YouTube has teamed up with Bailey Sarian to pay homage to one of its most enduring formats: The “get ready with me” (GRWM) video. Sarian’s video traces the origins and growth of the GRWM trend, which has now reached six billion lifetime views on YouTube.
Sarian’s tribute to GRWM videos is a textbook example of the format. While donning one of her favorite gothic looks, the true crime creator gives her viewers a lesson in YouTube history.
GRWM videos date back to the early days of the YouTube beauty community, when gurus, “haul girls,” and other colorful characters turned their makeup routines into storytelling devices. Sarian’s video highlights a few of the pioneers who popularized the GRWM format, including Eva Gutkowski and Amanda Steele.
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As the 2010s rolled on, GRWM videos moved beyond beauty, with creators like Jenn Im and Amanda Castillo leaning into the format’s narrative possibilities. That was also the era when Sarian herself entered the YouTube scene. With her trademark blend of beauty tutorials and murder mysteries, the California native has gathered seven million YouTube subscribers on her primary channel.
Sarian completed her GRWM tribute by looking forward to the future. Channels like Piece of French are helping the format go global, and it remains a popular inclusion in many creators’ upload schedules. “Something that used to be such a solo activity ended up bringing billions of people together,” Sarian said.
YouTube celebrated the versatility of GRWM videos in a post accompanying Sarian’s video. “GRWMs turned what was once a solo activity — getting ready for a date, a wedding, or a day exploring a new city — into one that invites communities to come together and share in the process,” the post reads.
If you’d like to take a deeper dive into the world of getting ready, YouTube has compiled a playlist of the format’s greatest hits. Sarian makes multiple appearances on the list, and she’s still going strong. She continues to regularly add new videos to her signature series, titled Murder, Mystery, and Makeup.
