We all know her; we all love her — Alix Earle is undoubtedly TikTok’s new “it girl.” Earle is a student at the University of Miami who creates beauty, lifestyle and “Get Ready With Me” (GRWM) style content. On the outside, she presents as your classic blonde, skinny, white party girl. Most of Earle’s videos consist of applying her makeup while talking to the camera about her plans that night or some ridiculous escapade gone wrong. And although all of this is an integral part of Earle’s brand, she does a few things differently than her peers.
For simplicity and brevity’s sake, we’ll only discuss two stratifications of TikTok here: beauty influencing and body positivity, with Alix Earle serving as the unicorn bridge between the two.
To establish the two factions, we first have the filtered, surgically augmented and airbrushed highlight reel which dominates the beauty influencing industry. This type portrays an enviable state of seeming perfection — perfect body, perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect life. No matter the reality behind the screen, the façade never wavers.
While on the other hand, the body positivity movement of social media aims to promote the exact opposite. Influencers highlight the natural beauty of their stretch marks, cellulite, acne, body hair and stomach rolls unfiltered. The goal here is to destigmatize normal human features and debunk the misconceptions created by the filters and editing of traditional beauty influencers.
Enter, Alix Earle. Earle is undoubtedly one of the largest beauty influencers in popular culture today, yet she breaks most of their unspoken rules on a day-to-day basis. Now, this doesn’t mean she’s suddenly classified as a cut-and-dry body positivity influencer — remember, she still creates idealized beauty and lifestyle content, through and through. Yet, Earle keeps it real with her followers. She’s candid about her lip injections, boob job, Accutane journey and affinity for the beauty filter. Unlike most of her peers, Earle never tries to be something she’s not. She loves how she’s altered her body and wants others to know it rather than hide it. Even with her openness about how she’s augmented herself, Earle still maintains her image of lustful beauty and carefree living, proving that it doesn’t have to be done in secret in order to maintain one’s popularity.
Earle attributes this honesty about her appearance to concern for viewers watching her videos and comparing their natural selves to her enhanced self. But unlike an influencer classified as a member of the body positivity movement, Earle continues to use filters and editing to tweak her posts, but in a refreshingly open and honest way. By doing this, she puts forth the most confident version of herself, while still ensuring that young and impressionable viewers don’t get the wrong idea.
Personally, watching Earle’s videos has helped me see that even “perfect” girls have acne, and that it’s OK for me to be self-conscious about it — because even she is too. But, rather than telling me to love my acne and bear it freely as other influences preach, Earle commiserates as someone who actually understands the mental toll it takes on one’s everyday life. Although she encourages us to do what makes us feel most confident — whether it’s makeup or filters or nothing at all — she ultimately reminds us that this too will pass and something like acne does not define one’s worth.
So, to me, Alix Earle will always be worth the hype.