Social Media Star: YouTube talent Dulce Candy on beauty collabs, family time and joining the army

Each Friday, we’ll be profiling one of our favourite movers and shakers on social media. From the pop-up power of Pinterest to the beautifully crafted images on Instagram, we’re learning the tricks of the trade from the ladies that do it best (and most stylishly, of course).

From a trip to Paris to customize her own eyeshadow to a JustFab Shoes collaboration in support of a military charity, Dulce Candy Ruiz is one YouTuber we want to know more about. And clearly, we’re not the only ones: She’s amassed a following of over 1.2 million subscribers on her beauty and style-focused channel Dulce Candy.

When you see street style shots of this petite California girl, it’s hard to imagine that Ruiz is a trained Army mechanic with a tour to Iraq under her belt. But it was her time on active duty—spending weeks in an army combat uniform—that made her crave a creative outlet for all things girly. Thus, Dulce Candy was born. Consistency and maintaining the special connection she has with her viewers is what has catapulted Ruiz to her impressive number of YouTube (and blog!) followers, and it’s also helped her land well-deserved collaborations. We love that she’s not afraid to admit that her personal style has evolved through a few hits and misses. Read on as we get to know this beauty and style vlogger more and got her to share some tips for all you aspiring YouTube gurus.

How long have you been on YouTube? What motivated you to start posting videos?
I’ve been making YouTube videos for the past 5 years. It all began as a hobby for me and I never knew it would turn out to be the best thing that ever happened. I started because I was active duty in the Army as a mechanic and filming YouTube videos was an outlet for me to express myself as a woman, which I couldn’t do because of the military.

Having over 1.2 million subscribers is pretty impressive, how did that happen?
It definitely took a lot of work and time. Consistency is also a major factor to gaining a strong audience.  I also have a special connection with my viewers because they’ve watched me grow into the woman I am today and it’s thanks to them that I’ve had great opportunities.

With such a huge following on YouTube, are there any challenges?
Maintaining a YouTube channel is a lot of work.  The challenge for me is trying to balance being a wife and mother with being a YouTube vlogger full time.

What do you think separates your YouTube channel from other channels?
There are so many great channels and they all have different personalities so I think it’s very important to stay true to who you really are.  I also do a lot of research and I try to bring new ideas to my channel to inspire my viewers. It’s a lot of work, but it’s gratifying when I start to receive positive feedback.

You share a lot of ‘inspired by’ looks and tutorials, what are some of your favorites?
My favorites are always the ones I do of either Jennifer Lopez or Selena Gomez. They are both different types of styles. I love recreating JLO because she’s glamorous and sexy and Selena Gomez is playful and fun.

How would you describe your personal style?
It took me a lot of hits and misses to finally be able to define my personal style and I was able to do that because I’m not afraid to experiment with fashion and break the rules. I would say my style is experimental, fun, playful, and flirty.

Who are some of your favourite bloggers and vloggers right now?
My favorite YouTube vloggers have always been PurseBuzz and EnKoreMakeup. They have been around longer than I have and I always learn something new from them. They’re great teachers and they are always so positive.

You seamlessly curate a blog and a YouTube channel, how do you balance your time between them?
My husband Jesse is the key to my success on YouTube. He’s always been extremely supportive of everything I do and he helps me out a lot when it comes to filming my videos and making sure I have time to get creative and film. If I didn’t have his support it wouldn’t be feasible to be a full time mom and wife and finding time to film and edit all by myself.

Aside from YouTube, what social media platforms do you enjoy using? How important is social media for your personal brand?
I enjoy Instagram the most! I can share bits and pieces of my day with my subbies and give them a behind the scenes look to any projects I might be working on. Social media is very important because I can stay connected with my audience and inform them of new videos or blog post that they might have missed in their feed. I also enjoy Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook. I manage all of them easily because they’re all linked to each other.

Besides working on your blog and YouTube channel, what do you do during your spare time?
There’s nothing in this world that I love the most than spending time with my family. Since I’m always so busy with work, I cherish every free moment that I have to be with my family. We love to travel and explore the world, so we are always out and bout making memories together.

What advice would you give to aspiring YouTube gurus?
My advice would be to not be afraid to be yourself on camera. Personality is what’s going to connect you to your audience first and foremost. Also, doing YouTube because you LOVE it and it’s something you enjoy not for money or recognition. When the right reasons are there, everything else just falls into place. My last bit of advice would be to stay consistent. With thousands and thousands of channels nowadays, it’s pretty easy to get lost and never be seen if videos are only being posted twice a month or less to a channel. A lot of people think success and subscribers happen over night but the truth is it takes time and a lot of work and effort. As long as you don’t give up and you stay positive and consistent, you’re bound for success!

What’s your favourite collaboration that you’ve worked on?
There are two companies that always come to the top of my head as my favorite brands to work with. One of them is Sigma Beauty. I did a collaboration with them and it included customizing my own eyeshadow from scratch and a trip to Paris, France! Not to mention that the owners are the most caring and supportive people! The second brand I love is Benefit Cosmetics. They threw me the biggest 1 Million Subscribers meet and greet in San Francisco. They went above and beyond to make me and my family feel special and pampered that day and I’ll never forget that. I’m a sucker for their beauty products and I’m always excited to find out what new awesome product they develop next.

Do you have any exciting projects coming up?
There’s a really exciting project that launches in a few months that I can’t talk abut just yet, but I can’t wait to share with everyone when the time comes!

The post Social Media Star: YouTube talent Dulce Candy on beauty collabs, family time and joining the army appeared first on FASHION Magazine.