Southmoreland senior becomes ‘YouTube famous’
Kaelei Whitlatch
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Rachel Garstecki, Southmoreland senior, sits in front of a camera, smiling brightly. “What’s up guys, it’s Rach, and I’m back again with another video,” she says, the lights on the wall of her room glimmering in the background. Many teenagers only get in front of a camera for school projects, but Garstecki does this as a hobby by making YouTube videos.
Garstecki has reached over 35,000 YouTube subscribers over the past year and has been making videos since seventh grade but never was serious about it until last July.
“Seeing all the opportunities that came with YouTube videos (inspired me),” Garstecki said.
On her channel under the username “Rachalia,” Garstecki focuses mainly on hair and makeup tutorials. For example, Garstecki made a video called “100+ Coats of a Liquid Lipstick Challenge.” In the video she applies excessive amounts of lipstick until the container is empty. This challenge became a popular trend in the online beauty community.
“I saw this (trending) recently, and I thought it was really gross,” Garstecki said in the video. “But I was kind of curious to see what it would be like if I tried it.”
Garstecki’s most popular video, “The Power of Makeup,” has gotten over one million views.
In the video she begins with no makeup on. Then, she goes through the process of applying her makeup until she reaches the final product.
“Honestly, I thought it was kinda crazy how different I looked without makeup versus with makeup on,” Garstecki said. “The trend was going around, and I figured it would go viral.”
Garstecki had a lot of mixed emotions about the accomplishment.
“(I was) embarrassed at first because of how many people saw me without makeup,” she said. “But then I was amazed that that many people actually watched something I worked really hard on.”
While searching Google for her YouTube username, Garstecki found out the video was also featured on an Italian fashion website which features her video with one sentence: “Rachalia goes from ‘Plain Jane,’ to ‘JACK’d Judy’ in this great transformation video.”
“I laughed for the longest time at the words ‘JACK’d Judy,” Garstecki said. “I didn’t know what it meant, but I took it as a compliment, and I was like, ‘alright, I’ll take it!’”
Because of the attention from the video, Garstecki receives sponsorships from companies looking for her to promote their products.
When companies sponsor Garstecki, they contact her through email or the website Famebit, where brands and social media creators work together in the world of sponsorship.
Garstecki’s favorite gift that she has received from a sponsor is a wooden purple watch from the company JORD. In her video about the watch, she creates a makeup look inspired by the colors of the watch.
“(JORD) is a Swedish name, and it means earth, land, and soil,” Garstecki said in the video. “I really, really love this watch, and I love the idea behind it. I’ve never actually seen a wooden watch before, so to see a watch that’s more down-to-earth if you will, it was so surprising to me.”
Being a content creator on YouTube, Garstecki also receives comments on her videos from people all over the world.
“Everyone tells me I look like an elf,” she said. “Someone else said exactly ‘thank god makeup exist,’ and I laughed for days!”
It takes the 17-year-old about eight hours to film, edit, and upload a video to YouTube. Although she films most of her videos in her room at home, sometimes she goes outside to make her videos.
Ashton Accipiter, Garstecki’s friend of over 10 years, helped her film her most recent video “Summer Lookbook Shop Ulala.”
“We explored outside a little until we found the perfect forest-like area (to film),” Accipiter said. “I love her videos. I’ve been supportive and excited about them since she started.”
Garstecki hopes she will be able to create more videos in the future.
“I hope I eventually will be able to branch out and explore even more opportunities that come with making videos,” she said.
When it comes to getting camera shy, Garstecki says, “Sometimes (I get nervous) because I know that people I know are going to be watching my videos, but I do my best to just be myself.”
Check out her videos on her channel by clicking below:
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