Lele Pons’ First Beauty Collab Was Made For Makeup Newbies

If you spent any time on Vine during its heyday, then Lele Pons probably looks familiar. The Venezuelan-American made a name for herself at just 16 by becoming the first Viner to reach one billion loops with her own brand of comedy. A self-professed "class clown" who looked up to Ellen DeGeneres and Amy Schumer in high school, her funny videos proved to be more than just Vine hits. While the app shuttered in 2017, her fans followed her onto Instagram and YouTube. Now the internet star has entered the music industry as a singer, continued producing content for over 50 million followers across social platforms, and, most recently, collaborated with Tarte Cosmetics on a makeup collection.

While comedy and music have always been obvious passions for Pons, she admits that beauty can be intimidating. "I never thought I was good enough to do a beauty collaboration because I'm not a pro," she says. "I'm not good at doing makeup, but I do love beauty, that's for sure." In fact, despite the popularity of beauty content online, she never considered branching out into the space. "You have to find your own way and not do something just because everybody is doing it," she says. "You have to do it because you really like it — and comedy was what I wanted to do."

While comedy was her first passion, Pons grew up watching her mother and aunts apply their favorite red lipsticks and eventually got the beauty bug while having her makeup professionally done for her quinceañera at 15. Still, Pons finds it challenging to apply makeup, which served as the perfect inspiration for her newest products with Tarte. Along with a rosy nude lipgloss and false eyelashes — both staples in Pons' makeup routine today – the Lele Pons x Tarte collection features an eye and cheek palette that has soft, wearable colors perfect for beginners. "I wanted to create something that's as easy to use as possible," she says.

What's more, a closer look at the palette reveals that the shade names are in Spanish, which was a proud moment for the star, who was born in Caracas, Venezuela and raised in Miami.

Now, with her first collab under her belt and a better sense of how to apply highlighter — which she recently learned — Pons is ready to continue making her mark on the beauty world while embracing new opportunities. "I love bettering myself and ultimately, evolving," she says. Given how successfully she migrated her audience from Vine to other platforms — and then turned the whole thing into a lucrative career — this is likely just the beginning.