Safiya Nygaard

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I don't think there's a thread for Safiya yet (mods, feel free to delete this if I somehow missed it).

I've liked Safiya since she was with Buzzfeed, but I've started to love her ever since she started her own channel. I think she's one of the best youtubers out there right now. I find myself liking every single one of her videos - even the ones where the title doesn't appeal to me, and I'll avoid watching it for a few days or a week or whatever, and then the next time I binge a few of her videos I'll watch the one that I didn't think would appeal to me and it does? I don't understand it, but it happens every time.

I think it's partly because her personality is just so incredible, there's just something about her that is so charismatic and also down-to-earth. But also, she clearly puts a lot of effort into her videos (for example, instead of doing just a simple lookbook type thing for her styles of different decades, she'll really research it and teach her audience interesting facts of that time-period while not making it boring), while also seeming like she loves what she does. Her enthusiasm is infectious.

Anyone else loving her? Any favourite videos of hers?
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Delighted to see a Safiya thread! I'm a very new fan, I'd never seen a single video until one of them (the storage unit) was linked on the main thread a week or so ago. I love her, she's extremely engaging and her videos are really entertaining, informative and down to earth. She's such a likeable person, I wish she was my friend IRL!! I'm working my way through all her videos and will probably have watched all of them by the end of the week! I think my favourite videos so far have been the clothing hauls (Facebook and Instagram ads, Wish etc) but I've enjoyed every single one I've watched. Her bf is really sweet too!
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alittledizzy
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Yes!! Thrilled to see a Safiya thread. I actually really love basically every video she does? The only ones I've passed on were the ones with Shane Dawson, because I'm too weird about food-based stuff.
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somethingsketchy
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I've honestly watched a lot more of Safiya's videos than D&P's these past few days. Her videos about styles on different decades are what sucked me in, and now I'm hooked. Her videos are just so well-made, like whatdoiknow said, and she's really funny, so I could see myself watching anything she puts out, which I don't feel about many YouTubers. I just came home and am now probably going to spend the whole evening binge-watching her videos until Dan decides to either upload the new DINOF video he's promised or have a liveshow. I'm really looking forward to discussing Safiya's videos! :6-year-old dan:
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I love Saf. I discovered her a few months ago and I think I've watched all of her videos. I tend to watch the blind shopping ones and the "I bought the first five things recommended to me" videos. I think she's absolutely hilarious!!
"This is not children's television. I'm 26, I'm depressed, and I need edgy jokes to cope with my anxiety."
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I adore Safiya, she is a fun personality to watch. It's no wonder she's the most successful one from the ex Buzzfeeders. I love the I Dressed Like It Was ---- videos the most. I have a mild interest in the history of modern fashion and how current styles can be inspired by styles from the past and I appreciate the research she does for those. But pretty much all her videos are good.
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000dia000
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She was definitely one of my favourites from the many Buzzfeed videos I would binge, she always stood out to me back then, and just seemed so genuinely nice and cool. I didn't even need to watch any of her videos when she made a new channel, I just subscribed immediately, fortunately her her videos turned out to be so good. What I like about her, is that she doesn't push her concepts too far or try to make clickbait or do anything for shock value. She does things simply, what you see is what you get, and everything is just so chill and genuinely entertaining in a nice way. It's hard to describe what I like about her so much, she sort of gives me cool aunt vibes. Leaving Buzzfeed was definitely the best thing to ever happen for her.
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Saf is one of my faves so glad to see a thread on her.
I knew her from buzzfeed at first but I didn't really watch her for a little while after she left because I was tired of the "why I left buzzfeed" thing, but I've recently started watching her channel and it's honestly great.
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000dia000 wrote: Tue Nov 21, 2017 9:42 pm What I like about her, is that she doesn't push her concepts too far or try to make clickbait or do anything for shock value. She does things simply, what you see is what you get, and everything is just so chill and genuinely entertaining in a nice way. It's hard to describe what I like about her so much, she sort of gives me cool aunt vibes. Leaving Buzzfeed was definitely the best thing to ever happen for her.
Yep, all her videos seem very natural, nothing clickbaity or over-the-top about them. She also seems quite innovative with her video ideas, or maybe her personality and attitude are just what make them seem fresh? Does anyone know how unique her ideas actually are? I know it's hard to find an idea that's truly different and there's definitely videos out there that are similar to hers, but I usually feel like there's at least a bit of a unique twist on most of her videos.

Also - her videos seems to do very well in terms of view-to-subscriber ratio. Does anyone have any thoughts as to why? Is she just hitting that mysterious youtube algorithm perfectly? Is she secretly a witch that has spelled us all to fall in love with her? (I wouldn't be surprised tbh, and it would explain all the black clothing).

I wonder if her popularity will fade (she hasn't had her channel for all that long, and it's been successful pretty much from the start), or if she can keep this up and keep making funny, interesting content. I think she's a smart businesswoman behind all the other positive attributes about her, so I think she could actually be one of the new-ish youtubers that lasts.
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I usually stay out of discussions but I really love Saf so I had to join!
Her sub-viewer ratio is acutally comparable to Cristine's from simplynaillogical, I guess it comes with a loyal fanbase that knows that a new video will be there once a week and the quality will not disappoint:)

Anyway I also really like the fact that her bf's channel is a sort of "behind the scenes" channel and gives some insight into how the vids are made :D
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Catallena wrote: Tue Nov 21, 2017 9:38 pm I adore Safiya, she is a fun personality to watch. It's no wonder she's the most successful one from the ex Buzzfeeders. I love the I Dressed Like It Was ---- videos the most. I have a mild interest in the history of modern fashion and how current styles can be inspired by styles from the past and I appreciate the research she does for those. But pretty much all her videos are good.
Agreed even though my interest in fashion history is not just mild, I live for that shit. :lol: My first video of hers was actually the one where she dressed like it was 2007. I'm someone who really loves costume dramas for that very reason and I have to say, Safiya's take on historical outfits is so much better than that of a lot of costume designers who work for big historical films and shows. Her level of research for these videos is amazing and I hope she goes back as far as possible with this series, I can see her go back as far as the late 1920s, I think. (And maybe then start over with the decades she's already done but with earlier years? Like, her 1970s video was great but fashion in 1977 was different from fashion in, say, 1973, so she could well make another one someday and I'd love that!).

I'm usually not that interested in make-up videos but I still watch hers just because I like her and how wellmade her videos are.
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Katka wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2017 1:05 pmI'm usually not that interested in make-up videos but I still watch hers just because I like her and how wellmade her videos are.
Agree - I think a lot of it has to do with how her makeup videos are never just makeup? I find the whole process of experimenting with things to make a new thing interesting and the fact that she does that with makeup is cool, or if she's doing her 'stranger bought my makeup' or the blindfolded thing - where's always some outcome to anticipate that isn't just 'and now my makeup is done.'
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alittledizzy wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2017 3:46 pm
Katka wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2017 1:05 pmI'm usually not that interested in make-up videos but I still watch hers just because I like her and how wellmade her videos are.
Agree - I think a lot of it has to do with how her makeup videos are never just makeup? I find the whole process of experimenting with things to make a new thing interesting and the fact that she does that with makeup is cool, or if she's doing her 'stranger bought my makeup' or the blindfolded thing - where's always some outcome to anticipate that isn't just 'and now my makeup is done.'
Agreed, and this is what I meant about saf always putting her own unique twist on things. Even if it's a topic I might not be particularly interested in, she puts a fun spin on it and makes it something I enjoyed watching.

Speaking of the blindfolded makeup vid - how the hell did she do so well at that? Maybe I'm just completely inept at makeup, but I was amazed at how she picked out every product correctly and even picked a lot of the right shades (or at least close enough)
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In safiya's new video she is a) filming from 11 pm to about 4 am and b) filming the next day while wearing a specific outfit she mentions has to do with a different video.

I'm so impressed with her multitasking - but I wonder if she's gonna burn out of that kind of time management?
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alittledizzy wrote: Fri Nov 24, 2017 1:45 am In safiya's new video she is a) filming from 11 am to about 4 am and b) filming the next day while wearing a specific outfit she mentions has to do with a different video.

I'm so impressed with her multitasking - but I wonder if she's gonna burn out of that kind of time management?
I absolutely love her videos, but I don't want her to risk her mental/physical health for them... maybe it's because she is still relatively new to youtube so she is putting all the effort into her channel that she couldn't do with buzzfeed, I mean damn two quality videos per week and they constantly reach the trending page/align with her subscriber count
Saf is my favorite youtuber outside of deppy(who I found her through SimplyNailogical who I found through Phil) even if her videos may not seem original or new, her personality makes them so easy to watch
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deadcrush wrote: Fri Nov 24, 2017 4:27 am
I absolutely love her videos, but I don't want her to risk her mental/physical health for them... maybe it's because she is still relatively new to youtube so she is putting all the effort into her channel that she couldn't do with buzzfeed, I mean damn two quality videos per week and they constantly reach the trending page/align with her subscriber count
Saf is my favorite youtuber outside of deppy(who I found her through SimplyNailogical who I found through Phil) even if her videos may not seem original or new, her personality makes them so easy to watch
Yikes yeah, I don't follow her on twitter so I hadn't seen that tweet but I'm guessing that's a mark in the burnout column. I would not be mad if she mixed up her format and tried to start filling one of her two-a-week videos with simpler concepts that don't involve so much pre-planning and exhaustive work. I have a feeling her personality would be easy to coast on and she wouldn't be as stressed about executing ideas that take hours to days to film multiple times a week.
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I usually have Phil's liveshows play in the background when I'm doing other things, but this week I've used Safiya's videos. Her voice is just so pleasant. :inlove:
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somethingsketchy
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The only thing that saved today's gaming stream for me was the fact that Safiya uploaded right after it started so I knew that I would have something better to watch after the stream.
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somethingsketchy
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I would've been gloomy even without Dan's recent Twitter activity, so getting the notification for Safiya's new video definitely made my evening better. However, it somewhat bothers me that she's made several videos about cheap clothing lately. Shopping on these sites makes for entertaining videos which Safiya executes well, but I just can't stop thinking about what a waste of resources all these low-quality clothes are. Like, I feel guilty about watching and enjoying this kind of videos if that makes any sense? :snow:

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somethingsketchy wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 10:47 pm I would've been gloomy even without Dan's recent Twitter activity, so getting the notification for Safiya's new video definitely made my evening better. However, it somewhat bothers me that she's made several videos about cheap clothing lately. Shopping on these sites makes for entertaining videos which Safiya executes well, but I just can't stop thinking about what a waste of resources all these low-quality clothes are. Like, I feel guilty about watching and enjoying this kind of videos if that makes any sense? :snow:
I agree, and that is why I liked Cristine's (Simply Nailogical) approach to a Wish products video. She included a fair discussion about the ethical aspect at the end of her video: https://youtu.be/9l903UESSC8?t=11m37s

To be a bit more on-topic: I like Safiya's videos, but I personally find them a bit too drawn out. I'd rather watch a fun & concise 5 minute video than a 15 minute one, especially when it's "just" a review of one product.
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LtrllySusan wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 8:22 am
somethingsketchy wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 10:47 pm
I would've been gloomy even without Dan's recent Twitter activity, so getting the notification for Safiya's new video definitely made my evening better. However, it somewhat bothers me that she's made several videos about cheap clothing lately. Shopping on these sites makes for entertaining videos which Safiya executes well, but I just can't stop thinking about what a waste of resources all these low-quality clothes are. Like, I feel guilty about watching and enjoying this kind of videos if that makes any sense? :snow:
I agree, and that is why I liked Cristine's (Simply Nailogical) approach to a Wish products video. She included a fair discussion about the ethical aspect at the end of her video: https://youtu.be/9l903UESSC8?t=11m37s

To be a bit more on-topic: I like Safiya's videos, but I personally find them a bit too drawn out. I'd rather watch a fun & concise 5 minute video than a 15 minute one, especially when it's "just" a review of one product.
Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that video. Thanks for bringing it up, I remember liking it a lot for that exact reason.

I can definitely see where you're coming from. Safiya's videos are very thorough, for the lack of a better word, and sometimes I think she could make them a bit snappier. I really vibe with her humour, which is based on her generally just being unapologetically a bit ridiculous more than cracking a lot of jokes in a quick succession, so to me the fun is in watching her being her online persona for a longish period at the time rather than the individual jokes.

That said, as entertaining as I find her videos, I don't think most of them are that rewatchable precisely because of the length and style of them. I usually start spacing out when I rewatch her videos or show them to other people, which I mostly blame on my ADHD but also on the fact that because Safiya's videos are slower and less on-the-nose than, say, Dan and Phil's, there isn't that much new stuff to get out of them when rewatching. Snappier videos (read: D&P's videos) have more things happening at the same time and faster, and you often need to rewatch them to get all the jokes and references, while Safiya's videos have more space in them to let the funny bits sink in already on the first watch.

(I swear I don't go around purposefully comparing every single YouTuber to Dan and Phil, but if I need an example to illustrate a point, I like using them because everyone will know what I'm talking about.)
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i'm actually very much fond of the "thorough" nature of her videos, in fact it's the main reason i watch her. i might not actually get anything out of her videos but the way she prepares and presents them i feel like i'm watching something hella educational and it's engaging. i've been kind of over youtube lately and the "snappier" kind of vids like what d&p do lately, they do not inspire me in the slightest. the same reason i like christine's videos, she puts a lot of effort into even the most ridiculous videos and it's satisfying to watch someone be so productive tbh.
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I agree that her videos can feel a bit slow sometimes, even if they are really thorough and well thought out. My solution is to watch them in 1,25 speed. I do that quite a lot with talk heavy vlogs and people who talk slower (because I'm a inpatient millennial with 0 attention span).
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somethingsketchy
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In the end, all of this boils down to personal preference. Like I mentioned earlier, I have ADHD, so I constantly need to balance between finding videos overstimulating or understimulating, which makes me very particular about the YouTubers and videos I watch. Safiya's videos are definitely in the category "not overstimulating", which makes most of them pleasant to watch once, but since my brain craves something new and shiny to hold my attention all the time, it's hard for me to rewatch her videos. I also couldn't attentively watch any of Deppy's live shows if I weren't giving my brain additional stimulation by sending bullet points and comments to a friend who can't watch them live at the same time. (Hi to her if she's reading this!)

Now, on the other end of the spectrum, some DAPG videos and especially the gaming streams are absolute hell for me: D&P shouting over each other while playing a game I should be able to follow at the same time is guaranteed to overwhelm me. I need to rewatch that kind of videos just to make sense of everything that happens and is said in them, as they often make me zone out as much as videos that feel too slow for me.

@kavat: I regularly listen to audiobooks at 1.25x or 1.50x speed, but haven't thought to try that out on YouTube videos. Thanks for the tip!
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A few hours ago Safiya uploaded a video where she dresses like Bratz dolls. I'm only one year younger than her, so the video gave me horrible primary school flashbacks of the early 00s clothing style and playing with the dolls at friends' houses. I know that many people on this forum are older (and some younger) than me, so I'd be curious to hear what other people got out of the video. Was it entertaining without the childhood nostalgia factor?

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