Lifestyle – Chloe's Corner

Influencer Culture: Alix Earle

It seems as though every so often, the internet chooses one lucky creator to be the next big thing. If you are no stranger to social media, you would be familiar with influencers like Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae, who rose to fame in late 2019 and have gone on to dominate the industry. Since then, the internet has gone from creator to creator, banding behind them and giving them millions of followers and support. Alix Earle- Tiktok’s newest “it” girl- has become an overnight phenomenon and everyone’s latest obsession.

Who is Alix Earle?

Earle, a 22-year old marketing major at the University of Miami, is taking the internet by storm. Born on December 16, 2000, Earle is originally from Monmouth County, New Jersey. She lives an aspirational life, from her lavish family home to all of the expensive products she shows off on her Tiktok. The up and coming influencer currently has 1.5 million followers on Instagram and 3.8 million followers on Tiktok. Earle’s mega-rise to fame has only been over a few short months, so what is it about her that keeps everyone hooked? Well, to many of her followers, she represents the perfect balance between being glamorous and relatable. Her approachable personality and “big sister” demeanor makes her appealing and keeps her following growing.

A “Real” Influencer

What sets Earle apart from other influencers is her genuinity. Whether it is sharing her wild college experiences or posting her messy room, she makes sure to always stay open with her followers. Earle helps others to feel more comfortable in their own skin by talking about her acne journey and her experiences with Accutane. She encourages her followers by sharing how she overcame her own insecurities: “Acne is normal…it’s not the end of the world,” she says in one of her videos. Earle also normalizes mental health by sharing how she has been on Lexapro for her anxiety since she was a freshman in high school. By doing this, her honesty is helping girls like her to face their own struggles.

Personal Life

Earle does not hold back from sharing about her personal life online. Most recently, she gained the attention from her public split from on-again off-again boyfriend and MLB player Tyler Wade. From the beginning of their relationship in September 2022, Earle featured him in videos and posted pictures of them on her socials. In December, Earle posted one of her most watched tik tok lip-syncing to an audio saying, “Damn, y’all broke up? Nah, she broke, I’m up.” After Earle confirmed their breakup and added that it was because he was hesitant to post her on his social media, girls everywhere stood behind Earle and gave her their full support. This also inspired a trend on Tiktok where girls talked about their self-worth after seeing how Earle ended things with Wade.

Earle’s Content

Aside from her candid personality and entertaining love life, it is Earle’s beauty, fashion, and lifestyle content that gets her the views. With hashtags like #AlixEarle and #AlixEarleEffect going viral on Tik Tok, her name is everywhere. Earle has been on the app since 2020, but due to the success of her most recent videos, her following has skyrocketed. She is known for her Day in the Life vlogs, Amazon finds, and Get Ready With Me (GRWM) videos. Her viral makeup routine has become so popular that certain products have been selling out. Getting your hands on Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush or the Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Drops has become almost impossible. Her GRWM videos sparked another trend on Tiktok where girls would ask themselves “What would Alix do?” as they got ready for the night. Whether it is sharing beauty tips or casually chit chatting with the camera, Earle always keeps her viewers engaged.

Influencers and the Media

At the end of the day, putting normal, everyday people on a pedestal comes at a risk. Influencers have become an essential part of our society, especially for Gen-Z. Social media can sometimes be associated with a lower self-esteem and can even lead to an unrealistic standard of beauty that impacts the way we see ourselves. For influencers like Alix Earle, it is important that they have a positive attitude and encourage their followers- not try to be perfect. Since so many people have spent time listening to Earle’s content, hopefully she continues to be a fun, positive light to social media.

How to Spend a Weekend in London

This past week, I had the opportunity to travel to London with my dad’s basketball team. He’s the head coach at Marist for men’s basketball, and they played at the Basketball Hall of Fame London showcase. My mom and I have been planning this trip for weeks- with all of our free time we had to find things to do. We stayed for five days, and in that time we managed to see all the sights and visit all of the iconic places. I am very excited to share my itinerary from the past few days- from tours to tea time.

Taking a trip to Europe means one of many things: a very, very long travel day. We left Marist’s campus with the team a little past two Wednesday afternoon and did not arrive at our hotel until eleven on Thursday morning. There’s a five hour time difference, but either way, it was quite a trip. Once we arrived in the hotel room, my mom and I took an hour long power nap before having to get ready for our first activity. We stayed outside of Central London on Canary Wharf, so to get to the heart of the city we either had to take a cab or the train. We took a car to the Corinthia Hotel, where we would be having afternoon tea before taking a double-decker bus tour of the Christmas lights.

When I stepped into the Corinthia Hotel, I was amazed. The tea room was decorated with nutcrackers, brightly lit Christmas trees, and large red and gold ornaments that hung from the ceiling. After spending time in London, I can assure you that there is really nothing better than afternoon tea. If you’re a tea person, I totally recommend doing your own at home. Once we finished our finger sandwiches and scones, we headed out to where the tour was meeting. Although we spent most of it shivering, it was worth it. As we turned every corner, the lights continued to get more impressive. Buildings were decked out and the streets were bustling with people. We even managed to get a perfect view of the annual tree lighting in Trafalgar Square. As I went to bed that night, I was exhausted, but excited for the next few days.

Something you should know about my mom and I is that we are serious shoppers. We dedicated our second day to shopping on Oxford Street- the one and a half mile long street packed with stores. We visited Harrods and Selfridges, two of London’s luxury department stores, which are the equivalent to New York’s Saks on Fifth Avenue. We ended up having a late lunch at a very Instagrammable cafe on the fourth floor of Selfridges called Elon Cafe overlooking the city. The walls were covered in pastel pink and the entire cafe was decorated with carnations. Sadly, our shopping day was eventually cut short so that we could have dinner with my dad and the team.

The Christmas display windows at Selfridges on Oxford Street

We woke up early the next morning and took a car to Central London for our tour of Westminster Abbey. Our car dropped us off right in front of Elizabeth Tower- more popularly known as Big Ben- and we grabbed coffee as we headed to the Abbey. Our tour was around two hours and was quite impressive. I imagined what it was like for the church to be filled with people during the Royal Weddings. After the tour, my mom and I had afternoon tea at the cafe in the Abbey. The rest of our day was jam-packed, we walked to Buckingham Palace and saw the guards, and then all the way to the London Eye. If you didn’t know, London has a ferris wheel in the middle of the city, and I convinced my mom to buy us tickets. London is known for its rainy and cloudy weather, but even through the clouds it was an amazing view. You could see all of London at the top, from Parliament and Big Ben all the way to the palace. We knew that since we would be at the game the next day, we should be making the most out of our day, so my mom and I decided to stay for dinner. We ate at a traditional English pub and had Shepard’s Pie and Sticky Toffee Pudding to get a taste of the culture. We then took the train back to the hotel, watched holiday movies, and drank champagne until we fell asleep.

Our last full day had less sight-seeing, but was just as exciting. It was the day of my dad’s game, and I have to say, the arena they played in was unbelievable. They had a great crowd- the arena has ten-thousand seats and a good amount of them were filled. The game was close and we were on the edge of our seats, but they pulled out a win. Afterwards, we took the train back to the hotel and finished off our trip with a family dinner.

Visiting London during Christmas time is something that everyone should add to their bucket list. It was an incredible experience, and even though bundling up from head to toe is a must, the beauty of the lights and decorations make up for it. We crammed a lot into the five short days that we were there, and although it was hectic, it was a trip I will never forget.

Giving Thanks

With the holidays quickly approaching, I want to take a step back and reflect on the past year. I am beyond grateful for the people I met and all of the new things I got to experience, and for this week’s blog post, I would like to share everything that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving.

I have to say, even though this year had a rocky start for me, I am thankful for the amount of support and love I received from my family and friends. Without them, it would have been very difficult to get through the hard times. My mental health was at an all-time low, and my friends continued to go out of their way time and time again to make sure that I was always okay. Whether it was cleaning my room or helping me complete homework assignments, they ensured that I never fell behind. If I needed to vent, my parents would drop anything to make time for me and I am beyond thankful for it. I will always cherish the days I spent with my parents this year, from beach days to late-night talks. Seeing my friends and family at the end of the day was something that kept me smiling even when I was feeling down. Maybe I am more sentimental because this will be my last year at home before I go to college, but I want to soak up every moment with the people that I care about. I could not be more thankful for the people in my life.

Something else that I am thankful for this year is traveling. I was blessed this year with the opportunity to travel to the most beautiful places. This past summer, it felt as if my mom and I were living out of a suitcase as we traveled the world. Seeing Europe has always been a dream of mine, and by the time the year ends, I will have visited four different European countries. In June, we kicked off our summer with a trip to the French Riviera. When we were there, we stayed in Nice and visited both Cannes and Monaco, which was an amazing experience. The food was exquisite, the architecture was so impressive, and the views were breathtaking. Then in August, my family took a trip to Bermuda, and again, I was so impressed with the beauty of the island. It was the best week, between relaxing and spending quality time with my family. Next week, my family will be taking another trip, this time to London, England. Since it is the holiday season, the city will be lit up with Christmas decorations. Next week’s post will have to be an update on the trip!

The last thing that I am going to touch on are my passions. I am lucky to have found something that I care so much about: my writing. It is so important to have something that you are dedicated to and can give your all. I am very thankful for the support and positive feedback I have received so far on this blog from friends, family, and other people in my life. I am so thankful to have this as a creative outlet. I have always loved writing, and am grateful to have so many ways I can pursue what I am passionate about. Besides writing, things like social media and designing posts have also always interested me, and this past year I have had the opportunity to run multiple social media accounts for my school. I am fortunate enough to have so many ways to do what I love.

We can all find something that we are thankful for. Tell someone you care about that you are grateful for them, because a little goes a long way. With that being said, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of fun, family, and good food!