If we're talking Gen Z beauty aficionados, Anya Tisdale's name has to be in the conversation. Originally from Boston and currently living in New York, Anya is a multi-faceted creative with a knack for thinking out of the box and setting trends. Her face card quite literally never declines. Anya broke down her beauty secrets with us in an exclusive interview.
When did you first get into beauty?
Honestly, not until the middle of my sophomore year of college.
Wow, no way – it seems like you've been into makeup forever!?
Yeah, I know! When I was younger, I was never interested in beauty or makeup as an art form. I was never into it like that. It wasn't until the first COVID lockdown that I was like, hmmmm, let me try something out because I was not into makeup and beauty in high school.
That's wild because you're so good! So you're self-taught, obviously. How did you start learning?
Well, my first true artistic background is in illustration and painting, so that really informs how I do my makeup. The two really inform each other based on color theory and mixing. I think the two are very, very similar. So yeah, I didn't really watch tutorials, actually. I didn't watch videos because, at the same time, I'm also a bit of a perfectionist, so if I follow a tutorial, it needs to turn out exactly how the person in the video did it. I know it's in my head, but I'm just like, let me not even go there! I don't want to watch tutorials and have them not turn out the way I want them to. That won't be fun for me. So, I've just experimented and had fun with it instead.
What was your first social media platform ever?
Tumblr! It was Tumblr, but I would never post anything, really – just reblogging stuff. It was definitely the start, though.
I'm so happy you said Tumblr. There's something about the girls who had the good Tumblr feeds back in the day.
Yes!!! I just love looking at things and how things just come together. Tumblr was the spot for that!
Yes, I feel like people who care about the curated feed and curated personal brand started on Tumblr!
Yes – it was like the training for us.
Let's talk about your first viral beauty post! What was it?
Hmmmm. The cake face, for sure. That was the one where I could whole-heartedly say hadn't been done before.
Let's get into your beauty recs now and put the people on! If you could only bring three beauty products with you on a two-month trip, what would they be?
1. A Good SPF
There's this one from The INKEY List that I like. Wherever you get yours from, cool, but when it comes to your skin, you only really get one. Sun exposure is not a joke. I never wore sunscreen as a kid, but I had to get it together as I got older.
2. A Nice Nude-Brown Lipgloss
3. A Good Longwear Mascara
Okay amazing picks – now let's do one Anya exclusive beauty tip!
My number number number one tip that goes for everything in makeup is that there just aren't any rules. That's been my number-one tip forever. I think we can get really used to watching tutorials and pull some tips from those, but if you decide that you want to do concealer after your blush and it works for you, even if there's someone saying it's "wrong," do it the way you want to do it because there aren't any rules. That's the beauty of makeup and beauty – it's so individualized. You really don't have to follow anything if you don't want to. If you want to do your foundation backwards, and you like it and think it looks good, who am I to tell you that you can't? Growing up, I didn't get into makeup because people around me tried to tell me I was doing it wrong.