Ruining my recommended algorithm across all platforms, yet again.
There are few things on the internet that bring me as much joy as the Lonely Island SNL Digital Shorts. “I’m On a Boat,” “I Just Had Sex” and “D**k in a Box” were instant classics, but “Lazy Sunday” will always be my favorite. To this day, I cannot watch it without getting fits of giggles. They’re just having so much fun! I was therefore enchanted to learn (via Wikipedia, of course) that “Lazy Sunday” helped to launch YouTube as a platform, as a result of its viral success.*
As I have previously mentioned, I love YouTube. Like many, my original introduction to YouTube was watching viral videos of cute cats. I saw the platform as a place to find funny meme videos for years, not really thinking about it as anything more significant. I uploaded my own version of “David After Dentist” called “Kayvon After Wisdom Teeth.” It’s a magical tale of a young Iranian man discussing airplanes and his dream to be a ninja, but he’s got a political career now and a law degree so I think I won’t link it, just to be safe. Aside from the quick-laugh content, though, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the other parts of YouTube, until one day I came across a KathleenLights video. I looked back – I watched “Liquid Lipstick Collection | BATTLE OF THE LIQUID LIPPIES” on June 4, 2016. I actually suspect that this was as a result of watching Safiya Nygaard (then at Buzzfeed) detail her at-work liquid lipstick collection. Which is pretty amazing, but I’ll get to that in a second.
KathleenLights introduced me to the world of beauty YouTubers. I learned about makeup palettes and how to do my eyeshadow, which was pretty exciting. I enjoyed watching their tutorials and reviews. Over the years, I’ve moved away from watching this kind of content, as it as largely turned into subtle (or not-so-subtle) product commercials and then devolved into drama, which I just can’t deal with. I do love a good makeup collection declutter, though. I started watching Jenna Marbles, Simply Nailogical, Taylor Wynn, and Threadbanger as a way to de-stress.
What does all of this have to do with soap, though? Well, when the aforementioned Safiya Nygaard left Buzzfeed she quickly became my favorite creator on YouTube. Her videos are smart, well-produced and -researched and funny. When she made “I Tried Following a Soap Art Tutorial“, she talked about the “satisfying footage” of soap art tutorials as she embarked on her “fancy soaping quest.” At the time, I didn’t really get it – I enjoyed her video, but didn’t get any farther than that. Safiya made a follow up – “I Tried Following A Soap Cupcake Tutorial,” and I had the same reaction. Third time is the charm, though – when “I Tested Clickbait DIY Soap Hacks” came out, it hit at the perfect intersection of quarantine and maternity leave. Saf linked to Katie Carson’s “Professional Soap Maker Reacts to Viral Soap Hacks” and I fell down the rabbit hole that is Royalty Soaps (another cool woman-owned/-run business!).
There are currently 569 videos on Katie’s channel, dating back to 2013. The early videos seem to be a variety of reviews and soap making, but over time she has really come into her own with the satisfying soap pouring videos. I will admit that from time to time I do fast-forward through the lye-pouring and some of the piping, but the soap designs and (particularly) the slicing of the final product are just so very soothing. I appreciate the care and attention that Katie (and other soap makers on YouTube) put in to their products. I have formed opinions on my preferred designs and techniques. I ordered some soap-making supplies. It’s a whole thing now. I suppose this is my maturing taste – from memes to beauty videos to pregnancy blogs to artisan crafts. Sprinkle in the odd “how to clean your vacuum” video and you’ve arrived at the essence of why I think YouTube is so wonderful – you can find someone to teach you or show you just about anything you need to know, in the same place that you can watch something that will make you cry tears of laughter on a day you need it. Like anywhere on the internet, there are some not-so-nice things about YouTube, but let’s just focus on the positive. After all, it’s 2020 and right now, if watching soap dry is your jam – go for it. YOLO.
* Andy Samberg seems to reference this in the only-slightly-less-wonderful “Lazy Sunday 2” when he says “still waitin’ on my YouTube check.” Yes, I rewatched all the digital shorts while writing this.
Hickmans at Home 