YouTube Wednesday: Talia Castellano…the guru who showed us all the true meaning of beauty

Hello people of the internet!!! On today’s ‘YouTube Wednesday’ we are going to discuss a very special YouTuber. It has been exactly 1 year since the tragic passing of 13 year old beauty guru Talia Castellano. I personally was a huge fan of Talia’s because she seemed to have a very kind spirit, and a beautiful soul. Despite the fact that she was suffering from a very painful disease, she still produced videos that made her viewers smile. Talia always promoted the powerful message of self-acceptance in her videos, and that is a message that is too often lost in modern society. We spend so much time, effort, and money attempting to achieve a standard of “perfection”, without even realizing what true beauty means. The fact that Talia was able to realize this at such a young age should serve as an inspiration to us all, (because let’s admit it, most people are EXTREMELY insecure at 13). So, please read on to learn all about this amazing young girl, and see what you can do to help her legacy live on.

Talia Joy Castellano was born on August 18^th, 1999 in Goldenrod, FL. Talia’s infectious optimism, honesty, and fun-loving attitude quickly helped her become a YouTube celebrity in the beauty community. Along with her beauty videos, Talia was also well known for her vlogs about her battle with cancer. Talia was first diagnosed with cancer at the age of 7 years old, when she was x-rayed and showed unusual anatomical displacements in her chest. She was diagnosed with neuroblastoma (which is a cancer normally found in young children 10 and under, and infants. This type of cancer is divided into 3 levels of severity: low, intermediate, and high risk groups). Talia underwent various types of therapies and treatments, and was said to be cancer free numerous times, however relapsed each time during her 6 year battle. Talia was later diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (which is a disease that was previously known as pre-leukemia). She quickly began gaining a loyal fanbase on YouTube, and in September 2012 was a special guest on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ (this is only a portion of Talia’s guest spot on the show, Talia Gets an Amazing Surprise) and was announced as an honorary face for ‘CoverGirl’ cosmetics. Her ‘CoverGirl’ campaigns included the slogans “Makeup is my wig”, and “Just keep swimming”. She also collaborated with the Orlando, FL based organization ‘BASE Camp Children’s Cancer Foundation’, and launched a fundraising campaign called ‘Bring Hope Home’ (which is a program that helps provide support to children battling cancer in the central Florida area and their families). Sadly, Talia passed away in Orlando, Florida, on July 16, 2013 at the ‘Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children’, after spending the last three months of her life hospitalized for palliative care (which is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses that focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness in order to improve quality of life for both the patient and their family). An announcement was made soon after Talia’s death at 11:22 a.m., on her ‘Angels For Talia’ Facebook page. Some had worried that a nursing home attorney may be needed to step in due to her death, but it was thankfully not the case with her passing, as sad as it still was. At the time of Talia’s death, her channel had more than 750,000 subscribers and 45 million total views. As of July 16, 2014 her channel has 1,358,924 subscribers, and 83,648,296 views.

Talia’s first video was uploaded on August 27^th, 2011, and was entitled ‘Crazy Eyeliner’ (you can find the link here Crazy eyeliner). This was a really fun first video because it really showed off Talia’s fun personality, and creative nature. The video consisted of Talia using black eyeliner and eye shadow to create a “Halloween/Goth” look. It was actually a really cool look, because the design included a lot of really interesting curved lines, and some color and glitter here and there, which I thought was a much better option than putting on a mask. The next video that we are going to discuss is Talia’s 2011 Foundation Routine (Foundation Routine!!!! 2011 – YouTube), which was uploaded on November 19^th, 2011. I really loved this foundation routine, because Talia used a lot of moisturizers, and tinted moisturizers, which made it the perfect summer foundation routine. Tinted moisturizers are great products to use during the summertime, because they provide coverage, but are also lightweight on your skin, so your pores won’t become clogged so easily (which is very easy to do during the summer because it’s hot and your sweating a lot more…it can just be a bad season skin wise). I thought that Talia’s foundation routine is great for a causal dinner or party because you are able to achieve a very natural look, that perfect for those days when you want to have the effects of a good makeup routine, without having to put in a lot of work to achieve the look. The final video that we are going to talk about in this blog post is Talia’s ‘Dramatic Fall Smokey Eye’ tutorial Dramatic Fall Smokey eye 🙂) which was uploaded on September 27^th, 2012. I personally loved this tutorial because I am very unskilled at achieving a smokey eye (usually my attempts make me look like I lost a boxing match), so I admire anyone who can achieve this look, and I definitely took notes from this tutorial. This video really showed how skilled Talia was with makeup, and proved that she could have had a great future in the field. I really loved this look for a special occasion, or fancy party, and just felt that it looked very mature and elegant. I really wish that I could talk to y’all about every video on Talia’s channel, because they were all so good. I HIGHLY suggest you check out her other videos, because trust me, your makeup skills will improve A LOT.

Along with her beauty videos, Talia also uploaded vlogs, where she spoke about cancer, and gave advice to other kids in similar situations. One of Talia’s vlogs that I wanted to speak about was her ‘Coping With Cancer’ (Talia’s Life: Coping with Cancer!) vlog, which was uploaded on November 26th, 2011. In this blog, Talia spoke honestly about how she juggled school and her treatments, as well as how she became confident enough to go out in public without a wig. She stated that she had to miss school regularly because she received treatment in another state; however her teachers were very accommodating. I really loved that Talia mentioned that school was a #1 priority for her, because I’m sure it was not an easy thing to keep up with due to her disease. She also explained how she used to feel insecure when people starred at her, but after dealing with cancer for so many years, became more confident in herself, and was able to use makeup as a way to accentuate her natural beauty. I definitely thought that this video is an excellent resource for anyone with cancer to watch, due to how honest and detailed Talia is.The next vlog that we are going to discuss is Talia’s dance video to Carly Rae Jepsen’s hit song ‘Call Me Maybe’ Calll mmmeee …). I really enjoyed this video, because it really showed that Talia was a fun-loving, regular middle school girl, who seemed to really enjoy dancing around and acting silly. It was nice to get this small glimpse into her life, and actually feel as if you knew her. I really like it when YouTubers allow their fans to get to know them at a personal level, because it makes you feel as if they are your friends. On July 16, 2013, Talia’s older sister Mattia uploaded a video (Talia left her handprints and footprints on the world) explaining that Talia had passed away. She explained how she planned to one day create a makeup and clothing line for Talia. On December 11, 2013, the ‘YouTube Rewind’ YouTube Rewind: What Does 2013 Say? (which is a big video that several popular YouTubers participate in to recap the past year’s events) of 2013 was dedicated to Talia.

As you can see, Talia made a HUGE impact during her time on this earth. She not only inspired fans worldwide, but was also a very accomplished and knowledgeable beauty guru. Although she was taken much too soon, her legacy has lived on in the hearts of her fans, who have taken it upon themselves to much too early, her fans have honored her by accomplishing goals that Talia put on her bucket list before she passed away. Her family has also been able to use Talia’s story as a vehicle to spread awareness of childhood cancer, and to raise funds to find cures, and help the families affected by the disease – far too many families are affected by this (be it through child cancer or even as an adult). It can cause families a lot of stress, countless evenings looking up things like individual critical illness insurance just in case something happens, and the horrible nights spent in the hospital when things get bad. But Talia was there to help, and she did so much, whether intentionally or not. I think that the best way that we can all keep Talia’s legacy alive, is to help raise awareness and to find a cure for the various forms of cancer, and by remembering what Talia taught the world about hope, positivity and true beauty, Talia truly proved that a smile is the best accessory of all.

• All photos and information used in this blog belong to Talia Castellano, her family, any and all companies and individuals involved with any of the products that are mentioned on Talia’s channel, Ellen Degeneres, any and all people/companies/etc. involved with The Ellen Degeneres Show, Covergirl cosmetic, any and all hospitals mentioned in any of Talia’s videos, nydailynews.com, and all other original owners. I do not own anything in this blog. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own. I wrote this blog for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended.