When YouTube was beginning to take over social media, the growth of the content space exploded with beauty content creators. Mikayla Nougiora is a beauty influencer who has faced a fair share of controversies. It often seems that those in the beauty industry will always have something negative lurking behind them, whether that could be their problematic past or the person they are now.
Nougiora began gaining attention from viewers in early 2020, leading her to skyrocket to fame in late 2022. As soon as Nougiora gained more popularity, many people were quick to criticize her. One of her first controversies regarding her stance on “How hard it is to be an influencer,” which references a resurfaced video that she posted in 2021. In the clip, Nougiora complains that she just finished working for the day at 5 p.m., and that the average person wouldn’t be able to do that. Many users on social media were quick to call her out on this because they believe she is privileged and doesn’t realize she has it so much easier than most. She doesn’t have to carry the weight non-influencers have to worry about, such as worrying about expenses or employment. Instead, Nougiora can buy multiple luxury items without a second thought.
To build, another issue many have is her over-consumption issues. She claims she “buys all of the brand new Sephora releases so her viewers don’t have to,” yet it’s just her purchasing items she more than likely already received in PR packages. It’s not her influencing the consumer on what to buy; it’s the flaunting of her lavish lifestyle. Regarding makeup, “mascara gate” is one of her biggest controversies yet. In January 2023, Nougiora was filming an ad for the L’Oréal Telescopic mascara, where she explains that the results were amazing But it wasnt the mascara that made it look good, it was the fake Ardell wispy lashes she put on the end of her eyelashes, and called it the work of the product She was quick to get called out on this, which she then came forward to admitting they were false eyelashes.
Nougiora has a makeup and skincare line of her own called POV, and this brand is not doing too hot, ultimately stemming from her immense amount of backlash. Her lipsticks are the biggest problem with the brand. People are receiving them with hair, bacteria, and smudges already in the unused products. Nougiora branded this lipstick as a nonstick formula, but when applied, the product is sticky and stringy. This deceiving practice simply should not be happening, especially when advertisements lead viewers to think that the product is different from what it is.
With all of those events past, Nougiora popped into the spotlight again with hermost recent controversy she faced regarding angel trees, which is a program aimed at helping underprivileged families still make Christmas happen. On one of Nougiora’s posts, someone commented asking her if she was going to do an angel tree, to which she responded that she would. Many other people reminded her about her promise and how they would like to see her do it before it’s over. Nougiora claims she didn’t know when the holiday-themed event was ending. Which ultimately led to her receiving extreme backlash, and her response to a comment about the situation was “let’s see what you did for an angel tree.” Many people don’t have the money to buy other kids Christmas presents, but Nougiora does. While it is her money, it’s money her fans and followers have given her.
But that’s not even all of it. Nougiora does tryto help others, for example, she’s donated makeup and skincare she’s received in PR to homeless shelters. This normally wouldn’t be an issue if they were new and unopened products. What she is donating, though is used and expired beauty products exposed to all kinds of bacteria. While the thought of her donating thousands of dollars’ worth of self-care products seems amazing, it’s important to remember that these people in homeless shelters are worth so much more than a half-empty and expired bottle of concealer. Nougiora has the opportunity to help in such amazing ways with her platform and the money she makes from it, but she chooses not to. She has the option to lie to millions of people just to make a couple of dollars and earn more brand deals. Those who she’s being deceptive towards probably aren’t able to afford a $60 foundation, but they will go out of their way to purchase it and try the product with the hope that it will look like how it did online, only for it to be nothing like they were promised it would be. Nougiora said in an older unsponsored video with the product Keep Me Covered Essence Concealer, she said, “There’s a little bit of darkness coming through even though I did 2 layers. For the concealer I’m gonna pass, it didn’t cover what I like the concealer to cover.” Later on, she got a sponsor with that same brand and reviewed the same product. In this sponsored video, she says,” This is full coverage. Look at my skin.” The claim of Nougiora lying about products is more apparent than ever before.
Influencers need to be honest with their fan base so they don’t get influenced by an invalid opinion. With all of Nougiora’s controversies, how can we be sure she’s telling the truth? Well, we can’t. But considering how many times she’s been caught in her lie, it’s best to look at Nougiora and her content with a critical eye. There are plenty of better and more honest influencers out there who don’t only care about a quick buck.
