You might know Allyiah Gainer as “AllyiahsFace,” a YouTuber who has built an online community of more than 735,000 subscribers, yet she still feels relatable. Whether she’s traveling, going to the gym, or getting ready for a night out, watching a daily vlog of Gainer’s life feels like you’re talking to your homegirl. Far from an overnight TikTok success, for the past eight years, Gainer has been putting in the work. The 28-year-old began her social-media career as a beauty blogger who turned to makeup as her creative outlet. Her content ranged everything from mastering a cut crease to reviewing popular eye-shadow palettes and achieving beauty looks on a budget. As her audience grew, Gainer realized she had a community that was listening to her and she didn’t only have to talk about makeup. She started experimenting with “get ready with me” videos and weekly vlogs. And she has buying power. Last year, when Fenty Skin launched a limited-edition scent of its Butta Drop body cream, Gainer shared how much she loved the scent and how soothing it felt on her skin — for weeks, my TikTok FYP was full of girls who’d bought the body cream, because AllyiahsFace said to. Although her influence can come with pressure, she knows how to unplug and decompress. Ironically, she “unplugs” by going on TikTok, a place where she can laugh and mindlessly scroll without having much of an attention span — until she comments on someone’s video laughing, and their response is, “Omg Allyiah.” Her response? “Shh, I’m just a random person,” she laughs.
The first thing Gainer does in the morning is go to the gym. It’s a priority, and she shows up even on the days she knows she may not be able to give 100 percent. Immediately following her morning workout is her skin-care routine, which involves a handful of products she’s loyal to, although she admits that she has genetically been gifted good skin. “All products aren’t geared to clearing acne. Some are for keeping up the health of your skin,” she says.
Here’s Gainer’s routine:
She starts by washing the sweat off of her face from the gym with Tatcha’s The Rice Wash, a favorite for its gentle cleansing. “It’s like a refresh for the skin,” she says, which leaves her complexion plump and glowy.
She layers a vitamin-C serum on top of the lotion. Dr. Dennis Gross’s cult-favorite vitamin C with lactic acid is her go-to. It brightens her skin and gives her complexion a consistent glow.
Depending on how she feels, some days she uses Dr. Dennis Gross’s daily peels. The two-step pads improve the skin’s radiance and texture in minutes.
Gainer then uses Belif’s Aqua Bomb moisturizer, a lightweight ceramide-infused gel cream.
Last, she applies SPF. Her current favorite? Black Girl Sunscreen, because it guarantees a glowy finish without a white cast.
At night, most of her routine is Curology and tretinoin, which is usually prescribed. For her moisturizer, she uses Tatcha’s Dewy Skin Cream.
The lip balm she never puts down is Laneige’s Glowy Balm, which is a slightly different formula from the company’s Lip Sleeping Mask. “The balm is slightly glossy but not too much. It has a pretty finish that feels so hydrating on my lips,” Gainer says.
On Botox, fillers, and Morpheus 8:
Gainer has done a lot of treatments. She’s fully open and transparent about Botox, fillers, and getting her lips done. But she doesn’t view those as “daring.” Her most daring (and most painful)? The infamous Morpheus 8 treatment. She has done this treatment not just once or twice but three times, and she’s planning for her fourth round. She rates the pain level a “ten out of ten,” but so are the results. “It feels superhot, because my face is getting stabbed a million times,” she says with no regrets. “It’s so worth it, because my skin is gorgeous afterward. It immediately feels firm, plump, radiant, and smooth. The healing process wasn’t bad. I think, since I’m a woman of color, my face was really red the first day, but after that it was fine — I was in Miami three days later.”
On getting her nails done weekly:
Gainer is faithful to her weekly nail appointments. Yes, weekly. “I have to get my cuticles cut once a week, because I am insane,” she says, laughing. She wears Gel-X manicures, and while some last up to five weeks, Gainer isn’t in the business of watching her nails grow for that long. Next to nails is her hair: “If my hair isn’t done, I’m not feeling good and my whole entire week is thrown off.”
On standing out as an influencer:
Gainer has a strong sense of self that carries her through. “No one can be me,” she says when asked how she manages not to get caught up in the competition. But doesn’t she inevitably compare herself to others? “Anybody who says they’ve never compared themselves in such an industry is lying,” she replies, acknowledging that a lot of times, the internet will do the comparisons for you. “You have to remember, everyone’s journey is not your journey. There were moments when I’ve seen girls blow up in a day, get a million followers literally in two days. I’ve been doing this for eight years. But I love what I’ve gained from my eight years, so that’s perfectly okay. Everyone has a different path to everything in life, and you’ll never be able to progress in your path if you can’t accept your path.”
