Jaclyn Hill. I had heard her name through other YouTube makeup gurus I watch, and I may have even unknowingly watched one of her videos before. I only decided to sit down and search her channel after my friend mentioned her to me. After viewing a variety of her videos, I finally hit the ‘subscribe’ button. She’s not my favorite, but she’s worth watching.

Jaclyn (it’s common to refer to YouTubers by their first names) is a declared professional makeup artist in her mid-20s. She has been on Youtube for more than three years now and is nearing two million subscribers.

Like I said, she does makeup for a living. When hearing tips from a working makeup artist, it’s easier to trust them. Jaclyn is educating and informative, but that doesn’t mean she’s staring into the camera and lecturing you. Every video is casual and informal, giving you the impression of listening to a friend give some advice. She’ll recommend various techniques, products and brushes.

Viewers will appreciate Jaclyn’s genuine character. She does not come off as superficial or fake, and her business sponsorships for makeup companies do not taint her honest opinion. She’ll tell you if something’s not pigmented enough or isn’t satisfactory.

Her videos are mostly made up of tutorials and demos, so the majority of her content is instructive. Still, there are monthly favorites, review and swatch videos for products sprinkled throughout.

One noticeable aspect of Jaclyn’s channel is that it focuses mostly on makeup. Unlike many YouTube beauty gurus, almost all of her videos are strictly about makeup. You’d rarely, if at all, find a fashion video. That’s a pro for me because I’m not interested in others’ clothing or OOTDs (outfits of the day), but for others, that may be a con.

The real con for me was the scarcity of personal chat videos she posts. It’s rare for her to post a video of her just sharing about herself. The real backbone behind YouTubers is their personal connection and bond they create with their viewers. Although Jaclyn bursts with energy and charm during short tangents in her makeup videos, I’d want to see more of that as a separate video.

Maybe adding a more variety of content (tags, Q&As, life updates, etc.) would liven up her channel. After watching a few of her videos, I began to get bored. It wasn’t an “I am about to die” bored, but it was an “I’d rather be watching KathleenLights” bored. Because she has a similar process of applying eyeshadow for every look, at some point every tutorial begins to look the same. It begins to seem like every eye look is the same just with different colors swapped in and out.

She isn’t a must-see in my book, but something about her got me to subscribe. Although I can’t see myself binge watching her videos while procrastinating on homework, I do see myself keeping up with her content as she continues to post. Jaclyn Hill is an impressive makeup artist and YouTuber, but she’s not the only one out there.