Anyone with a phone and the TikTok app knows the name “Alix Earle.” The up-and-coming “it girl” has recently gone viral thanks to her fashion, beauty and lifestyle content. If you haven’t heard of her or her content yet, then you’re about to start hearing the name “Alix Earle” everywhere.

Twenty-two year old Earle has been posting on TikTok since 2020, but she’s everywhere right now because of her exponential rise in followers. What draws her follower base, students say, is her candid approach and relatable videos. Alix Earle is open with her fans about it all, from her struggle with acne to her plastic surgery.

“From the start, I decided I was going to be open with this, especially on social media,” Earle said in a recent TikTok referring to the breast augmentation she had done.

Not only has she taken over TikTok, but her mass influence reaches makeup stores and websites, such as Sephora and Ulta. Many accredit Earle for making brands such as Charlotte Tilbury and Rare Beauty sell out of the products she uses in her famous makeup routine. Since she resembles the conventional beauty standard, her followers trust her advice on various makeup, hair and outfit recommendations. Right now on the Sephora website, seven out of the eleven Rare Beuty blush shades are out of stock. Finding a bottle of Drunk Elephant Bronzing Drops, a Rare Beauty Blush or the Charlotte Tilbury Contour Wand is almost impossible when everyone is scrambling to get their hands on it. 

“I started seeing her everywhere,” Rose Derby said. Watching Earle’s “Get Ready With Me’s” introduced Derby to new products. “I saw her use the [Rare Beauty Blush]. I was like ‘I need to have it.’” 

There seems to be at least one thing from her 12-step routine for everyone. From the way she curls her eyelashes to the way she applies her faux freckles, everyone can pull inspiration and tips of some sort from Earle’s routine. 

“I liked the way her eyelashes looked, so I bought the Too Faced ‘Better than Sex’ mascara she uses. I want my eyelashes to look as long as hers so I found myself curling my eyelashes more often,” Sophia Sauer said. 

Another trend that can be traced back to the social media star is the explosion of “Get Ready With Me’s,” often shortened to ‘GRWM’ on the TikTok app. Many teenage girls go so far as to block everyone they know in order to post a two-minute video of them putting makeup on to resemble Earle’s videos in hopes of going viral. 

Ellie Hokerson-Brun, who has had some of her own TikTok videos go viral reaching over one million views, made two “GRWM”s imitating Earle, one even with the caption “@AlixEarle I’m coming for your spot.” 

“Everyone was doing it so I decided to hop on the train; I’m a follower at heart. I love doing my makeup routine and I’m always talking to myself so I figured why not film it … Maybe I’ll wake up one day with four million followers,” Hokerson-Brun said. 

It’s no doubt that the up-and-coming starlet has an impeccable influence on teenage girls and makeup lovers alike. Earle’s status as an influencer was solidified after being invited to Rare Beauty’s New York City launch party, meeting Selena Gomez and attending Miley Cyrus’s New Year’s Eve Party. 

“I think Alix draws people in because she represents society’s image of a perfect woman. She’s very wealthy and beautiful to the point where it’s unrealistic for most of her followers. I am a huge Alix fan but I think it’s important to recognize that parts of her life reflected on social media are highly curated, and it’s that fantasy of living a seemingly perfect life that draws her viewers in because they aspire to be like that,” Hokerson-Brun said.

by NATALIE DEEBLE, EMERSON KIBBY & CARSON NICHOLS