Ve’Ondre Mitchell

If it seems like Ve’Ondre Mitchell (she/her), social media activist, has perfected the TikTok game, it’s because she’s not new to this… she’s true to this. The influencer has been making videos since middle school, starting first on YouTube and eventually honing her skills on Music.ly before it became TikTok. “Content creation has always been something where I get to express my skills with cinematography, editing, and photography in general,” she says, “I really just knew that it was my passion.”

Her hard work has paid off, in part because of her focus on issues that are important to her. When she had around 30k followers, Ve’ decided to come out to her fanbase as trans after having transitioned when she was much younger. Her audience responded and grew significantly (she has 6.2M followers now). “When I came out, people were very interested in my transition, had questions about the trans community, or supported me because they were trans themselves,” she recalls. After that, she leaned in to highlighting the joys and struggles of being a Black trans woman. It’s not always been easy; she says, “I became the trans girl who talks about all these hard topics, but I never really shared my joy,” which she’s been prioritizing more lately.

On the topic of Trans Awareness Week (aka right now), Ve’ said that “there’s a difference between performative activism and actually supporting trans people.” In her view, some of the best ways to show up for trans friends as a cis ally are to avoid tokenizing them, to include them the same way you would with anyone else, and to be transparent and upfront.

In the hopes that you can look as fab as Ve’ does in front of the camera, she’s sharing her fav products to use when she gets ready to make content. Don’t worry if you’re not a social media star—the look translates well for a new LinkedIn headshot, too.

• First, I use a Neutrogena Moisturizer which is great for combination skin and works as a base for foundation. Plus, it has SPF.
• Then, this ILIA foundation, applied with a huge beauty blender. I do not have time to use a little baby one around my whole face.
• I apply this Nars concealer for any spot concealing, but this Tarte one goes under my eyes because it feels so hydrating and doesn’t crease. I use the Laura Mercier setting powder (like everyone else) just under my eyes, because I like to be very dewy everywhere else.
• I love a lot of blush high up on my cheekbones and I use this Rare Beauty one.
• I don’t think you’re supposed to use it like this, but I use a Charlotte Tilbury powder as bronzer and contour to carve out my cheekbones and snatch my face.
• I literally use a highlighter from 2016 (Morphe X Bretman), but use whatever highlighter you like and apply to the tip and bridge of your nose for a button nose look.
• For lips, I use this dark brown lip liner which stays on for hours with this lip gloss in the shade Mamacita.
• I used to get lash extensions, but now that I’m back to mascara I use this Maybelline classic.