Her blog, YouTube channel, working with the United Nations on Global Goals, and her new book Bloom: Navigating Life and Style is a list of only some of this Canadian-turned-Londoner’s accomplishments. We talked to Estée Lalonde on the development of her career, growing her channel, and what she’ll be premiering at Buffer Festival this year.
How did your channel come about?
I started my channel a few months after I moved to England: I was 19, I didn’t really know anybody, and I didn’t know anything about England. I first started with a blog, then a YouTube channel and it kind of just went from there! I do predominantly talk about beauty and lifestyle but I really focus on women empowerment, and I do things with the UN Global Goals, so I’m starting to focus a little more on social issues as well as the beauty area. I want my channel to be really well rounded and I find it’s changing a little bit as I get older.
What do you think made your videos and your channel unique compared to other beauty and lifestyle channels?
I think the thing with my channel is, it really isn’t like most other beauty and lifestyle channels. I do a lot of Q&As, I talk a lot about feminism, but at the same time, I never said that I was the ‘fashion’ or ‘beauty’ guru because I didn’t actually start out knowing anything about it and I was really honest with that. As well, I can kind of be quite funny in the videos. I try to be how I would be with my friends and family; I try to just be my real self even when I’m talking about make-up.
You recently announced your new and first book! Congrats! How did that get started and what was the process like in creating it?
My book is called Bloom: Navigating Life and Style and I started working on it over a year ago. It was a labour of love and a big passion project for me. It’s a book on all the lessons I’ve learned about the lessons in my life and I really wanted to take a chance to talk to my viewers on where I really came from and talk about the journey growing up in suburban Canada to now, running my own business in London. There’s a lot of empowerment and I’m really excited about it.
What can people expect from your book?
I hope [anyone who reads the book] is so pleasantly surprised with how it’s designed. I worked with an incredible graphic designer but also when they read it, I talk a lot about personal things I’ve never spoken about on my channel before, things like anxiety, depression, my pretty intense body image issues and I talk about overcoming those things as well.
What is it like when the camera isn’t rolling?
It’s pretty much the same. I pretty much vlog everything I’m doing that day and honestly, I’m a really chilled out person. I like to watch TV, walk my dog, go to the market, really boring stuff, but when the cameras are not rolling, I am in my lounge-wear, chilling.
Can you give us a brief on what you’ll be premiering at Buffer Festival this year?
One of the videos we’ll be premiering is a secret garden tour of London. I’m really passionate about plants, I think they give wonderful energy. Living in a big city is so stressful sometimes so we really wanted to do a video showing the green spaces in London. I chose three of my favourite green-spaces that maybe people didn’t know about in London and I thought it would be really cool for people who’ve never been to London to see that too.
What are your go-to YouTube channels to watch?
Janine Maral is culture writer and content strategist. She enjoys podcasts, Notion, and internet communities.
