last fill). 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.
Carli's Charitable Side
In March 2017, Carli Bybel joined the WAH foundation, an NGO "dedicated to improving the lives and conditions of rural communities through water, health and education," as a Global Ambassador. "We are very grateful and excited to have Carli as our Global Ambassador," WAH founder Christopher Wilson said in a press release. 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.
Remaining Grounded in the Spotlight
Despite having over 5.5 million devoted YouTube subscribers as of August 2017, Carli Bybel still has a tough time wrapping her head around her fame. "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?'" she revealed in a 2015 interview with PopStop TV. "I think I get more nervous than they do," she admitted, revealing what it's like being approached by fans. "It's so crazy! I think every time someone comes up to me I get more excited than they do.
In August 2017, Carli Bybel celebrated six years as a beauty blogger by recreating her debut video. "I still can't believe it has been almost six years since I posted my first ever youtube video on this channel," she wrote in the clip's description.
Fitness and Well-being
Bybel likes to work with a trainer to stay in shape. She shared this video on YouTube of herself and a friend doing a session. Bybel wrote in the video’s description, “I started training with Rick a few months before Lorenzo’s first birthday! I knew if I wanted to get back in shape I would have to elevate my workouts. He is the best of the best!!! We started working out the 3 of us last December and it’s been SO much fun! And SO rewarding!!! Let me know if you enjoyed and would like more!! Love you guys so much.
Bybel is seen doing exercises with kettlebells in her YouTube video. Using weights to work out has a lot of benefits. The Mayo Clinic states, “By stressing your bones, strength training can increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. In her YouTube video, Bybel is seen doing burpees. The Cleveland Clinic states that this is a very effective exercise. “Burpees are brutally efficient as a workout tool, meshing cardio and strength training into an extremely high-intensity package. Bybel likes to do Russian twists to stay fit. She is seen doing them in her YouTube video. Gymless reports that Russian twists are very beneficial. “Russian Twists are a great exercise that develops all parts of your core, especially the obliques, it also targets the shoulders and hips. This exercise involves rotating your torso from side-to-side while maintaining a sit up position with your feet off the ground.
Carving Your Path To Influence
The Bybel sisters’ rise to fame exemplifies how dedication, understanding one’s audience, and diversification can catapult a passion for beauty into a full-time influencer career. Becoming an influencer involves:
- Identifying your niche.
- Understanding what unique perspective you bring.
- Consistently producing content that adds value to your audience.
- Engaging with followers-responding to comments, understanding analytics, and being adaptive to trends.
- Being authentic. Your audience follows you for your unique voice and perspective, so maintain that integrity across your content and partnerships.
Influencing is no longer just about posting aspirational content; it’s about creating a sustainable business model that leverages personal brand, engages a dedicated audience and diversifies income streams.