Mikayla Nogueira: The Influencer Who LIES to SELL – Ty

 

I want to start this video by saying I appreciate you and I love you and you’re going to want to sit down for this video. >> Sit down, take a minute, take it in. I have some news for you. Sometimes beauty influencers lie to you in order to sell you products. >> I literally just quit a job and now I’m about to do Tik Tok full time.

>> I literally just finished working. It’s 519. Try being an influencer for a day. Try it. If >> you could just scroll on this one, that would be great. I have never been eaten, >> bro. I am so hung over right now. >> Don’t forget the very obvious skinny pop ad placement. Very real and very wrong. >> Yes, beauty influencers are lying to you.

And no one does this as blatantly as Michaela Neguera. >> This influencer thinks you’re dumb as  >> There are no filters on my videos. But how did we get here? The world of influencing where influencers will do anything to push a product. Even admit that their partner has never gone down on them before. >> I have an embarrassing confession.

I have never been eaten out. So, for the last month, I have been taking these in preparation. Once loved as an eccentric but everyday person, Michaela became a beauty influencer sellout known for her constant advertisements and the deceptive ways that she showcases products, coming across as inauthentic in her content.

Once she became rich and famous, she tried to relate to her followers, but it would often appear hilariously tonedeaf, like when she said, “Being an influencer is hard work.” “I literally just finished work and it’s 519. try being an influencer for a day. >> Or when she recently told her audience to sit down and take a minute to hear about her divorce.

>> You’re going to want to sit down for this video. I am getting a divorce. >> Yeah, I’m sure some of her audience was saddened to hear the news. But did Michaela think her audience was so emotionally connected to her life that her getting a divorce was the same as them experiencing a divorce? Is it so hard to resist becoming a controversial beauty influencer consumed by greed? Michaela represents almost every problem in the influencing industry and why now no one trusts influencers.

What was once relatable people making relatable content has spiraled into constant advertisements and inauthenticity. >> In a world that is as true as it is deceitful, tragedy is ignored. suit of a happy one. Girls will see more venture, but they they venture into your Michaela has 14.7 million followers and 1.2 billion likes, billing with a B.

>> Ready with me to visit my husband in rehab. Try it for a day. It is not for everybody. In fact, it’s for a very small handful of people. >> Can I just say, by the way, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie. People actually have jobs where they work their ass off from 9 to 5 and they don’t then get hundreds of thousands of dollars.

>> This is everything I got shopping in Vegas. >> You do not want to have this job. I’m just saying. >> It’s going to upset you. Scroll. >> From lying about her accent, faking sponsorships, filming herself crying every two Tik Toks. This literally just changed my life. >> She was lying for the brand because she cares more about money than her audience.

>> Good news becomes content. Bad news becomes content. personal struggles become content. Even the lowest moments somehow turn to a video. You’ve got it. It seemed like all of Michaela’s education and life experience really helped her become the ultimate beauty social media influencer, which was her dream career.

In March of 2020, soon after Michaela graduated from Bryant University with a bachelor of arts in communications, she created a Tik Tok account. Michaela has said that while studying communications, she would practice different radio voices. Michaela also worked as a beauty adviser at Ulta Beauty. So, she was able to draw on her experience as a beauty adviser to create Tik Tok beauty transformation videos during the pandemic.

What I think is important when it comes to the experience Michaela had when working at Ulta is a lot of people think when it comes to being an influencer that the most important aspect is being very skilled at makeup. But what might be an even more important skill is the ability to sell makeup products and know what makeup products are trending, what styles people are interested in, etc.

Michaela working at Ulta probably helped her gain knowledge not only in her own makeup practices, but what products and makeup styles are trending at any given time and how to sell makeup really well, which ultimately, pun intended, I guess, became an essential aspect of her influencing career.

As nowadays, a beauty influencer’s main job is selling makeup products and making them look desirable. Michaela’s first few videos were just beauty transformations. Before and afters that showcased her makeup skills, often using Tik Tok audios without her speaking. >> What the hell is beauty mode? What does What does this do? Oh, damn.

Kayla may have initially gained popularity off of these transformations through her relatability. Initially, she came across as an everyday girl in her bedroom without the flashy beauty studio and fancy lights of other beauty influencers, but still doing incredible makeup. While Michaela has garnered criticism later in her career for her extensive hauls, one of her early Tik Toks was her filming her large makeup collection of her many makeup palettes.

It may get bigger. It may get a little bigger, may not get bigger at all. We’ll see what happens. But regardless of what happens, we’re totally prepared. >> This may mean that consumerism and the consumption of a lot of different makeup products may have always been a core aspect of Michaela as well as her content, which later on blended well, again, pun intended, with being a beauty influencer.

as a core aspect of being a beauty influencer is being able to consume large amounts of makeup products and then encourage your audience to do the same thing. Constantly bye bye bye sell sell sell. The first time Michaela posted a Tik Tok where she’s speaking at least that’s still up on her page is on April 17th 2020 where she’s doing a contour tutorial using affordable makeup.

While her Boston accent is still a part of her videos and she still sounds like Michaela, in her early content, she’s much more subdued than the energetic, boisterous Michaela that many know today. >> Yo, do you got chubby cheeks? Or maybe you want a facelift? Maybe you want to look like this. Contour is the answer. Eventually, speaking in videos and using her Boston accent and eccentric personality became a core part of Michaela’s brand and a huge reason for her success in the beauty space.

>> This is to apply your foundation. >> I bought two. Don’t come for me. >> But was Michaela putting on a persona for the camera like some other influencers do? Michaela has said that making short form content came very naturally to her and quickly within starting her Tik Tok account, her videos became increasingly popular.

If I get pretty one day, it’s over for you  I would just like to announce that it is now over for you Within 6 months of her starting her account, she had 1.7 million followers, according to SocialBlade. By October of 2020, Michaela decided to pursue Tik Tok full-time. I did it. I just did it. I quit my job.

I just quit my job at Ulta Beauty. I’ve been with Ulta Beauty for almost 2 years. One of the best job experiences that I’ve ever had. But it’s time for me to move on. I literally just quit a job and now I’m about to do TikTok full time. I’ve never been more afraid in my life. But I’m excited. I’m ready. I know I can do this.

I want to thank you for your support through all this time. I cannot believe I just quit my job. But wow, thank you. I’m so excited. Keep rooting for me. >> Soon, Nagguire’s reputation on Tik Tok was for testing and reviewing makeup products. She would often rave about certain makeup products, how much better they made her makeup, how flawlessly they were applied, and that along with her skills in makeup would send them soaring in popularity. E.L.F.

has broke the internet once again. This is the Halo Glow Liquid Filter. Now, is this actually a dupe for the Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter? I’m gonna give you the truth. >> People trusted Michaela’s reviews. Michaela’s content also has beauty tutorials and makeup tips. In August of 2022, Michaela coined the sticky method, a technique designed to cover acne, where you take very sticky primers and a matte concealer to cover acne spots.

It’s called the sticky method cuz that face is about to get really sticky. Any serum that leaves the face feeling a little bit tacky after it’s applied is going to work out. This is a very sticky, gripping primer that grips makeup to the skin. Take a decent amount of concealer on your brush and you’re going to put it right on top of the blemish.

You need to let this concealer dry. >> The comments on the Tik Tok video are very complimentary of the method, saying that it’s worked wonders for them. And this is what initially drew people to Michaela’s content. She was a normal person struggling with everyday things like acne and giving tips and advice that really helped people.

The technique went viral with tons of people posting their own attempts on Tik Tok. By January of 2023, Michaela surpassed 14 million Tik Tok followers, becoming one of the first beauty creators to build such a massive audience solely on the Tik Tok app. This would be in comparison to influencers like Jaclyn Hill and James Charles, who initially launched their careers on YouTube before expanding to Tik Tok and other platforms.

Because Michaela became known for her beauty recommendations, she was offered more opportunities to work with brands, aka collaborations and sponsorships like with the makeup brand Glam Light. This is the Michaela X Glamlight Pat 2 palette. I have been working on this since the first collection. It’s really freaking beautiful. >> The skincare company Glow Recipe.

>> First product in the kit is the Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niainamide Dew Drops. This is my favorite Glow Recipe product of all time. >> Michaela had somewhat unique formats when it came to some of her most viral Tik Toks. Either she would show a shocking clip of an interesting viral beauty product and then transition to her attempt to try this interesting viral beauty product.

>> Bought it within 5 seconds of seeing the video. Didn’t even finish it. How cool would this be if it actually works? What is that? That’s insane. I bought 17 Oh my god. Please look good on me. Please. >> Another format that Michaela will often do is a before and after style, showing half of her face with the product she’s trying and half of her face without to show these miraculous results.

>> Okay, this is like actually insane. Like what? Holy That ising insane. It’s like a It’s like perfect. how freaking beautiful, stunning, unbelievable it makes my under eyes look. Like, hello. She’s smooth. She’s bright. >> I mean, look at how good the product looks when she swipes it on her face. It must be incredible.

We’ve got to buy it right now. This method to me mirrors a lot of infomercials. Like the old Shamwow infomercials where the guy would show an old boring paper towel and then the magic of Shamwow, dazzling the audiences with the product. If anyone has ever actually used the Shamwell product, is it as good as that dude makes it look? When it comes to doing this with beauty products like Michaela does, I have a lot to say about it.

First off, if you show half of your face with no powder and then half of your face with powder, of course the other half is going to look different, more matte, more smooth. Or if you show half of your face with no makeup versus half with, of course, the half with makeup is going to look different, more appealing, I guess, especially on camera.

You do not want to see me fully without makeup on camera. These high definition cameras show every flaw, even ones I did not know existed. But that before and after type style is entertaining. Ultimately, it’s fun for the viewers to see the results, and it works well with short form content.

Also, most of all, it’s a great way to sell beauty products, make them look dazzling and appealing, which has made many brands want to work with Michaela, which would be fine if it was all authentic. if Michaela’s reviews were true and genuinely how she felt and not just for her to make money off of tricking her audience, like a magic trick where you’re able to use these sort of before and after formats, styles, and other editing tricks to make something look better than it actually is.

But Michaela’s magical content continued to work well for her with even celebrity brands reaching out to her or the celebrities themselves, hoping to get a boost from her influence. In January of 2021, Michaela shared a video that Selena Gomez had sent her. Michaela seemed shocked and excited that Selena knew who she was.

Selena even wished Michaela happy birthday during her birthday in June. In September, Michaela met Selena, but not just on a friendship basis. She met her so that she could promote Selena’s brand, Rare Beauty, in a Tik Tok video that they filmed together. This seemed like a somewhat mutual exchange. Selena Gomez would get the reach of an influencer with tens of millions of followers promoting her brand virtually for free.

At least it seems. and Michaela would become more legitimized within the beauty industry, receiving a co-sign from an A-list celebrity and beauty brand founder. At the same time, some critics noted that this was a noticeable shift from Michaela’s image as a relatable creator to a more brand aligned public-facing influencer.

Was the fame starting to get to Michaela? Was she enamored with the celebrity world? By April of 2022, Insider reported that Michaela was invited to meet and film with Rihanna for Fenty Beauty. Michaela flew from Boston to LA to attend a Fenty Beauty event and interview Rihanna. The videos of them together received a combined total of 110 million views and Michaela gained a 100,000 followers soon after.

>> What song are you most proud of that you’ve come out with? >> Oh, my favorite song is Unfaithful. most proud of. No, that’s my favorite. >> I love kneading me. I also love a good diamond. You know who doesn’t love diamonds? >> The journey I’ve been on has been really mind-blowing, but I never thought I’d have the opportunity to meet Rihanna.

Michaela told Insider. However, the new lifestyle quickly took a toll. In August of 2022, Michaela shared that her self-hatred had truly exploded over the past couple of months, linking her growing lack of confidence to her influencer career. When you have a job that requires you to stare at yourself all day long, you begin to hate everything about your face and your body or whatever.

Michaela said, “I have to talk to you guys about something that I have really been struggling with for quite a while now. Over the last couple months, my self-hatred has truly exploded. What I mean by that is I hate myself. I have zero confidence. I hate how I look. And the wor the worst part of it is I have completely forgotten who I am.

Not only because you’re picking yourself apart, but because your audience viewing the video is also doing the same thing. Especially in the beauty world, I can imagine the constant strain of trying to keep up with the latest beauty trends might eventually feel like you’re putting on a mask, never feeling comfortable in yourself and your own sense of beauty and even style of makeup and whatever it is you like about yourself.

Feeling a sense of comfortability without having to conform to the latest trends. I want to make clear, I don’t doubt that Michaela was being very honest and vulnerable in that moment, opening up to her audience. But at the same time, I want to say something that I think is often overlooked when it comes to influencers in the way they use opening up and vulnerability as a sort of manipulation tactic, especially in regards to their very parasocial audience in order to reel their audience in and further sell them things. People

often use emotion as a persuasion technique. And it’s important to understand this when influencers share intimate details about their life and emotions. While everyone has different ways of dealing with emotions, coping, some cover it up, try and pretend they’re fine. And not all influencers who are being emotional and opening up are trying to manipulate.

Of course, there are many whose entire platform is built off of selling things. So, when they’re being emotional and opening up to their audience who cares about them very much, it’s important to use discernment and really look at the influencer and ultimately ask the question, why is this influencer sharing this information with me right now? There was a reason why Michaela continued to be a beauty influencer, continued to sell things to people on camera while simultaneously talking about how much she hated her job.

A clip resurfaced where Michaela was complaining about her influencer lifestyle. In a viral Tik Tok, she said, “I literally just finished working. It’s 5:19. Try being an influencer for a day. Try it.” Every single day, I get up at 6:00 a.m. I spend about 5 to 6 hours filming video content that ranges from 3 to four videos.

And I spend a few hours editing that video content. Then I have to work on my other social media profiles, whatever it may be, Instagram, whatever. It’s marketing. Then I’m in meetings from 12 to 5. I literally just finished working. It’s 5:19. Try being an influencer for a day. Try it. When I made my Jaclyn Hill video, someone commented this and I did not get the reference at first and I still cringe at that.

Also, finishing work at 5:19 sounds normal. Is that just me? Like, that’s around the time most people finish work. The video cuts to a slideshow of Michaela showing viewers designer bags, shoes, sunglasses. Like, all I can think of is the meme from the Kardashian show where Courtney Kardashian says, “Damn, there’s people that are dying.

” It wouldn’t take long for users, including other influencers, to criticize her for being out of touch with reality. From usually 7 to noon, I’m filming. From noon to 1:00, I’m trying to figure out Instagram content. From 1 to essentially 5, I am posting the Tik Toks, interacting with followers, answering all my emails. So, I try to make it like a seven to five, but sometimes I struggle with that and I’ll go past the five. butt off.

It’s a full-time job. >> Like in my opinion, yeah, influencing is work and most people are aware of that. Like you have to sign contracts, attend meetings occasionally, travel for a brand, fulfill obligations, hit deadlines and expectations, and film constantly to make your audience happy, all while keeping your mental health steady so that you can make content people like.

But the privilege you receive, the fact that you have flexible work hours and influencers like Michaela with millions of followers make millions and work with celebrities and bigname brands, buy designer items, live in a mansion makes them extremely privileged. So to be complaining about how hard you have it as an influencer, okay, then don’t do it.

If you hate it, do something else. Why are you trying to make people sympathize with your life when almost everyone watching you has it so much worse? At the same time, countless other influencers were making headlines for continuing to be unrelatable. British influencer Molly May Hugh received backlash after she went on a podcast and said, “We all have the same 24 hours in a day and that if you wanted something badly enough, you can achieve it regardless of your financial situation.

>> You can’t just be happy with where you are. Like there’s always more to be to be achieved. There’s always more to do. You just have to believe you can do it. You have to believe that the world is your oyster. You can achieve whatever on earth you want to achieve. Like I’m proof of that.

Like 22 and like this is where I am. And it just if you want it, you can get it. >> Two months later, Kim Kardashian told Variety, “I have the best advice for women in business. Get your effing ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days. >> I have the best advice for women in business. Get your ass up and work.

It seems like nobody wants to work these days. You have to you have to surround yourself with people that want to work. Have a good work environment where everyone loves what they do because you have one life. No toxic work environments and show up and do the work. >> It seems like everyone was saying the same thing.

Influencing is hard work and it takes work to be rich and privileged. I guess what none of these people are acknowledging obviously is the luck. Michaela could have just have easily been someone who posted a few Tik Toks, they never took off, and she continued working at Ulta. While a lot of people who reached success start to believe that it was themselves and their work that got them there, what they don’t acknowledge is all these outside factors that helped them get to where they are.

There’s a lot of people who work very hard, who are not as privileged as Kim Kardashian, and there’s a lot of people who don’t work hard at all, who are still very rich and privileged. Even if doing this was as hard as being a doctor or a nurse or there was as many hours involved as being a doctor or a nurse, this is still definitely one of the most freeing and fulfilling jobs that anyone could envision for themselves.

And I just cannot believe she said that. Like imagine you just witnessed someone pass away at the hospital and then you get home trying to unwind from an incredibly stressful day and open up TikTok and see Michaela say, “Try being an influencer for a day. My life is so rough.” Influencers have it really rough out there. I don’t know about that one.

Of course, an influencers’s personal life and work life can become blurred and influencers have a high burnout rate. Harvard reported a study by Creators for Mental Health and Lupani Insights and Strategies which found that many digital content creators face serious mental health challenges related to their work including high rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout with 10% reporting feeling suicidal thoughts related to their work.

Nearly double the rate seen in the general US population. I mean, I won’t lie and say that posting your thoughts, opinions, and takes online is all sunshine and rainbows. It is definitely not for the weak. So, does that mean that people should feel sympathy for influencers? Believe that it’s an incredibly hard job.

I do think some influencers end up getting way more than they bargain for. Internet dog piling is very real. Online hate and cruelty is unfair. Do the benefits outweigh the drawback? Are certain personalities just drawn to being influencers? On top of that, Michaela seemed to think that being an influencer was a privilege not too long ago as well.

Tik Tockers began circulating what appeared to be screenshots and screen recordings of beauty influencer Jaclyn Hill’s Instagram comment section back in 2018 before Michaela started posting on Tik Tok. The screenshots showed comments made by an account under Michaela’s username where she said, “Must be nice to be rich and all you do is film videos for YouTube.” followed by yikes.

At the time, Michaela commented, writing, “Must be nice to be rich and all you do is film videos for YouTube, totally contradicting what she just said about influencing being really hard.” It looks like she’s since deleted her comment, but people are still tagging her in it, writing, “Aw, Michaela, Michaela, how ironic that you also make videos and get paid for it.

Michaela, where’s your comment? Bullying makes me sad.” unfollowed. Fast forward 4 years and Michaela found herself in the same position with dozens of users reminding her how fortunate she is to be an influencer while she’s saying how hard her position is and how hard she works. A little over a week after the clip went viral and all of the controversy that ensued, Michaela announced in a Tik Tok that she’d be taking a break from social media to focus on her mental health, but told viewers it was unrelated to the recent situation. Michaela acknowledged

that being an influencer was an effing sick ass job and stressed that she didn’t think she worked harder than everybody else. This job comes with an extreme amount of privilege and blessings and gratitude and just it’s a it’s aing sick ass job. I’m not going to lie. I love my job. >> Michaela also addressed the comments under Jaclyn Hill’s Instagram post and acknowledged that she was extremely effing jealous, but added she apologized to Jacine months ago.

I made those comments on her post when I was about 19. I believe in kama so hard. Bro, this is a fantastic example of kama. I have to tell you, it’s like unreal. I grew up a very jealous person. Very jealous. I would say up until I was in my 20s. Um, and I would leaveing comments like that on Jacqueline or or whoever I idolized because I was extremely jealous.

apologized straight up to Jacqueline a long time ago because that was those comments were wrong, bro. >> Two months into her hiatus, a Tik Tocker said she was working as a waitress in a restaurant when she served Michaela and not only accused Michaela of being rude, but also faking her Boston accent that she was known for.

>> I’m literally a waitress. And one time when I was serving back in Boston, I noticed someone come in and that person was like Michaela, like the beauty girl, you know, her Boston accent is a thousand% fake. Nobody talks like that, like at all. She accused the server of effing lying, saying she had twisted and dramaticized everything.

>> By the way, if you saw that uh waitress uh story, uh yeah, she’s full of  you, dude. I don’t really want to give a free clout because she’s lying, but I did personally apologize to her and she left me on red. Very mature. The way she twisted and dramatized everything just was very unusual. >> After achieving so much success so quickly, people very soon after began questioning Michaela and her authenticity.

And it only got worse from there. What is deceptive advertising in the beauty world? It’s showcasing a product to appear different than it is in reality. In the beauty influencer world, using excessive filters is usually widely frowned upon. Since creators are reviewing makeup, people rely on seeing unedited versions of products to make realistic decisions about whether they want to buy them.

Otherwise, it could be seen as deceptive advertising, especially when done to the extreme. Yet, dozens of influencers have been caught using tools like Facetune, Photoshop, or on Tik Tok, all the face filters they have available. >> I want to talk about how you navigate the use of filters and editing your content and things like that because you show up so authentic and transparent to your audience.

When I was going for my master’s degree, I was it was in communication theory and I actually studied the effects of social media on women. But in my videos, I don’t use filters, right? If I have acne, I show it. If I have darkness under my eyes cuz I didn’t sleep the night before, I show it. I don’t edit my videos, but I do edit my pictures because I’ve always just felt like I have to because it’s so strange.

I’ve worked so hard on my self-esteem and my confidence and everything, but when I take a photo, I look at it and I’m like, “Oh, I got to edit this. I got to edit this. I got to edit this.” And it’s such a goal for me in the future 100% to just not edit at all. And I’d love to get there and I really am working on that.

Has Photoshop in the beauty world gone too far or is it just the modern way of posting beauty? Are people being too critical? If people didn’t use Photoshop, would those influencers receive even more harsh criticism? Influencers like Michaela already talk about harsh criticism they receive over their appearance and the insecurities they have over beauty influencing.

So, is Photoshop a way to help with this or deceptive advertising since their entire job is usually to advertise beauty products or to showcase their makeup skills. Some in the beauty world have admitted to using filters while others continue to deny it. Even though the proof is kind of clear. >> This influencer thinks you’re dumb as  >> I’m freaking out.

If Nas complexion has no fans, then I’m dead. >> See how perfect her skin is? Oh, and by the way, in case you don’t know and you live under a rock, she wants you to know that she doesn’t use filters. >> I’ve said this a million times and I will defend it until I’m in the grave that there are no filters on my videos. >> Like, she really doesn’t use filters.

Do not hit me with the Yeah, because you’re deceiving your eye. No, I’m not. There’s no filter on the video. You’re just making that up. >> Now watch her apply the product. >> Slow. In Naz fashion, I’m going to do this how they would where first they apply it to the skin and kind of melt it in with the fingers.

>> Now watch this. like underneath this foundation. Yeah. Like that is a good foundation. So weird. It’s almost like it wasn’t there before. Michaela often denies using filters even though she’s been caught multiple times. And Michaela has been open about her struggles with self-image, stating, “I’m aware that I’m not conventionally attractive.

I know I’m not aesthetically pleasing or photogenic. It’s incredibly easy to capture an unflattering photo of me.” People have a lot to say about my body and just like how I look in general. So, people always look at like pictures that I take of myself versus pictures that people take like out in public or like candid shots and they notice that like I look different in both of them.

I am not a photogenic person like in any way. This video garnered a lot of sympathy from the audience as it was seen as a video opening up about insecurities on the internet and your face being plastered online in unflattering positions. But it also may have been an emotionally charged video used as a way to distract from the more sinister aspect, which is that Michaela is using beauty filters when advertising beauty products and trying to pass it off as I’m just insecure.

Well, is that really fair when your audience is trusting on you and your honest review so that they can truly and clearly see the product that you are putting on your face? And when you’re using filters, that kind of blurs the lines, literally and figuratively, deceiving viewers on the beauty products effectiveness continually.

That aspect has nothing to do with personal insecurities and has everything to do with deceptive marketing. For a long time, Michaela also insisted she didn’t use filters. >> This is the last time I am ever going to speak on this. Obviously, this video is about my looks, my appearance, what I present online versus what is seen in public out in the wild.

Now, I have said so many times that I do not film my videos with filters, and I will die on that hill. Though, she admitted to applying a color grading filter to make her tan appear more vibrant. The video has color grading on it. Let me take the color grading off and show you what I actually look like. This is with the color grading off.

While she hasn’t confessed to other edits, internet investigators compared her photos to candid shots. I would say personally, I see nothing wrong with using a filter or Photoshop if it’s for personal use. But if you’re advertising a product and you’re heavily filtering yourself, it’s deceptive at best.

In the UK, beauty filters that mislead customers about beauty products are banned. While the US doesn’t exactly have the same laws, there are many petitions saying there should be the same regulations in place as beauty filters on beauty advertisements are well deceptive advertising to many. And the FTC does ban outright misleading ads.

Even on reality shows like Love Island, they turn beauty filters off on the show when advertising beauty products. Yet, Michaela will seemingly allegedly do a sponsorship for a beauty product with a full filter on where at first glance it makes the product look amazing and then on second glance you realize you can’t tell what the product actually looks like.

If you’re using beauty filters while reviewing a makeup product and that filter or other deceptive practices make the makeup product look better than it actually performs in real life, is that not you scamming your audience who ultimately trusts your opinion? Michaela returned to social media after her hiatus on December 28th, 2022, highlighting a positive comment she received before revealing she’d begun psychiatric treatment therapy, eating disorder recovery, and medication, having just taken a break from posting on social media for 2 months. “My life

changed in those two months,” she wrote. “The happiness I feel today is new and something I’m still getting used to.” In a later interview with ENews, Michaela Nguiraa said she stepped back after feeling consumed by social media in online comments. She said that negative comments had a strong impact on her.

Even though most feedback on her videos was positive, you could see 999 really sweet, nice comments, she said. And then that one comment, it can just throw you off. Although her career brought unforgettable moments like meeting Rihanna, she said the pressure of influencing had taken a toll on her. I feel like I have to be so careful of everything I do and say.

So, there is a lot of pressure. Just as Michaela made this statement saying that she’s working on her mental health and moving past the drama, a Tik Tok was posted from a woman who implied she dated Michaela’s then fiance, Cody Hawin. Michaela posted an Instagram story revealing that Cody underwent addiction therapy.

She told viewers that he met the ex-girlfriend while they were both in treatment, shining a light on a potentially dark period of her fiance’s past. Some viewers picked up on this and criticized Michaela for seemingly outing her partner and his ex-girlfriend, disclosing their addiction and their path to sobriety without their permission.

Either way, because of Michaela and her statements, Cody’s addiction was out to the public. Michaela’s millions of followers, whether he wanted that to be the case or not. Meanwhile, when Michaela returned to social media, she went back to taking part in endless sponsorships. Her Tik Tok transforming into an endless advertisement page, it seems.

Okay, I have an embarrassing confession. I have never been eaten out. I know. I When I first told my friends this, their jaws dropped. I’m going to tell you why. I am so terrified that I’m going to taste like I’m just being honest. But in the new year, I’m all about trying new things. Okay.

And when I saw Let me purr was viral. This is a vaginal probiotic gummy, I was like, you know what? Let’s try it. Wondering how many times Michaela is going to humiliate her husband online for money. Not only has she made numerous videos on his addiction, now she decided to tell everybody that uh her husband has never gone down on her.

And all for what, you ask? for a ad. How does Michaela make her money? Through Tik Tok and mainly sponsorships. Working with beauty brands to make their products look appealing to her audience as well as after Michaela gained millions of followers, other brands like clothing and lifestyle, food brands, etc.

Though the most important aspect of a Tik Tok sponsorship is making these recommendations look as organic as possible. While sponsorships on YouTube are really clear-cut and tend to be very obvious, a sectioned off sponsorship of a video where someone says, “Now here’s the sponsorship.” The sponsorship happens and they get back to the video.

It’s obvious something is a sponsorship. The rules, regulations, all of that are pretty clearcut and dry. On Tik Tok, not so much. And it’s become a real problem, a huge issue that I think maybe more people need to talk about. With a ton of influencers using various tactics to work around the sponsorship label, brands pay influencers to promote their products because influencers have direct access to highly engaged audiences who trust their opinion.

Traditional ads can feel scripted or overly polished. So, brands use influencers like Michaela to make products feel more authentic. According to Statistica, 60% of marketers agree that influencer marketing has a higher ROI than traditional advertising. Michaela can also create demonstration-based content like tutorials, reviews, and wear tests that show how a product performs in real time.

That is, the audience believes that’s what she’s doing. Though, through the magic of editing, Michaela could really be doing a lot of tricks to make the product appear better than it actually is to please the brand. This can be more persuasive than a standard advertisement because viewers see the product applied and explained by someone they follow regularly and trust.

Again, the Shamwow infomercial before versus after the global influencer marketing industry was valued at an estimated 22.1 billion in 2023, according to Collabster’s influencer marketing report. Because of the earning potential, Michaela went from sharing a handful of sponsored posts to regularly partnering with multiple brands, which some considered well effing excessive.

Her content went from sharing makeup tips like the sticky tutorial that people were able to incorporate into their daily life to almost every single video being a sponsored post. Because Michaela was taking part in so many sponsorships, overconumption just inevitably became a part of her brand. And the products she began showcasing on her page were unrealistic for the everyday person, leading to allegations that she was just blatantly out of touch, especially when it came to Michaela’s designer halls. Went luxury

shopping and completely blacked out. >> Michaela would call these her blackout hauls, which feels a little bit insensitive, especially considering her husband at the time was an addict. And also like, okay, you blacked out and spent what some estimated as up to $200,000 on designer clothing items. That could save so many people’s lives right now.

But you were able to just completely check out, go on a shopping spree without being fully conscious, blacking out, and spending that amount. I can’t even tell you how good this haul is about to be. I could not say no to this. I couldn’t. Hello. This is the winter bag of my dreams. This is a pair of shoes. They have such good shoes.

Oh my god, look at the gold heel. I thought this bag was so good. So different for Louis Vuitton. How cool. This is a pair of sneakers. You guys, I like blacked out. This is the bum bag. Box that they gave me this next thing in is ridiculous. Like why did they need a box that big? These might be my favorite shoe.

Oh my god. How many black boots do you need? How many bags do you need? I understand building up a collection, having special items that you love and care for that you’re passionate about, but saying that you blacked out in a haul, didn’t really pay attention to what you were spending, and then buying multiple of the same version of an item doesn’t feel like you really care that much about what you’re buying.

Trying to figure out what this is. But it’s like a poncho vest. It’s really cute and comfortable. You can put this over any sweater. I love it. I tell you, I blacked out in every department of this store. I thought this was badass. Michaela continues to do these hauls. This is everything I got shopping in Vegas.

Now, if you don’t like shopping hauls, my biggest piece of advice is to not watch the video. I’m giving you a second to scroll. >> Fair enough. >> All right, let me show you guys what I got. First, we have Cadier. Now, I have always wanted a Cadier bracelet. This right here is the Peace Day Resistance. Oh my gosh.

I’m so sorry, but doesn’t that look exactly like all of the bags that we just saw her get? It is pretty. I like the sparkle. And I actually tried to get this when it first came out, but it literally sold out right away. It is the Louis Vuitton lipstick trunk. This is so iconic. It’s for lipstick. And as someone who carries like seven lipsticks at a time, I needed this.

Okay, this was a need, not a want. >> If you carry seven lipsticks at a time, you’re not going to be able to fit seven lipsticks in that. absolutely love them. So, I got them in the color blue and then they also had the baby pink, which I simply could not resist. One of the comments that popped up for me is, “Girl, how much stuff do you need?” Which I mean, I personally thought the haul was really cute, but I don’t even want to know how much it cost cuz what it just would probably send me into a coma in the current times. And the fact

that Michaela has done multiple of these with so much stuff that it just starts to feel unnecessary. And don’t get me wrong, I love shopping. I love getting new things, but it comes to a point. Here’s Michaela’s fragrance collection. Just recently, I started experimenting with Lush fragrances, which I love a lot. Highly recommend.

But to have this amount of fragrances in your fragrance collection, how can you ever get through this amount of fragrances? You’re never going to use this much. For me, it takes forever to get through a single perfume bottle. And that’s if I like the fragrance. If I don’t like the fragrance or it’s a little bit too much, I it t it takes very long or I usually like cannot I struggle to get through that fragrance.

How is she ever going to get through this? She has her own perfume store in her house. just one more perfume to be added to this collection that Michaela is never going to get through. In January of 2023, Michaela posted her unsponsored review of the Essence foundation and concealer, giving the product some brutally honest feedback, not really liking it.

She criticized the limited shade range and after including both in her routine, approved the foundation but not the concealer. >> Let me tell you something. I got these at Ulta. Okay, the shade range is not it. There’s 20 shades, but do these three not look exactly the same? Do these not look practically the same? Now I want to do it with the concealers, bro.

Then later in that year, Michaela featured the same products in a sponsored ad and gave a much more positive review, saying, “We’re doing a full face of Essence. I’ve always wanted to do this. I’m going to prove to you that even if you use one of the most affordable makeup brands, Essence, you can achieve a look that looks just as good, if not better, than high-end makeup.

>> This has raised questions about her trustworthiness as a reviewer. Like, maybe she’ll say anything for a sponsorship. Her followers are believing that they’re receiving honest product recommendations. >> Lawless is the most underrated brand at Sephora. I said what I said. It’s interesting cuz it’s full coverage, but it’s so thin that it doesn’t even feel like I’m putting anything on my face.

These look so beautiful. This applicator is so satisfying. Not to mention, this powder is literally talcree. I literally hate how underrated Lawless is. This is the most genius thing I’ve ever seen. All right, real quick. I just got to address something. I noticed recently on my TikTok there’s been an uptick in the amount of comments saying this is an ad or is this an ad or this must be sponsored.

I’ve been on Tik Tok since match and I’ve done two sponsored posts. I only agree to do sponsored posts with brands that I love. I’m getting real feisty that everyone thinks all my posts are ads. They’re not ads. Michaela tends to be more critical of products she doesn’t get paid to promote. >> Listen, is the foundation beautiful? Yes.

However, do I think you need to run out and get it? No. When an influencer is financially tied to multiple brands, especially well, competing ones, it raises questions about whether their reviews are impartial or influenced by contractual obligations. This is even more so when it comes to skincare. Michaela might promote a skincare product, calling it her favorite, and saying that she’s been using it forever, only to feature a competing skincare brand’s product a week later and say the same thing.

Dermatologists and skin experts recommend that you use a skincare product consistently for several weeks before judging its effectiveness. So, when Michaela claims a sponsored product helped her skin and then a week later says the same about another product, it’s nearly impossible for her to have seen a significant result in such a short time span.

>> My skin and match April June, how did I do it? 110% honest truth is I did it with the mighty patch. >> Guava vitamin C spot the clearance double shipping magic serum. Love the first day beauty hydrating eye cream. Polish choice liquid exfoliator with the Chaseedo facial pads. Totally one. >> Unfortunately though, it doesn’t even end there.

Michaela has used an interesting tactic by reviewing fan recommendations and then turning that into a sponsorship. Of course, being a famous influencer with millions and millions of followers, she’ll get tons of recommendations to review specific products. Someone might comment, “You should really try blank product. It’ll change your life.

” And Michaela would then purchase and review the product in a video linked to that user’s comment, making it seem like she really listens to their audience, takes in their advice, while simultaneously turning that into a sponsored post, getting paid to review the brand at the same time. But then on top of all of that, Michaela was exposed for instructing her friends to leave fake comments telling her to review products, which she would then respond to and turn into a sponsored content, making it seem like a fan organically recommended it when it was

all pre-chestrated so that it could make a sponsored content video seem more authentic and like a fan recommendation. Part for Greg is asking her, “Can you do a smoky sunset look?” Someone asked, “Can we try Dior Forever?” Well, it’s that same person. Is hard for Greg your friend? Greg is my best friend. Yes.

If someone’s casually scrolling by and the sponsor is not clearly stated, on top of all of that, it could be pretty deceptive advertising practices. By framing the posts as responses to random user suggestions, viewers were led to believe the interaction was authentic and that Michaela had purchased the product herself, where in reality this was a way to disguise sponsored content as organic reviews.

Michaela might have gotten away with it if fans hadn’t noticed her replying to the same user. >> I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for you meddling kids. While some might argue that she isn’t intentionally manipulating anyone, she has admitted to studying her audience and is fully aware of the influence she holds. >> When I was going for my master’s degree, I was it was in communication theory and I actually studied the effects of social media on women and I found a lot of really upsetting things.

>> So, you’re taking us to class right now is what you give it to us, girl. >> I think what people don’t maybe know about me is that I went to school for this. To avoid backlash for promoting yet another sponsored product, Michaela sometimes doesn’t use clear labels like # ad or #sponsored.

And in the video itself doesn’t clearly disclose this is a sponsorship with this brand verbally. This is shady and extremely manipulative in my opinion. And yet lots of people do this on Tik Tok because brands likely either pay more or want videos to appear as authentic as possible or in a roundabout way pay for engagement.

And when viewers note that something is a sponsored post, engagement drops off. So to work around that, Michaela and other Tik Tok influencers stopped using the sponsor hashtag and ways to tag their post as sponsored or partnerships. When people know something is an ad, they’ll scroll away quickly.

But when they think an influencer is genuinely recommending a product, they’re more likely to watch the video and buy the product. So instead of disclosing the sponsorship very clearly, Michaela might write insert brand name partner, which can appear less direct. Even scrolling through some of Michaela’s sponsored posts, her #brandame partner tag is the last one on a list of hashtags that she uses.

And by saying #brandamepartner, which is a long hashtag, it can be hard to tell. Even when I was directly looking for it, it took me a minute to notice. I don’t know. I do not think that’s a fair way to advertise the product at all. Tik Tok creators are required to disclose advertisements to prevent deceptive marketing practices. Let me show you in some of Michaela’s Tik Toks just how hard it is to find the sponsored hashtags or sponsored information in the video.

I have been gatekeeping this for years. And I debated sharing this for a long time, but I’m going to tell you my biggest skincare secret. Step one, you need to throw these away. Even if you wash these, do you know how much bacteria these hold? And they are terrible for your skin barrier. That’s your first problem.

Reason I am even sharing this is because they are more accessible than ever now that they are at Ulta. You need the clean towels by Clean Skin Club. >> Everything that Michaela is saying is clearly sponsored talking points. But where in this video does Michaela clearly state this is sponsored by this company? >> I can promise you that your skin will benefit from this.

Did Michaela just do a sponsored video and say that she is promising the viewers by using this product your skin is going to benefit? I’m kind of sort of pretty sure that’s like not freaking allowed. >> Add this to the list for your next Ultra Trip. You are not going to regret it. >> What does the description say for this? It just says at Clean Skin Club.

Clean towels have been a great purchase of mine for years. I will never go back to a traditional towel. I am so happy you can now get these at Ulta Beauty. And then what’s the hashtag that shows that this video was sponsored? #CSC partner #cleankin club # skincare. That’s how you’re supposed to know this video was sponsored.

This is so wrong, so messed up. Especially if you’re like 14 years old and a follower of Michaela’s and scrolling on Tik Tok, you would probably have no idea that this video was sponsored. At least this video has a tag that says eligible for commission. This is the Rock Multicorrection Revive and Glow Eye Bomb. This is a vitamin C eye bomb.

Why does it keep going viral and selling out? Because it can’t be duped. It’s affordable and it simply works. The way Michaela phrases this makes it seem like this is just one of her all-time favorite products. So, she’s just recommending this to you once again because that’s what she does. She recommends makeup products instead of the fact that this is a sponsored video.

Instant glow and hydration. I don’t even blend it in. The the work is done. And when you go in to apply your concealer, your under eyes will thank you. Just to really show you, I’m putting a little concealer on top. This is what I want my concealer to look like. Hydrated. >> The cut in the video.

She could have done anything between then and the cut. She could have wiped all of that product off and applied a completely different product. She could have done layers of concealer. I mean, >> oh, concealer. Concealer. This is my face with no concealer. This is my face with concealer. That’s not the product that I’m promoting to you guys, but somehow it’s supposed to show you how amazing this product works.

Again, at no point in this video does Michaela say this video is sponsored. And this is the description. Viral for a reason. I started using this at ROC skincare eyebomb 3 years ago and it continues to be a staple in my routine for a reason. # ROC_artner. That’s it. That’s how you’re supposed to know that this is a sponsored video.

And at least I guess this one has an eligible for commission tag, but again, it’s not super clear. I mean, Tik Tok literally has a required partnership tag that Michaela often does not utilize, so people aren’t aware they’re being advertised to. How has Michaela not gotten in serious trouble for this? Failing to disclose advertisements can carry serious consequences.

Regulatory bodies like the US Federal Trade Commission can issue warnings, demand content removal, impose fines, or pursue legal action. This can be not just for the influencer, but brands can also be held liable since they share responsibility for ensuring proper disclosure. But that’s not the only way that Michaela has tried to make her advertisements look more appealing to users.

One of Michaela’s endorsements was the L’Oreal Telescopic Lengthening Mascara, and she posted a review of this mascara where she was adding coats of this mascara. But during the second coat that she was applying, there was a sudden suspicious cut to the video. She cuts to a different angle and all of a sudden there’s a ton of added length and volume.

Almost like she added false lashes to make the product look more effective. Of course, here’s the classic before versus after thing that Michaela does when she’s reviewing products. It’s this L’Oreal telescopic lift. Okay, so basically I’m taking the curved side and I’m going root to tip and I’m sat to coat the lashes.

And then once you’ve done that, you flip the brush to the side and you use the hook comb to basically separate. This is one coat. >> And the mascara looks great without the need to add false lashes. But you can kind of clearly see from one side to the other that she definitely added false lashes in my opinion. >> I’m going to add a second.

Look at the length. Do you see? >> Here’s the cut. >> I am speechless and I’m not sure anyone’s going to ever be able to compete with this. Michaela even had that throwaway comment in the very beginning of the video that this looks like false lashes, this mascara, which only added fuel to the fire. And a ton of people called her out for this mascara review, saying it seemed kind of clear that she had added false lashes.

I sell lash extension supplies and I teach lash courses. We’re going to be so  for real right now. From a lash artist, a lash trainer and lash specialist. Those are extensions on the top of her natural lashes. And if you don’t believe me, I’m going to zoom in for you. This is what her lashes look like supposedly with two coats of that mascara.

Nonetheless, it is a good mascara. Like, I can totally tell that um it made them fuller, longer. It’s making them stay curled because I believe it’s waterproof. But then she cuts to this after she pans from the Oi to the next. And you can see right here where the strip lash starts. And you can see in this corner down here, there’s a little bit of a gap, which is very common when you apply extension or strip lashes very quickly.

This being exposed also just kind of makes you wonder how many different times Michaela has done something like this. Tricks to show drastic transformations in the product, quick cuts, but wasn’t caught before this moment. Viewers even ended up finding an old video where Michaela admits that mascara brands will use false lashes in their ads.

The most ironic thing about this whole situation is only last year Michaela posted a video making fun of people who do the exact same thing that she’s doing now. >> The difference in my lashes with this mascara is absolutely incredible. It truly did a phenomenal job. I mean, literally, just look at the difference. So, I just lied straight to your face and you probably believed it.

these lashes totally fake. And that’s what brands do. They lie to you about how things work. Would you have known these were false lashes? Maybe not. You’re someone who doesn’t have a lot of lashes, doesn’t know how to apply lashes, or just want a little lash lift? This video is for you. Out the gate, let’s start by applying two coats of your favorite mascara.

We want to achieve the fuller lash look. Going to use the Kiss Lash Couture Faux Lash Extension. They’re super affordable. You get a ton of them. Here’s the current one I’m using. This is so easy to do. Need a strip lash glue. Going to take one of these lash pieces and get some glue on it. You don’t got to let it dry.

Give it a quick blow. Literally going to take the piece and just lay it right on your lashes and press it down. Put about five pieces. Then go ahead and apply one final coat of mascara. How would they know? How would they know? >> All of the scrutiny from this lash incident caused her to take a break from social media, returning in February to post Valentine’s Day content.

But instead of addressing the situation directly, she briefly trolled her audience and moved on, which seems to work best for Michaela when she’s under controversy, as nowadays people tend to move on fairly quickly. >> I’m sure we all know why we’ve all gathered here today. >> To a lot of viewers, it felt like Michaela was kind of giving up completely on appearing authentic and had just kind of become a beauty guru sellout.

On top of that, there was even another Lash Gate. >> A similar situation to the original Lash Gate occurred 18 months after Lashgate 1.0. Michaela posted a review for Essence, a brand that she partners with regularly. She was reviewing the Call Me Queen mascara, but viewers noticed that after she applied the mascara to her upper eyelash, she was holding the wand for Maybelline’s firework mascara, which has a pink top instead of the black one on the Essence product.

>> This is the new Essence Call Me Queen mascara. Curl the lashes. It has this really flexible wand supposed to give a nice flared effect. Okay, that before and after it’s pretty freaking good. Okay, that before and after is pretty freaking good. The Call Me Queen mascara by Essence has a black top and Michaela was specifically mentioning and drawing attention to how great the applicator is.

She applied a few coats to one side of her lashes and then came back on camera with one side done, one side not done, but holding a different wand. People were commenting asking why a different brand’s mascara was appearing in this review. And Michaela explained that she used Essence only on her upper eyelashes, not on her lower, which you probably should have said in the video if that was the case.

She replied to one comment that said, “Why is the wand top pink? I thought it was black.” And Michaela said, “Lmfao, I had that open cuz I use it for my bottom lashes and my dumb picked up the wrong one in the clip.” I also think because of lash gate 1.0 0 people were just more observant of this kind of thing when it came to Michaela’s reviews than they were before.

Again, you sort of wonder how much this has happened with Michaela’s content and people just never noticed. >> On November 20th, 2021, Michaela’s now ex Cody proposed to her. So yeah, Cody proposed to me on November 20th and I hid it for a few days so I could tell my family and friends first. They recreated their first date.

Then Cody proposed to her and then they took photos for social media. >> So then we sit down at the same bench that we sat at at that first date. He gets on one knee and then he, you know, of course asks me to marry him and I absolutely said yes. And then photographers literally pop out of the trees and they’re capturing the moment.

And then we did a twohour like photo shoot. >> Two years later, the couple got married. But the summer of 2023 brought more drama when Michaela shared a series of Tik Toks responding to all the negativity surrounding her wedding. Before her wedding, Michaela partnered with E.L.F. Cosmetics to release the E.L.F.

Michaela marriage material lip duo. When every girl gets married, they always dream of their marriage themed brand collab drop. The E.L.F. collab was a limited edition lipstick kit that Michaela claimed was her perfect wedding lipstick combination. I don’t know about you, but I would feel kind of weird wearing someone else’s dream wedding lipstick. Michaela and E.L.F.

marriage material lip duo is finally available now on elfcosmetics.com. The kid is limited edition, so once it’s gone, it’s gone. I literally got to create my perfect wedding combo and I cannot wait to use this in two days at my wedding. So, we have the Till Death Do Us Pat lip liner. I want to say thank you so much for supporting my lip kit.

If you get one, comment below so I can thank you and I hope you love it as much as I do. >> Michaela planned to wear this wedding lipstick on her wedding day and included it in kits as wedding favors for her guests. But some felt like the release of this new collab drop blurred the lines between Michaela as a beauty influencer celebrating something personal to her and doing a brand promotion.

On her Tik Tok, everything has become a brand promotion, but now even personal events like her own wedding has become an opportunity for a brand promotion. Is that not the perfect way to describe modern influencer culture? On top of that, photos from her reception showed a white kissing booth plastered with the E.L.F. Cosmetics logo.

So, people began to speculate that E.L.F. sponsored Michaela’s entire wedding to put their logo all over the entire ceremony like you would do at a sporting event or an influencer brand trip, not a wedding. The wedding also appeared to have more popular Tik Tok creators and influencers than it did Michaela’s longtime personal friends and family.

Maybe Michaela had a separate event that wasn’t as public-f facing for her personal relationships, but it is a marker how things have changed with influencer culture. Nothing is deemed private anymore. Everything must be made into a public spectacle where things can be posted, documented, and shared online, or else did it really happen? Many of the influencers who attended Michaela’s wedding posted get ready with me for Michaela’s wedding onto Tik Tok and other social media platforms, turning the entire event into a highly publicized spectacle. Unfortunately for

Michaela, she did experience something that is a very important part of her life and the morning after her wedding had to take to social media to address all of the controversy and speculation surrounding it. Of course, because she made her wedding into something so public-f facing, involve sponsors with it and whatnot, she kind of opened it to the public and therefore the public’s opinion.

But that being said, it’s still probably not fun to have your wedding be the source of public scrutiny. The morning after Michaela’s wedding, she woke up to a bunch of text messages that warrant her not to look at social media. I haven’t seen a single video about my wedding or any news or anything she said, but I have been told what’s been said.

So, I’m going to answer some of those questions. Cody and I are so so so happy we’re officially husband and wife. Then the morning after my wedding, I wake up to a bunch of text messages. Michaela, don’t go on TikTok. Don’t Google anything. >> Michaela denied that her wedding was sponsored by E.L.F. Cosmetics and instead said she got permission from E.L.F.

to put their logo on the kissing booth. Why would you want a brand’s logo on your wedding kissing booth to appear in all of your wedding photos? But okay. Was my wedding sponsored? I can’t with youers. No, my wedding wasn’t sponsored. None of it. As you guys know, I came out with a lip kit with L for my wedding day. I got to wear it at my wedding. It was awesome.

And then, of course, I wanted to have some sort of wedding favor at my wedding. So, I decided I would have my lip kit. And then me and my wedding planner had this sick idea to create a kissing booth. And it’s basically this really cool photo moment. You can go up there with your partner, give them a kiss, and get a photo.

This had nothing to do with E.L.F. I paid for this and the whole wedding myself. And I actually had to ask ELF permission to put their logo on the kissing booth. Michaela also addressed some of the rumors that were spreading around online that she had uninvited family and friends to make room for influencers at her wedding. She clarified that out of the 175 people that were present at her wedding, only about 10% were influencers.

Because Michaela’s family and friends aren’t influencers, their posts about the wedding didn’t reach the same audience as those who have millions and millions of followers, which makes a lot of sense. Did I uninvite family and friends so I could invite influences? No. My wedding was 175 people. 10% of that was influences.

And the reason why it seemed like it was all influences is because the only people posting on Tik Tok at influences. So that’s all you’re going to see. My grandma isn’t making a Tik Tok about my wedding. Okay. >> Also, a lot of family members likely have private profiles or have no social media. Or like me, when I’m at a private event or with family and friends, I forget to take photos at all.

I’m really bad at that. Around the same time of Michaela’s wedding controversy, there were also once again rumors surfacing that Michaela was either exaggerating or faking her Boston accent, which is something that’s continued to crop up throughout Michaela’s social media career. >> Kim Kardashian had this absolutely stunning, sexy look at the Met Gala and you can recreate it at home.

>> In her older videos, her accent and volume in general were noticeably fainter, but has gotten more and more intense over time. People had also found some pre- Tik Tok videos of Michaela where she just sounded more like the average East Coaster. I’m from the West Coast and sound like an average West Coaster probably.

And I always thought East Coasters sounded way cooler. Hi, it’s Oel Michaela here and I am standing in the Fiser Student Center, one of the best buildings on campus. I actually work here at the information center, so I’m sure you’ll be seeing me around. But since Michaela has grown her following, her accent appears to sort of shift depending on the situation.

I would understand your tone sort of shifting depending on the situation. If I’m covering something serious, my tone is going to be more serious and there’s times that I get excited or carried away and my tone is a lot more intense and loud. But Michaela has a sort of accent shift and I’m not sure if that is normal when it comes to this sort of Massachusetts Boston accent.

So, let me know if you’re from that area. In more serious videos, Michaela’s accent is sort of more toned down. >> So, today I went to the Pamrath lab. >> AI. Is it good or bad for the world? >> AI. I’m not sure about you for dinner tonight. >> My favorite thing, honestly, the pizza. >> And when she’s excited or really selling something, she kind of lays on her accent really thick.

>> Kim Kardashian. On Britney Broki’s For You podcast, Michaela explained how she earned a bachelor of arts in communication from Bryant University and her degree mainly focused on radio, which kind of allowed Michaela to develop a radio voice. When Michaela started to make Tik Toks, she used her radio voice because it sounded more professional and probably more entertaining as well.

>> Yeah. So, like my voice has always been a thing, which is fine. So like I went to school for uh communication with a primary focus on radio. Over the years I like created this voice that I like would use on radio when I was at my internship or >> um like a everybody has like a customer service voice, right? Well, my viral Tik Tok that had like 15 million views, I was like, “Do you have a face full of acne and you just can’t seem to cover it up?” Like I I was talking Midwest.

talking so fake. >> I love it. >> Um, so when I actually I the first video I made I believe >> like just not caring about my voice was a had a contour video >> and the comments were like what is this? >> You’re joking. >> They were like well they were like what is this like this accent? Where are you from? Like cuz I hadn’t said where I was from. So people were so confused.

Ultimately, it is clear that Michaela has a sort of on camera voice that is a performance of sorts, which a lot of influencers do do at times. Whether you’re Jake Paul or Mr. Beast or a beauty influencer, you have an on camera persona. I don’t think personally that means that every influencer is being inauthentic when they do this.

They might just be playing up a certain side of themselves for the camera, but it certainly doesn’t help with a lot of the accusations that Michaela is inauthentic, which has overall tainted her brand and her trustworthiness. In January of 2024, a small business owner named Matthew Stevens posted a Tik Tok claiming that Michaela played a role in the collapse of his business.

Matthew is the owner of a custom self-tanner brand called Illusion Bronze. This self-tanner brand initially went viral for creating a fully customizable self-tanning product formulated to match each customer’s specific skin, hair, and eye shade. However, with any small business that has a viral idea, usually a larger company will come in and steal or copy that idea, which Matthew claimed that a multi-million dollar company was copying his idea and sponsoring other influencers to promote that larger company’s product. So, Matthew’s company

never stands a chance. Matthew started reaching out to influencers like Michaela to help bring attention to his brand. But just 4 days after he publicly asked her to review his product, Michaela instead reviewed the competing brand that he believed stole his idea. >> It’s a 1-hour express formula. This has a bunch of different colors.

I am using the caramel. >> Viewers were not down with this though, and her comment section became flooded with people telling her to try Matthew’s self-tanner. So quickly after, likely because Michaela saw all the comments, she ended up reaching out to him. Michaela said that her review of his competitor was just a coincidence and promised that she would review his product as soon as possible.

Michaela supposedly purchased Matthew’s product and even messaged him saying that she preferred it to his competitors, but no review ended up ever getting posted. So, it kind of seems like she was just messaging him to plate. Months went by and Matthew was still waiting for a promised review. Though, also on the other side, it’s not like Michaela necessarily owed him anything.

Matthew’s followers continued to comment on Michaela’s page, so she reached out to him again, reassuring him that she’d post the review on December 8th. Apparently, in the past, Michaela has said that she doesn’t like reviewing small businesses or indie brands because of potential stock shortages. So, she gets her audience all excited about an indie brand product.

They’ll go and try and purchase the product and then find out it’s out of stock and get frustrated, which I could see being a possibility. But Matthew didn’t want to be another small business that Michaela had a negative experience with. So he prepared for a possible surge in orders and invested $10,000 into inventory ahead of her anticipated review.

>> Texted me almost immediately. I don’t know if you mentioned me or something somewhere, but I’m getting so many comments about trying the tanner and I’m actually using it this weekend. She says, I’ll be posting a video about it tomorrow, December 7th. Now, in the past, Michaela made a video about how she doesn’t review indie brands anymore because they can’t keep up with the orders.

Shopify had kept offering me a $10,000 loan. So, when she told me, “I’m reviewing this tomorrow,” I was like, “Let me take that loan. The money gets deposited within like 24 hours, and I spent all $10,000 on product.” >> Thinking that Michaela reviewing his brand and giving him a positive review would be the big break that he needed. And yet the review never came.

Matthew reached out to Michaela again, feeling probably desperate after spending $10,000 on product. He shared screenshots of the conversation which showed Michaela claiming she’d tried the product but didn’t want to rush the review. It could be a possibility that Michaela did not like the product or never planned on reviewing it in the first place.

But then she should probably just say that instead of stringing Matthew along. You got to just rip the band-aid off at some point cuz you’re making things worse and worse for yourself. >> I tell her 3 weeks earlier, I placed an order for $10,000 because I wanted to be prepared. Oh my god. Well, the good news is you’ll have to stop when the video is posted.

>> And then to make matters worse, on December 31st, 2023, Michaela did make a post about a self-tanner, but it was not the illusion bronze selftanner. So, Matthew’s supporters flooded her comments yet again with messages urging her to review his product. And Michaela just responded with no and shut up. Allegedly deleting comments and even blocking users.

>> The day before yesterday, my followers were commenting on one of Michaela’s videos about her reviewing Illusion Bronze. And Michaela made the decision to respond to them and say things like no and shut up and proceeded to block a lot of people that are following me. her knowing that I had just spent all that money on product.

Why is she responding to people in her comment section saying things like no and shut up and blocking them? >> I really like Matthew. Matthew’s a really nice guy. I’ve had good conversations with him, but I find it really unfortunate that he decided to take this issue to Tik Tok and fabricate a lie in order to prove a point.

Am I entirely wrong that I didn’t review the Tana when I said I would? Yes. Did I mention to him that I didn’t get to it? Yes. But still, nonetheless, I should have reviewed the tannis sooner. I am completely in the wrong because I should not have told Matthew, “Oh, I’ll do it tomorrow.

” When I when tomorrow came and I couldn’t do it, but I was going to get to it. I always get to it. It just sometimes takes a bit. >> He cannot rely on me for the success of his brand, she added. >> He messages me again around, you know, New Year’s and lets me know that he had purchased 10,000 units or $10,000 worth of Tana, which I did not advise him to do that.

That is a business decision that he made. Fact of the matter is I didn’t get to it yet. He cannot rely on me for the success of his brand. He just can’t. I just I don’t know what to do in this situation, but I am sorry. And I mean, all of that is true. While Michaela wasn’t contractually obligated to promote his product, she did in writing state she would review Illusion Bronze on her page, which likely gave Matthew the impression that she would review his product on her page.

Her reassurance gave Matthew false hope. He probably felt screwed either way. >> To start 2025, Michaela announced the launch of her beauty brand, Point of View. Holy this is insane. I am a brand founder and the reaction has been beyond my wildest dreams. I am beyond excited to introduce to you Point of View.

Do you know how hard it was to keep this a secret for 2 years? While some beauty influencers launch makeup or skincare lines using their built-in audience to promote products directly to their followers, Michaela Aguero tried to do something new and different by creating a skin prep line, releasing products intended to prep and prime the skin for perfect makeup application.

This feels like a way to rebrand skincare as a way to sell a ton of different products to prep for makeup so that Michaela can keep on selling makeup and can sell multiple products as not just skinincare but helping with your makeup. You need a hydrator, a toner, a primer, yada yada. It’s all marketing. >> It’s marketing.

Not that skin prep isn’t a common part of the makeup process that a lot of makeup artists heavily utilize to be as fair as possible. Michaela has always emphasize skin prep in her makeup routine. And one of Michaela’s first viral trends was her method to cover acne, which focused heavily on the skin prep aspect. >> I just want everyone to know that I am staring at the Patrick Ta makeup kit and point of view is inside.

>> Do you know why? cuz I know where these are made and I can can confirm that they are amazing. >> Remember, he does some of the biggest names in the industry. He knows how to do a beat. While promoting her skincare line, she said, “I had made an incredible impact on social media, but I had this lingering question in the back of my mind, like what’s next? What is my legacy truly going to be? Do I want to be known for something deeper, something bigger, to have a richer impact?” She wrestled with the idea of starting a

brand for some time and allegedly spent 2 years developing point of view, worried that it might get lost in an oversaturated market because, as you likely know, there are so many skincare lines on the market started by celebrities and influencers right now. It was the most terrifying decision of my life.

I don’t want this to be seen as the next influencer brand. I want it to be seen as the next legacy brand. I want to build a brand that leaves a legacy and can thrive. >> I am not okay. I’m going to Korea. Like, what? I’m going to Korea. I am not okay. >> Ah, yes. A year ago, I was crying about going to Korea. But what you didn’t know is that I secretly went to Korea to go to Korean labs and work directly with Korean chemists to formulate my products.

So, why are there so many influencers starting skincare brands right now? The global skincare market size was valued at $122.11 billion in 2025. The market is projected to grow from there to $129.11 billion in 2026 all the way to $227.13 billion by 2034. And skincare has a high profit margin of around 50 to 80%. Because let’s be real, most of skincare is just water and glycerin in a bottle.

Sorry, not sorry. and I love skincare, but that’s a lot of what it is. Michaela claimed that when she worked in retail, customers would ask her why their makeup never looked as flawless as hers, and her answer was always the same. How are you prepping your skin for makeup? And more often than not, they didn’t know what that meant.

Point of view skin prep debuted on March 26, 2025 with five products: Drench It, a priming milk. Drip it, a glow serum, whip it, a whipped moisturizer, glaze it, a tacky primer, and amp it, a lip treatment. Now, most of those things sound like skin care to me alongside a tacky primer. Michaela claims though that these products have efficacious formulas.

These products all are supposed to specifically work together, which also means that you can’t just get one product and use it with a different moisturizer or a different primer because then it’s not going to work as well together as if you buy all of the products together. The launch was commercially successful with the skincare brand reportedly generating around $1 million in sales within the first 7 minutes with over a 100,000 people joining the weight list for restocks of products.

Yet soon after the launch, the brand much like their creator found itself at the center of controversy over deceptive marketing, flawed advertising, and questionable ingredients. point of view is supposed to be very different from other influencer brands because it’s not makeup or skin care, but skin prep, which Michaela defines as the routine your skin goes through before applying makeup.

>> Your makeup looks like nine times out of 10, it comes down to the way you prep your skin. >> Skin prep before you do your makeup does matter. >> Skin prep is the most important part of the routine. Skin prep is the most important step in any routine. It’s almost like I’ve been trying to tell you this whole time.

But the steps that are being promoted by the brand are hydration, serum, moisturizer, and primer, which all exist in standard skincare routines. On top of that, the ingredients in point of view products are hyaluronic acid, nyinomide, and moisturizing creams, which again are all typically found in skincare, not necessarily unique skin prep innovations.

I personally would be very interested to see what innovations could be found in a routine that maximizes products that can prep you for makeup. Instead, this just seems like your standard run-of-the-mill skin care products repackaged with the label skin prep. Michaela marketed skin prep as an entirely new category to make consumers feel like they need an extra routine or new products.

But as of right now, skin prep isn’t really real. It’s just kind of a regular skincare routine in disguise. Another complaint was the ingredient list. In skincare, ingredients are listed in descending order by concentration and active ingredients like nyinomide must be present in sufficient amounts to be effective.

A lot of reviews of point of view products noted that the active ingredients were too low in both concentration and placement to deliver noticeable results. We finally have ingredient decks from Michaela skincare line POV. And I have to say, I’m not surprised. There is fragrance in this. It also does have red number six in there.

But if you’re sensitive to dyes and fragrances, just keep that in mind. The first two ingredients are water and alcohol. Now, not all alcohols are bad, so don’t get it confused. But this particular type of alcohol is most likely SD alcohol, which is very drying. Line is very ninomide heavy. I think that there’s other products on the market, especially formulated in Korea, that would blow these out the door absolutely and probably even cost a little less.

There was also a small indie brand in Quebec that was already using the name POV Beauty or Point of View before Michaela’s brand, but the indie brand hadn’t seemed to trademark their name in the US, which of course allowed Michaela’s team to file the trademark. Michaela just launched her new beauty brand, POV Beauty, and she’s already being accused of stealing that name. POV Beauty.

Yesterday, I’m pretty sure they only had like 170 followers. So, mind you, while it is a brand in Quebec, I doubt Michaela ever heard of them or knew of them because most of us probably never knew of them until this very moment. >> Apart from Michaela’s brand name, the minimal white packaging drew comparisons to other high-profile brands like Haley Bieber’s Road and Estee Lauder’s The Ordinary.

Again, it not seeming that revolutionary with what’s already out there on the market. But Michaela also suggested that Point of View was responsible for clearing her skin, which is kind of irresponsible for a brand owner, as these statements can be misleading and legally problematic. You can see I took this picture November 7th, 2024.

This was my official before photo when I started to receive the final samples of Point of View. And this is my skin now. There is zero filter. You can see my pores, the acne blemishes gone, and the hyperpigmentation faded and it looks healthy. This is why I am so proud of my products. Last thing, this is a totally clean makeup wipe. I don’t have any makeup on. None.

Someone asked Michaela how she was certain that her products were responsible for clearing her skin since she uses a ton of different products every day, and it doesn’t seem like she could give an answer. She also continues to use her sticky method to conceal her blemishes despite claiming that Point of View is the solution to redness and acne.

>> Point of View was designed to improve the overall wear and performance of your makeup. Michaela continues to advertise other products constantly, even other skincare companies like Dermalogica. I guess her logic is that their skincare companies and her company is skin prep, therefore they’re not competition.

But when you’re making claims like your company cleared your acne and then using other skincare products and advertising them, the lines are blurred and your audience might not know what to trust and what to buy. Maybe the money she’s making from the advertisements is too good to give up and focus on her skincare, sorry, skin prep company.

But that certainly gets in the way of her legacy that she’s developing. >> Take a minute. Take it in. Can you chill? Please, please chill out. If any moment might prove how detached Michaela is from reality, it would be her divorce announcement in February of 2026. In a dramatic video, she told viewers, “You’re going to want to sit down for this.

” before revealing, “I’m getting a divorce.” Followed by a long pause, saying, “Take a minute. Take it in.” >> I want to stat this video by saying, “I appreciate you and I love you, and you’re going to want to sit down for this video. I am getting a divorce. Take a minute. Take it in. I am getting a divorce. Cody and I love each other so much.

We love each other so much. We would do literally anything for each other. I want you to know that I’m not going to be sharing any details whatsoever as to why Cody and I have made this decision. Have you seen the video Michaela Aggera just posted announcing her divorce? Why did she wait for golden hour to post this? I’m just picturing her sat in the same spot for hours, full face of makeup, waiting for the son.

It just looks so performative. Who allowed this? Who allowed her to post this? >> While the moment might have surprised casual viewers, >> and you’re going to want to sit down for this video. I am getting a divorce. Longtime Michaela fans have speculated about a potential divorce all the way back in 2025 when Cody was noticeably absent from his wife’s content.

In April of 2025, Michaela revealed that her husband had entered a rehab facility. My husband Cody is in rehab, and I am ready to talk about it. Cody’s story is not mine to share, but he has given me his blessing to talk about it today. I want to start off by saying I am incredibly proud of Cody.

It takes an immense amount of courage to give up your will and enter treatment. And I could not be more proud. As many of you have noticed, for the last several months, Cody really has not been around. He moved from Nevada to Massachusetts to go to treatment here. And the only reason he stayed is cuz he met me. January 2024, my husband relapsed on drugs.

In April 2024, my husband relapsed on alcohol. I am not new to addiction or addicts, but what I am new to is marrying one. And putting on a brave face the entire year of 2024, was the hottest thing I have ever done in my life. She explained that he’d relapsed on drugs in January of 2024, nearly 4 months before relapsing with alcohol.

Eventually, she asked her husband to move out, during which Cody found his own apartment as part of his journey to sobriety. I’m sure many of you remember I had a little bit of a mental breakdown in December. I watched his addiction worsen and it became so haden at home and I had to make the really difficult decision to remove Cody.

Sleepless nights every night worried about my husband to knowing that over the last month and a half he’s been in a safe place getting treatment and getting help and finding his path to sobriety. >> In a June 2025 update, Michaela told viewers that she and Cody were in marriage counseling and she described her marriage to Cody as living on cloud9 and that she was excited for everything to come. Mentally, I feel really good.

You know, um Cody and I are going to marriage counseling, which no, not because we’re getting a divorce. It’s just nice to go to marriage counseling when you go through a very traumatic, stressful situation together. It helps. Okay, it helps. >> Side note, nothing should ever have dips and valleys that are super extreme.

If that’s the case, your situation is toxic. That same month, Michaela replied to a comment from a user who suggested she’d forgotten her husband in her travel content. She said her husband only received two weeks of vacation every year and he can’t just come with her to everything. >> Just woke up. She forgot about Cody again.

I find this very odd. Do you bring your husband to work with you? You realize the man has a job. He gets two weeks vacation time every year. He can’t just come with me to everything. Cody’s a grown ass man. I I promise you he’s fine without me. >> Towards the end of the year, Cody returned home and started appearing regularly in Michaela’s videos once again.

By November of 2025, the couple presented a united front once again in a Thanksgiving update from St. George, Utah. >> We just wanted to take a moment to say happy Thanksgiving and let you know that this year and every year, we are extremely extremely grateful for you. I literally could not do this without you and I hope you’re having a wonderful Thanksgiving.

>> We do love you and I know I’m not always on camera and I’m not very good at saying these things, but I really do appreciate all of you guys. You know, the support and love that you’ve given my wife over the years that I do and don’t see is been incredible. So, I really do appreciate everything. So, thank you guys.

>> Michaela shared online what Cody bought her for Christmas. >> I love to cook. I’m not saying I’m good at it, but I like learning how to cook. So, I asked for some cookbooks. Cody watches this Amish uh chef, so he got me an Amish cookbook. So, I’m very curious to try these. >> Despite what seemed like a positive holiday season, Michaela said she was so done with 2025.

She said she learned a lot over the course of the year, saying that one of the most important lessons was the importance of setting boundaries. >> Anyone else ready for 2025 to be over? I’m I’m done with this year. Like, bye. Please leave. With that growth, something I failed to do along the way was set any boundaries.

What happened this year when I failed to set any boundaries? I was being pulled in every which direction. I became completely robotic, started to lose myself, and was very burnt out. >> Going into the new year, Michaela took a twoe break from posting content. She didn’t address this break until the end of January. >> And I want to be with my family.

I want to be present. I want to get off my  phone and live my life. She said that at the end of 2025, she experienced what she described as an extremely eyeopening epiphany and that she felt completely lost and unsure of who she was. She opened up about how she jeopardized relationships by spending all of her time building her online career.

Last 6 years, I have been completely immersed in influencer culture. And I told myself I was not going to cry and I’m not going to. But in the last 6 years, I feel that I have completely lost myself. I worked my ass off over the last six years. I put my  heart and soul into everything that I have done over the last 6 years to the point where it consumed me.

I jeopardized relationships because of how much of a workaholic I am. That is very profound. I also think maybe when some things are going wrong in our lives, it’s natural to focus on other aspects that feel like they’re going right. No, don’t go over there, please. That’s where I have my audio recording.

While Michaela Nguira didn’t share specific details about her personal life, it was clear that one of her relationships was suffering as she poured so much energy into her career. In February of 2026, Michaela filmed her experience attending the Super Bowl. >> Come with me to the Super Bowl. It was an absolutely perfect day. Sunny 70°.

These were at seats. They were incredible. >> And in the comments, one person asked where Cody was. and Michaela replied, “Up your ass.” The response felt unusually hostile, especially since the question was about Cody’s absence from one of the biggest sporting events of the year, and Michaela’s divorce announcement came days later.

Apart from viewers calling the video staged because of its polished lighting and luxury backdrop, which sort of clashed with the raw emotion that Michaela was trying to convey, Michaela also revealed that her and Cody separated in 2025. I am getting a divorce. Take a minute. Take it in. I am getting a divorce.

I’m not going to be sharing any details whatsoever as to why Cody and I have made this decision. The main reason I am doing that is because I want to protect Cody. Cody deserves to be happy. Cody deserves to be happy. So do I. But she also said that the breakup was very amicable and unrelated to Cody’s addiction battle. That being said, the dramatics of the Tik Tok, her telling her audience to take a minute and sit down and take it all in, especially because a divorce is kind of predictable for a lot of Michaela’s longtime followers. When you

see everything kind of leading up to their divorce, had made Michaela’s divorce announcement almost comedic to many viewers who went on to make parodies of her divorce announcement video. This is really, really sad. This influencer, everybody’s saying that she used her divorce to get likes and views and attention on TikTok. And that is gross.

Okay, that is gross for people to say that because she would not do that. Oh, the video is still going. Me every day when the camera’s not rolling. Well, the camera is rolling. The camera’s she filmed all of this. She filmed herself. It’s still going. It’s kind It kind of goes against what I was saying before defending her, saying she wasn’t using her divorce for attention.

>> I never thought I would ever have to make this video, but the day has come and you’re going to want to sit down for this. Michaela Ngera got a divorce. No. Let it out. Let it out. Michaela’s divorce announcement came right before Valentine’s Day, and Michaela’s audience was kind of given whiplash when two days later, after revealing her pending divorce, Michaela then posted a now viral sort of high energy video prepping for her first single Valentine’s Day in 5 years.

>> Get ready with me for Valentine’s Day. I need to look so hot tonight. Like, I deserve that. I am so excited for tonight. And yes, I have plans. This is my first Valentine’s Day alone in 5 years. Spend the night with some friends. We’re going to have a chill night, cook dinner, we’re going to watch a movie, play some games.

Michaela posted two more Tik Toks revealing her Valentine’s Day makeup look and her outfit for the day. Despite viewers surprise at Michaela’s abrupt shift in emotional tone, she had previously reassured her audience that her split from Cody would not change her content. I’m still going to show up every day and I’m still going to do my cute little Valentine’s Day videos I do every year and and nothing really changing on the work side.

I’m still going to be creating my beauty content and my makeup content. >> And boy, did she stick to that. Though, this did cause some internet backlash. Again, people feeling like it added to this inauthenticity of Michaela’s content because it feels abnormal for someone who’s going through a divorce to sort of act so ecstatic in this way.

But on the other hand, there were a lot of people sort of celebrating Michaela for being bold and embracing herself and being confident in this way, even in the face of adversity. This was the first time throughout Michaela’s career that she wasn’t sort of letting the hate get to her and instead deciding to be herself, and that also should be celebrated.

Michaela playfully acknowledged the internet backlash in a Tik Tok posted on February 21st. I want to start this video by saying I appreciate you and I love you and you’re going to want to sit down for this video. >> February 22nd, 2022, less than 2 weeks after Michaela’s divorce announcement, she and her friends took a girl’s trip to Las Vegas.

In an outfit of the day video, Michaela wore a pink dress paired with a matching purse and a pair of Jimmy Chu shoes. She had a black crossbody sash emlazed with the gold letters that read sexy and single. OOTD to go to the club in Vegas. The girls are doing pink for a theme. We all have our own sash. Mine is iconic, I fear. >> Michaela continued to document her time in Las Vegas from partying at the club and maybe having too much to drink.

>> We need to take a picture. Are you crying? >> To betting thousands and winning big at the casino. >> Just won $1,400 at the casino. >> They just won $2,800. >> Again, a lot of Michaela’s documentation in Las Vegas caused some criticism with people saying that she was doing too much, partying too much, that she was going from one extreme to the another of being in a long-term relationship to acting out after the breakup.

Others, on the other hand, felt like maybe this was the first time that Michaela was being authentically herself in years. After witnessing her turbulent relationship for years, many thought that maybe Michaela would be going through a difficult time. Instead, it was like a weight had been lifted from her. Michaela often posts her many lows online, kind of maybe sort of sympathy farming than selling, but now she was moving on very quickly, which may have left parts of her audience confused.

So Michaela responded to this by posting a compilation of herself breaking down over her relationship with the caption, “Me every day when the camera’s not rolling.” In a Tik Tok posted on March 2nd, 2026, Michaela attempted to reintroduce herself, noting a recent influx of people that were swarming to her account.

She also used the video as an opportunity to respond once again to the rumor that she fabricates her Boston accent after more clips started circulating of Michaela speaking without it. There was also an ad that was removed because it showed her speaking without an accent, and the comments became flooded criticizing Michaela for faking her Boston accent.

>> Imagine using a fake accent for so long that when you do a commercial for a brand and forget to use your accent, people start calling it out on the brand’s video and they remove your video. Because that’s exactly what happened to Michaela. She did post this video talking about how her entire social media existence so far has basically been fake.

People are seemingly thinking that she also is admitting to her accent being fake as well because she literally says everything has been fake to this point. >> I’m telling you firsthand right now that as someone who is a Lger influencer, everything you see online is fake. Everything >> mascara works for all lashes.

Yes, seriously. Well, no. No, I know. >> In the video, Michaela confirmed that her accent was real, but also admitted to exaggerating it at times here and there. There has been a lot of new people coming to my page recently, so I feel like I need to reintroduce myself. My name’s Michaela and I was born and raised in a small town called Freetown, Massachusetts. No, I’m not from Boston.

I’ve never said that. People just assume it. Do I actually have an accent? Yes. Do I exaggerate it in my videos? Also, yes. I get my accent from my dad. My dad has a wicked strong accent. I am ashole through and through. I will probably die here. She also addressed her separation from her aranged husband.

I’m just totally myself and a lover girl, a hopeless romantic. I do a lot of research on love languages. Did I have a field marriage indeed, but I’m not giving up on love, she said. So, when I tell you this year is going to be insane, you’re not ready. And I’m also launching a fragrance, which I’m really excited about.

Yeah, I I absolutely love my life. I feel so blessed every single day. I love doing what I do, even though it’s challenging at times. Most recently, Michaela made a Tik Tok announcement about her new boyfriend. The comments on the video were mixed with some people criticizing Michaela for quote unquote moving on too quickly. Other people simply happy that Michaela was happy.

I really do wish Michaela the best when it comes to her personal relationships, private endeavors, and personal happiness. I hope as she moves forward, she’s able to find the inner peace that she seems to be looking for throughout her social media career. and I hope that a stable, healthy relationship is one step on her path or journey in doing so.

It wouldn’t take long for Michaela to enter the next chapter of her life, continuing to launch more businesses to sell to her audience after emotionally connecting with them once again. In March of 2026, Michaela expanded her brand into new business territories, announcing that she would be releasing a fragrance called Only Sunshine.

If you remember Michaela’s massive perfume collection, well, this is another perfume to add to that collection, I guess. A year ago, I was approached and asked if I wanted to create my own fragrance by sniff. I didn’t even think twice about it. We went through hundreds of scent samples and that involved a lot of smelling.

I consistently flew back and forth to New York to do smell testing cuz you can’t just smell a fragrance on yourself. I wanted to see it experienced on someone else and many times it wasn’t right. >> It’s just random people smelling it on the same person’s arm over and over again. >> Introducing Only Sunshine, a fine fragrance by yours truly.

>> The perfume is a collaboration with a niche fragrance line called Sniff. I don’t know why that sounds like a weird brand name for perfume line. Sniff. Like sniff has sort of like a younger youthful sort of branding approach to fragrance. And they approached Michaela in 2025 to collaborate on a fragrance.

Michaela saying that she worked on this fragrance for an entire year. Michaela says that it’s been her dream to launch a fragrance, saying that only sunshine will be the fragrance of the summer. But >> it’s not just any fragrance. This is a year’s worth of love poured into a bottle to create the fragrance of the summer.

>> There are a lot of fragrance reviewers on Tik Tok who talk about their favorite fragrances and recommendations. Was this just a new niche that Michaela was trying to expand into to make money? Or did she have a genuine passion for it? She certainly had a lot of perfumes in her collection, but was that because simply brands sent them to her and it was another business opportunity or is it because she has a genuine passion? I mean, it could be both.

This is summer in a bottle. I tested this fragrance for a year, wearing it all over. I knew I couldn’t approve it unless I was getting dozens of compliments a day. This video was the first time that Michaela turned her comments back on after the controversy surrounding her divorce. The first time that she turned her comments back on was to promote this perfume that she was selling to her audience who cared about the emotional fallout from her divorce.

And the top comments were people being excited about the comments being back on about her having grown. All of that is great and I completely agree, but it also kind of feels like Michaela strategically utilized that as a way to further the promotion of this product. It all feels a little bit strategic. Is that just me? Influencing has become a race to sell, sell, sell.

Lost in the chaos is authenticity. Michaela was a refreshing face in a sea of beauty influencers who lost their way until she became the ultimate example of a beauty influencer sellout and became all about profit. The expectation for influencers nowadays is to share every high and low of their personal life online.

And many have chosen to turn this personal exposure into profit by finding ways to exploit their own trauma and personal victories. But Michaela Nguara is an example. Oh my god. But Michaela Nguara is an example of how that might be unhealthy for everyone involved. And that’s all for today’s video.

Thank you so much for watching if you made it all the way to the end. I have so many fun and interesting videos planned. So I hope to see you in the next one. Stay well until then. Bye.