Former image consultant Tati Westbrook became an international sensation when she created her YouTube beauty and lifestyle channel GlamLifeGuru (later to be re-christened Tati) in November 2010. Since then, she’s gone from strength to strength, reaching over 9 million subscribers on her channel (which now has more than 1,000 videos and over half a billion views) and branching out into her own range of cosmetics and vitamin supplements. As expected, there have been some controversies along the way (more on which coming up), but with her new beauty line, Tail Beauty, fresh on the shelves and generating huge media excitement, she’s proved it takes more than a few knocks to keep a good Youtuber down. Find out more with these ten fast facts.
1. She was a child actress
Long before YouTube, long even before the internet, Westbrook had a very different, albeit brief career. In 2007, Westbrook appeared as an unnamed sorority girl in 10 episodes of Greek; almost a decade prior to that, she’d appeared as a “terrorized teen” in episode 25, season eight of Unsolved Mysteries. Given that her mom, Cindy Krievins, is a talent agent/manager and both her sisters, Erika Krievins and Sabrina Krievins, are actors, perhaps her brief career on the box is less of a surprise than we thought.
2. She performed on Dance Showdown 3
In 2013, Westbrook proved she was more than just a dab hand with a concealer brush when she put on her dancing shoes for Dance Showdown 3, a dance competition web series hosted by former America’s Best Dance Crew contestant, D-Trix. Judging from the social media comments she posted a few years down the line, it’s not an experience she’s in any hurry to repeat. “OMG. I wish I could erase this from my brain!” she tweeted. “The dance, outfit, hair, [and] makeup. I didn’t pick ANY of it & the judge telling me that it would be better to wear a skimpy outfit so people would look at my body, not my moves SMH”.
3. She had a massive public feud with James Charles
In May 2019, Westbrook got into a very public spat with 19-year-old social media sensation, James Charles. The feud started after Charles promoted beauty ingestible brand, SugarBearHair, a major competitor of Westbrook’s own line of vitamin supplements, on Instagram. She responded in kind with a 43-minute YouTube video in which she not only called Charles out for his disloyalty, but also accused him of bullying other social media influences and sexually harassing men. Charles posted an apology shortly after, but by that time, the damage was done. Further to the spat, he lost around 3 million subscribers (which he’s subsequently regained), while Westbrook gained around 4 million.
4. Her friendship with Jeffree Star may be on pause
Westbrook and fellow internet celebrity Jeffree Star have been friends for a long time. Westbrook has been a longtime proponent of his cosmetics range on her YouTube channel, while Jeffree was one of her staunchest supporters during her sensational feud with James Charles. The pair have even appeared together on a video on Jeffree’s channel: Get Ready In My Private Jet. If the latest signs are anything to go by, however, the long friendship may be at an end. Keen eyed fans will have noticed Jeffree unfollowed Westbrook on social media in September, and while the reason for the “split” isn’t confirmed, many have speculated that Westbrook’s new cosmetics line is too much stiff competition for Star (who’s also launching his own range with Shane Dawson over the coming weeks) to handle.
5. She waited 7 years to launch her beauty range
Westbrook’s new beauty range, Tati Beauty, has been 7 years in the making. “It takes time to do it the right way and I had certain things that were non-negotiable to me and I had other offers–other offers to collaborate,” she explained to E! about the reason it took so long to come about.
6. It took her a while to get to grips with making videos
When Westbrook first started her YouTube channel in 2010, she knew next to nothing about the technicalities of creating a good video. “At first, when I sat down to edit, it would be a twelve-hour process,” she’s since revealed. Fortunately, she’s got it down to a fine art these days… although it still takes a good few hours to create the finished product. “Beauty tutorials still take a long time, but I’ve been able to get this down to three hours,” she’s shared.
7. She’s happily married to James Westbrook
Although Westbrook tends to keep mum about her private life, she has occasionally offered us glimpses into her life. In 2017, she announced she and her partner James Westbrook had married. Fans of Westbrook were by that time already familiar with James thanks to his frequent appearances in her YouTube videos. Although the couple have no children together as yet, Westbrook is now step mother to Taylor, James’ son from a previous relationship.
8. She’s a multi-millionaire
Westbrook is living proof that you don’t have to sit in an office all day to make a mint. Thanks to her decade long drive to make the world more beautiful, Celebrity Net Worth estimates her current net worth to be in the region of $6 million, with around $1- 2 million per year coming from her YouTube channel, and the reminder from her other ventures.
9. She never sees herself quitting YouTube
Westbrook may be busy adding more strings to her bow, but she doesn’t have any plans on turning her back on the platform that made her any time soon. “Whenever I think of making a farewell video, I get really emotional,” she shared with People. “I don’t think I will ever know how to say goodbye to this. I don’t see that day coming anytime soon. I enjoy this and will keep creating content as long as my audience is enjoying it.”
10. Her new makeup line has given her peace
As a result of some ups and downs in her personal life, along with her very public feud with James Charles, 2019 certainly hasn’t been an easy year for Westbrook. However, her new make up line seems to have given her a positive new focus. “Honestly, this is the happiest I’ve been in a long time,” she told Elle. “I’ve been through a really rough year. This has brought me to such a peaceful and good place. I’m grateful.”
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