The Alix Earle Phenomenon 

If you've been even sort of paying attention to the TikTok world in recent months, you more than likely have heard the name Alix Earle. This 22-year-old University of Miami student has gone TikTok famous, gaining 600,000 followers in the course of six days. Why is this one girl influencing the lives of millions of teenage girls around the world, and why has she done something both refreshing and respectable?

Though she occasionally posts lip sync videos, dances, and collabs, most of Alix Earle’s content is her “get ready with me”s. Alix starts her video saying what she is getting ready for and to come get ready with her. She then does her makeup while discussing the thing she's getting ready for, then posts another TikTok of her picking out her outfit. In this process, she forms a personal connection with the viewer. Her content almost feels like you're on a Facetime call with her, as she discusses her life, recent events, why she's excited for what she's getting ready for, and even mentions her roommates and friends. It's very difficult to establish this sort of relationship in other types of TikTok’s, which lack this personal connection and even somewhat vulnerability. 

Alix Earle has been labeled by her large female fan base as a “girls' girl”, meaning her content is more for girls and for girls to enjoy rather than other influencers that sit under the female and male gaze. This makes her cult following even larger, as girls form this massive admiration for her and even try to be more like her. However, what has she done to establish this relationship? 

This once again comes back to her relatable personality and the vulnerability she establishes in her content. She's not afraid to say, “Lets get unready with me” after she stayed out until 6AM and slept in her makeup. She shows some of her favorite foods, her love for Starbucks, and openly shares all thoughts that she's having as she's filming a video. Girls watching can relate to her, bond with her, and feel almost like her friend. 

Alix also grew popularity after her breakup with baseball player Tyler Wade. After, she posted a TikTok to a famous post-breakup audio with the lyrics, “‘Aw you guys broke up?’ ‘Nah, he broke - I'm up’. Girls related to her new single era of her life and how she made it clear in her videos that she's perfectly happy and it's okay to be single. 

Not only does Alix’s content make her successful in her massive fan base, it also makes her successful in the business world. Alix is estimated to make around 40-70K per TikTok video. She is smart in that she shouts out brands she loves as she films her get-ready-with-me’s and even in some cases, partners with them. She also was smart in creating an Amazon storefront, where she links all of the products she uses in every video for viewers to buy. From this, she gains a percentage of the revenue. 

So, as a fellow follower and viewer of Alix, here is a collection of things I've learned.  First, some brands she loves (which means we also love). Commonly Alix shouts out White Fox, an online boutique for their clothes. She is known for her love for Skims, Kim Kardashian's clothing brand. She stays loyal to her Drunk Elephant Bronzi Drops mixed with her moisturizer, her Huda Beauty powder, Tarte Shape Tape concealer, and of course her infamous lash routine using the Tweezerman Classic Lash Curler. 

She always has her Starbucks by her side which has also grown a massive amount of popularity as fans try her order: A shaken espresso with almond milk, vanilla syrup, and cinnamon powder, which she will often order with Starbucks’ egg white bites which she has expressed her love for on her mildly popular Youtube channel. 

Alix Earle's fan base continues to grow larger and larger and it will be interesting to see where this young star will go.