“I always say I’m professionally myself. I’m an online-facing person who talks about pop culture, mental health, astrology, and girlhood in general. I try to be an encouraging voice to cancel out the toxic conversations we grew up with around women and aging, especially those I absorbed as a teenager in the Y2K era. When people call me an influencer, sometimes I wonder—do they mean blogger, or do they mean someone who’s online and influencing perspectives, skincare routines, that sort of thing? I think the word influence is powerful, and that role has evolved so much. Now, people want storytelling. They want to feel like they know you.
I first started making content when I was around 30 or 31, and I was immediately seen as ‘someone older.’ It was the era of Addison Rae and Charli D’Amelio, so I get it. But that positioning actually helped me. People started coming to me for nostalgia and advice. I try to take the stance of your favorite coworker trying to help you out. I know a lot of people say ‘big sister,’ but I have actual siblings who don’t ask me for advice. [Laughs] It’s funny because when people started seeing me as a voice of reason, I had never been one in my life. I’m just someone who made mistakes and learned from them. Like, I’m the kind of girl who goes to a gray-looking buffet, gets a stomach virus, and then tells everyone, Don’t go to that buffet.
I never thought this would be my career. But I started gaining followers, and then someone from InStyle reached out and asked me to interview for a position helping build their TikTok presence. I thought it was spam, but we were in quarantine, and I figured I had nothing to lose, so I took the call. They offered me the job immediately. At the time, I was in a relationship and something really interesting was happening: I didn’t care if people wanted to fuck me; I didn’t care if people found me attractive; I didn’t care if people thought I was cringey. I already had someone. And that lack of self-consciousness gave me the freedom to really be myself online. It was the perfect storm that helped me grow a following—and from there, the career grew. Suddenly I was getting asked to do red carpets.
Now, I’m also writing an advice column for The Cut. I never want my advice to come from a place of shame—just from experience. Like, maybe don’t kiss someone else when you’re 19 and already have a boyfriend because maybe you won’t feel great about it the next day. And I’m launching Tefi Talks, a topical weekly pop culture podcast, with Vox Media. The girls don’t have anything to listen to on the subway anymore. There are a lot of surprises in store, but I can’t reveal too much—yet.
BEAUTY
My mom and my grandma were beauty girls. I look at pictures of my mom, and she was eating these bitches up. She had a Madonna gap and brow, black hair, blue eyes, a naturally tan sort of bitch. If anything, she would accentuate her beauty. She would fluff up her eyebrows. I never heard her talk about her body. She only ever said to me, ‘Have you seen your body? You’re beautiful.’
But we’d sit and look at tabloids together—I remember asking her what cunnilingus was because she was reading Cosmo and it came up in a column—and I started to absorb the way the media talked about celebrity bodies. Then I’d turn on the TV and hear stories like how Nicole Richie supposedly had a Memorial Day party with a scale at the door, and if you weighed over 100 pounds, you weren’t allowed in. Because I’m Latin and American, it felt like I had to choose between being Sofia Vergara or Paris Hilton. Over time, I realized I had to let go of a certain idea of femininity, and that maybe people don’t need to be beautiful to be interesting. And all that brain space and energy? It could’ve gone to so many other things.
SKINCARE
I used to think you had to shock your skin into behaving, but moisturizing, using sunscreen, and the PanOxyl wash with 10% benzoyl peroxide are the best things to keep my skin in check. I was a big skin picker until I started using PanOxyl. I know it bleaches your towels—I don’t give a fuck. I haven’t had a pimple in a very long time.
Elemis’ Pro-Collagen Marine cream is my moisturizer and SPF. I wear the non-SPF one at night, but if I’ve just returned from a trip or spent the day at the beach, I’ll go for La Mer’s Rejuvenating night cream instead. I first heard about Elemis while on a solo vacation in Ireland. It’s huge in the UK. The bumpy skin under my cheeks disappeared after I started using the cream, and their cleansing balm is incredible—it takes off makeup in a blink without messing up my eyelash extensions.
Caudalíe’s Vinoperfect serum is the only product that’s made people stop me on the street to ask what I’m wearing. It gives you that just-fucked glow. It’s 62 times more effective than vitamin C at targeting dark spots, which I heard about from Caudalíe’s founder, Mathilde Thomas. She teamed up with Harvard’s medical school to make it.
If I’m going to be working a red carpet, I’ll use 111Skin’s Celestial Black Diamond face and eye mask. They really help with moisture—people don’t understand that if a carpet opens at 5PM, I need to be there by 1PM, and I won’t be home until midnight. And for pimple treatments I always go for the pimple patches from The Inkey List. I did a brand deal with them, but I’m obsessed—I reorder them from Sephora once a month for same-day delivery and don’t even tell the team I need more. That’s how you know it’s real. They’re actually invisible and I can wear them under makeup if I need to. As a recovering skin picker, I recommend keeping them around always.
I try to see Tammy Chen at Central Park Laser Aesthetics once a month for Laser Genesis and DiamondGlow facials. She does my Botox every 12 Saturdays like church—right now, I have 95 units in my jaw, masseters, crow’s feet, elevens, bunny lines, and along my forehead. She’s also my dentist—CPLA is right next to her dental practice, Central Park Dental Aesthetics—so sometimes I’ll get a cavity filled and a facial right after.
For filler, I go to Dr. Yael Halaas. The celebrities have been telling me you should start getting mini facelifts at 35. I don’t know about all that, but what’s messing with me the most lately is tech neck. Then again, I don’t know anyone who’s been working for over 10 years who doesn’t have one.
I really appreciate when people are open about what they’ve done. Maybe it’s because my mom is Colombian—once considered the plastic surgery capital—but I’ve never felt ashamed about getting procedures. I remember when I first started sharing online, people were like, “Thank you so much,” and I didn’t get it. Like, if I thought I could show up in the world feeling more like myself with bigger boobs, I’d get them tomorrow.
MAKEUP
I have a 10-minute makeup routine. As a Y2K girl, concealer is everything to me—there’s not one I haven’t tried. I go through phases. YSL’s Touche Éclat High Cover pen—I use 1.5 Beige—has caffeine in it, which I love. The sunflower oil in the Kosas Revealer concealer fucks. I’m 3.8 N. I usually grab that one if I’m on the go and need to cover a scar or something—it’s great for a quick swipe and a bit of powder, which I mostly use if I’m on a red carpet. And I apply my concealer with a brush now. I’m evolving. I’m growing.
CoverGirl’s Clean is the best foundation on the fucking market—it just makes your skin look like actual skin. It leans a bit more matte, which I prefer, though I’m fine with looking dewy in the spring and summer. I use 115 Golden Natural. Then I contour with the Milk Makeup cream bronzer stick in Blaze—it’s matte too. I’ve started getting crazy and using it on the tip of my nose—nasty.
I live and die for the Hourglass and Barneys New York’s Ambient Lighting Edit II palette. It was limited edition, and I don’t know what I’m going to do when I run out. I use a double-ended brush to frame my face with the bronzer—I’ll even dab a bit on my cupid’s bow and under my bottom lip—and then use the other side for blush. I also love swiping a little blush on my eyelids.
The last thing I apply is Milk’s Kush Fiber brow gel in Grind, then I contour my lips. I like every single brown lip liner out there, but I’m very attached to MAC’s in Stone. I finish with Armani’s Clear Shine Prisma Glass gloss.
HAIR
I have so much hair—I’m always sweating. Growing up in Miami, getting to a blow-dryer was scary. I couldn’t figure out hot rollers, and my arms would get tired. Honestly, every hairstylist should be in the army with how strong their arms are. The Revlon Hot Air Brush changed my life. I got it because everyone was talking about it on TikTok. It’s big and gives me that country-southern blowout look. It also doesn’t break my hair because I finally figured out heat protectors. Before that, I looked like I’d been electrocuted at all times. Amika makes a great thermal brush, too—she’s like Revlon’s stepsister. And if I want a tighter blowout, I’ll use the Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler.
Sky Kim at Jenny Perry has been cutting my hair for three years now. In 2022, my hair was pink—Toshi Garcia at Green Velvet Parlor did it—but I went back to brown seven months later because people treated me like they knew I had bad credit. Now I focus on keeping it healthy. L’Oréal’s EverPure glossing mask is number one. I started using it after rewatching Mob Wives—they’re fighting under the sunshine and all I can see is their fucking hair—that Jersey, Italian hair. I wanted that shine.
I wash my hair every two days, or whenever I work out, with Living Proof’s full shampoo and conditioner. R+Co and Bumble and Bumble both make great texturizing sprays. I like to use those with my Babe Waves iron—with 1.25” barrels—from Trademark Beauty when I want my blowout to look a little messier, like I just got back from the beach.
Bread Beauty Supply was made for textured hair, and after bleaching mine, I needed something to revive it. Their hair oil was it for me—I can’t recommend it enough. Their scalp serum is also fantastic and smells like mint.
NAILS + FRAGRANCE
When I’m feeling flirty, I layer YSL Libre’s eau de parfum with the Miss Dior eau de parfum. But otherwise I love the whole YSL Libre line because it has saffron—it’s my signature scent. Home-wise, I love burning Flamingo Estate candles—Climbing Tuscan Rosemary is my favorite. I also think Courtney Cox’s line Homecourt has the best candles on the market. The Cipres Mint one is my favorite. I also love their room deodorants. Mandarin Basile smells amazing.
I used to always have long nails, but after the election, I didn’t want to feel delicate anymore, so I cut them. I didn’t want to feel like I had to let go of femininity in order to fight for my autonomy, but looking back, I realized that so much of my beauty routine—my appearance—was a bit of a performance. I thought, If I’m beautiful, I’m safe. But the truth is, I’m never safe—whether I have eyelash extensions or really long nails.”
—as told to Daise Bedolla
Photographed by Shana Trajanoska in New York on May 19, 2025