What Most People Don't Know About Niki And Gabi

"It's Niki and Gabi! Aka the girly-girl and the hipster!"

Reading this, it sounds like two girls who have created a YouTube channel to have fun and create relatable content for other teens. The fact is, Niki and Gabi are 21-year-old YouTube sensations who have almost five million subscribers and over 418 million views. Yes, they are relatable, but they are also young business gurus who have created a unique brand for themselves.

Starting out years ago with parodies and music favorites, the twins became known for their beauty picks in those videos, which led to their ultimate success. Now constantly traveling to different events and continuing to upload content to YouTube, the DeMartino twins continue to reach new success and expand their brand — while still keeping a semblance of a normal 20-something life at the same time. Let's take a look at some facts you may not know about these beauty gurus.

How it all started

Niki and Gabi had a love for creating video content even before YouTube was the big sensation it is now. It all started when they were young teens at just 13-years-old. They told Cambio all about how it started with their parodies and covers, saying "We started making videos before YouTube was even a thing on our little MacBooks when they were white and plastic back in 2008, and we would carry the webcam around our house and just make music videos...Yeah and it started from there, and then we started putting them on YouTube, and we made our beauty channel from that."

Speaking with Teen Vogue, the twins went into more detail, telling the magazine that their original channel was called 00RemakeGirls, which included all of their parody content. They started to receive comments on these videos, but not just having to do with the content they posted. Fans wanted to know how the teens did their makeup and chose their style picks for each video.

Niki and Gabi saw this as an opportunity, and created a separate channel called NikiGabiBeauty, which was eventually changed to its current title of Niki and Gabi. Today when you take a look at their YouTube page, that have combined everything they love from their different channels from music videos, to tutorials to DIY projects, the girls have made their mark on a variety of topics.

They weren't popular from the beginning

The DeMartino twins continue to grow their fan base into the multi-millions. It's hard to ever picture their channel as anything but extremely popular — but when the duo started their videos, YouTube wasn't the sensation it is now. Speaking with YSBnow, the twins shared their experiences when first starting to create their video content.

Niki said, "Because back in 2010, 2011, YouTube was not what it is now. Now it's normal — now, like, you'll find YouTubers in high school classes. Like, 'Oh, this girl is a YouTuber, I like to YouTube for fun.' Now it's a common things, but back when we started, nobody did it, so everybody kind of put us into this separate category and thought we were weird."

And who seemed to struggle the most with understanding their interest in posting content? Niki and Gabi's parents were first to wonder what their daughters were doing, but with good reason. Niki said, "The first time our parents found out about our YouTube channel and what we were doing was when they started noticing we started not being social in high school. We stopped going to events to film, we stopped hanging out with friends, and we would sit in our rooms and film. And they would ask us, 'What are you doing?' They thought we were wasting away our high school and not making memories, but here we had something in our head and we were working at it."

Gabi added, "They actually, they're both dentists, so they saw what we were doing, and they're like, even though you have an audience, they weren't taking it seriously because they thought, like studies and everything was way more important." But it all worked out in the end. Both girls are studying in college, while at the same time creating their content and expanding their well-known brand.

How they pick the music for their parodies

Creating a business with a sibling can be risky, as you have to make sure both are happy and putting out the product they want. For Niki and Gabi, their twin connection has made this way easier. They'll be the first to tell you that they are very different — while Gabi is the girly-girl, Niki gives off the more hipster vibes. But the style of their videos work and they both agree on the look of them.

While discussing with Teen Vogue how the twins agree on what music to use in their videos, they shared how easy it actually is. Niki said, "So how Gabi and I choose songs... is actually really easy because we are twins, and as much as we're different, we have very similar song tastes. If I hear a song and think, 'Oh my God, it's a Niki and Gabi song. It's something we'll both like.' And I'll have to run home and show her." That's some serious sisterly-love.

So what are these ladies' go-to's music-wise when they are creating a video? During the interview they listed off some of their favorites, including, Robyn, Ellie Goulding, Chvrches, and Sia, among many others.

How they made good music out of a bad breakup

When the DeMartino twins announced they were coming out with a music collaboration, it shouldn't have been a surprise. The talented duo had created musical parodies and posted them on YouTube for years, but this showed that Niki and Gabi were not slowing down and had even more skills to show off. The song "First" was released on January 1, 2017, and during an interview with AOL, the girls opened up about the song's origins.

Gabi shared that she worked on the song with a friend over the summer, trying to make it relatable to their age group. "After I rendered it, Niki went through this terrible breakup the past month or two and as a sister going through that I didn't know what to do," she said, adding that her sister's reaction to the song was perfect. Gabi said, "She calls me and [says], 'I just listened to this five times. [I] know all the words. This is my new favorite song. Let's make this a single! Let's do this!' I was like OMG, I didn't even think of it like that!"

It was a positive song that helped in a personal, negative situation. Niki opened up about her breakup and how this song helped her. "I listened to this song every other day, then every day. I would put it on repeat in the car, and I knew all the words...I think every girl should have this song. It's a 'feel good, be sassy, not sad' song." And all of those girls seemed to agree. Just a few weeks after the twins unveiled the song and music video on YouTube, the content had almost four million views. You go, girls!

What inspires the twins

So what keeps these two sisters creating content non-stop? They have crazy schedules, but still love to post videos each and every week. When interviewed by Nicole's Celebrity News at Beautycon NYC, they were asked about what inspires them to keep doing what they're doing. Niki shared, "It's just honestly what we love. Like, I know that sounds really generic, but what inspires us is just like, she'll give me ideas, I'll give her ideas, and we both love the same thing, so together we create this awesome video."

Gabi then jumped in and focused on a big reason for their success. She said, "And the subscribers. I love how they have something to look forward to, and it makes me really excited...I want them to be so excited. I'm going to look at their requests, and put little previews on my Snap stories, and see if they can guess and get them all excited." It's easy to see the twins' passion when they talk about their fans and the feeling seems to be mutual. Their fan base keeps getting bigger and bigger, which seems to only inspire Niki and Gabi more and more.

How they balance their busy lives

Running a YouTube channel, on top of being a college student, having fun, and keeping up relationships is not a simple task. Both Niki and Gabi admit it's not easy, but they've always been up for the challenge. Speaking with Glitter Magazine, the girls described how they handle all of their different tasks day-by-day. Gabi described this, saying, "We balance it by always planning ahead and creating an agenda. We make sure we schedule time on the weekends for our boyfriends and personal down time, we make sure during the school week we completely devote to school, and then on Saturdays or Sundays (when we're not with our boyfriends), we make sure we tape a new video, in which we'd spend the following school week editing and working on along with school."

Wow, they have some fierce discipline to get everything done. And yet time and time again, we see new content posted and the twins continue to work even harder. But as Gabi said, school is a top priority for them and they are both going on their own paths when it comes to what they are studying. They both are majoring in communications, but while Niki is minoring in journalism, Gabi loved her costume history course. We don't doubt they'll one day bring their studies to their work and continue to create even more amazing projects.

A day off? What they would do

Being so busy with school, boyfriends, family and their business ventures, it makes you wonder when these DeMartino sisters have any free time to just have fun. Glimmer Magazine asked just this question — wondering what Niki and Gabi's perfect day off would look like. Both went the route of of a relaxing day.

Niki said, "Not having anything to do! I'd get to sleep in until mid-afternoon, and just lay around watching movies or TV shows, being cozy in my bed, and just having a complete relaxing day." That sounds amazing to us too! And as for Gabi, she doesn't mind leaving her bed — at least for just part of the day. She told the magazine her perfect day off included, "Definitely going shopping with my friends, baking, or just lying in my bed watching old films — specifically (my favorite) Breakfast at Tiffany's."

With the amount these twins work, they both seem very deserving of this perfect day off.

Their tips for YouTubers

So what do these YouTube pros suggest to those who want to take the same path and find success with their content? It's all about being you and unique in who you are. Gabi told Cambio, "Stay raw to who you are. Don't try to be any other YouTuber but yourself, and upload constantly because people want to subscribe to people that post frequently."

Niki added to this as well, focusing on the idea that the content you post should be important to you. "I think being passionate about what you're making and putting it up there and being proud of it and being yourself 100 percent is what's going to be successful because you have to be true to you!"

And even if you don't want to be a YouTube sensation, Niki and Gabi give advice along those same lines to teens in general. They told Glitter Magazine, "Just to be you, and not care what anyone else thinks. If you do you, you'll be happiest. In high school or middle school, people can be so harsh and try to make you feel bad for doing things you like or being who you are, and in the end, their opinions won't matter, but yours. Be who YOU want to be." What good advice from some excellent role models for teens right now. At such a young age, Niki and Gabi have found their calling and stay true to themselves through it all. We can't wait to see what happens for them next!