Monica Tells Viewers How She Implements her Impeccable Style Into Her Reaction Videos
Based in the UK, Monica Catapusan uses her signature girly style, amiable personality, and hilarious reactions to create a community online unlike any other. Currently sitting at 47.2K subscribers Monica’s audience has only been growing as she covers more exciting shows and movies from Disney, to Marvel, to Netflix series. Since she started vlogging on Youtube 3 years ago, Monica has shifted her focus to reaction videos but still incorporates vlogging elements including beauty, style, and an overall happy vibe that viewers can’t shy away from. Read on to hear Monica’s Youtube story, what’s next for her, and how she comes up with her beautiful looks/makeup for her videos.
Q. When did you decide you wanted to do Youtube? What other careers were you interested in pursuing before Youtube?
A. I decided to do Youtube as a hobby. I was at the start-end of [university] when I decided to do it for giggles cause I talk a lot anyway [laughs] so I thought I might as well make videos where I talk about things. I was actually studying psychology so I was gonna be a therapist at the time. I had a work experience situation and I was like ‘ok this is actually not for me’. I love studying psychology but when you put it into practice you need to have a certain kind of nerve when you go out in the field. I have the knowledge now and I was always interested in learning about it but it’s not something I’m going to be pursuing.
Q. How does being based in the UK but covering primarily American content help you reach a broader audience?
A. Honestly, I don’t really think about it like that, I just watch whatever I wanna watch on my channel. I don’t really think about who it’s reaching. 70-60% of my audience is from America but America is pretty big.
Q. Your videos primarily focus on reactions to popular movies and shows. What’s a movie or show that you always love coming back to or that just really stuck with you?
A. I’m actually re-watching How I Met Your Mother for like the thousandth time it’s one of my favorite shows. It’s very clever and the inside jokes, the direction is very clever and it’s just brilliant. I like Sense 8. It was so good. It was such a unique idea and I was so upset when they canceled it. There was absolutely no reason for them to cancel it. I thought it was amazing. I don’t like rewatching it cause it makes me upset that they never finished it but when someone asks me what’s a really good show I always say Sense 8.
Q. Your looks are an integral part of your channel as you try to correspond your outfit and makeup with the topic of your video. When did you decide you wanted to implement that into your channel?
A. I think it started out with me, not even explicitly saying that that’s what I’m going to be doing. I was just like ok I’m gonna be watching this so maybe that color kind of matches it. Now it’s a thing where I say ‘I’ve done this specifically for this’. When I started doing reaction stuff it was in the middle of the pandemic and I wasn’t going out, nobody was. It was a way for me to feel pretty and have an excuse to put makeup on and wear a matching outfit. It was really helpful for me and now people expect it in the videos and I really enjoy that.
Q. What has been your favorite look?
A. I’m currently doing Bridgerton. I’ve specifically bought really nice things for it. I’ve bought corsets and ethereal fairy stuff so I’m really enjoying that. The Bridgerton [looks] I really like cause I just feel extra girly and feminine when I wear it. I like the Loki ones. For my Loki series, I was just doing green and I was rummaging through my wardrobe to find green clothes and I was like ‘oh I actually have a lot of green’ [laughs].
Q. What’s something audiences may not know about you that you want to share? Hidden talents?
A. I think I might’ve said this in a Q&A video and I was very stuck [laughs]. I like to think I’m a little bit artsy. I think that comes through with the fact that I do my makeup and how I edit my videos, so I think the creativity comes through there. I used to make these humongous cards for my family whether it was for a birthday or for Christmas and I would spend like two days on these cards. I haven’t done it in ages but I’m starting to do more artsy stuff now. I’m doing a bullet journal. You have a blank notebook and then you use this specific tape you use for journaling and then you just make it.
Q. What’s next for you? What shows and movies are you looking forward to reviewing on your channel?
A. I do movies sometimes and in my No Way Home video, I asked people if they wanted to see the original trilogy with Tobey McGuire and a bunch of people came back and were like please do it. So that’s on my list and I’m quite excited for it. I’ve only ever done a throwback movie like once or twice so this will be really fun to do. This year it’s been 20 years since the original trilogy was released so I’m gonna tie it back to that in the video.