Human Interest

How Alix Earle became Gen Z’s newest obsession: ‘Like your hot best friend’

She’s hot to Tok.

Beauty influencer Alix Earle, 22, has quickly risen through the social media ranks with her blond bombshell looks and chatty demeanor to become Gen Z’s reigning It girl.

The TikTok hashtag #AlixEarle has a dizzying 332.3 million views, while #AlixEarleEffect has nearly 15 million. Earle herself has 3.6 million followers, up from around 800,000 two months ago. The beauty’s rapid ascension and relatable persona has industry watchers agog.

“It just feels like your hot best friend is telling you all the stories while FaceTiming you before going for a night out,” said Mona Mortezaei, campaign coordinator at media agency the Influencer Marketing Factory.

Earle, who is majoring in business administration at the University of Miami, is best known for her “get ready with me” videos, in which she offers up hair and makeup tutorials and endearing to-camera monologues. Her fervent followers have wiped the store shelves clean of Benefit’s Roller Lash mascara, the Dyson Airwrap and other Earle-approved items as they clamor to be her carbon copy.

Two months ago, the 22-year-old touted about 800,000 followers, but now boasts more than 3.6 million. Instagram/Alix Earle
The blond bombshell has a chokehold on TikTok, as her Gen Z followers flock to purchase her favorite products and try her makeup techniques. Instagram/Alix Earle

“She’s influenced me to buy so many products, curl my lashes, curl my hair, use a lip liner with lip gloss on top, use eyebrow gel,” Diana Kirk, 24 and from Atlanta, told The Post.

Part of Earle’s appeal is that she’s honest about what it takes to look like a college-coed Barbie. She’s told followers all about her breast implants — she celebrated her one-year “boob-iversary” last week — and how starting Accutane four months ago has been life-changing.

“Acne is normal, OK? So this is just a reminder that it’s not the end of the world and it’s gonna be OK,” she says in one post, showing a somewhat recent photo where her face and neck are covered in blemishes.

But Earle isn’t quite the the girl next door — despite growing up in New Jersey and going to a Catholic school.

Despite her stereotypically beautiful features and physique, Earle isn’t profiting off her looks – her best-friend-like realness might be the key to her popularity. Instagram/Alix Earle
Earle dated former Yankee Tyler Wade for a time in 2022. Getty Images

Her father, TJ Earle, 49, runs a lucrative construction business and is married to Ashley Dupré, the former sex worker (and onetime Post sex columnist) famous for her role in former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s undoing. TJ cheated on Alix’s mother, Alisa Earle, 50, with Dupré when Alix was a tween.

These days, Earle easily eclipses her stepmother’s notoriety. She pals around with Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus, is in an on-again, off-again relationship with former Yankee Tyler Wade and rakes in an estimated $40,000 to $70,000 for a single TikTok ad, which she posts at least once a week.

Earle’s internet notoriety earned her a seat at an exclusive Rare Beauty event, where she met the brand’s founder Selena Gomez. @alixearle
But the influencer’s looks haven’t given her immunity to controversy. Fellow creators have raised concerns. Instagram/Alix Earle

Not everyone understands the appeal.

Mik Zazon, a 27-year-old content creator with 1.6 million TikTok followers, claimed Earle’s drop-dead looks and wealth status have contributed to her rapid rise through the ranks.

“It is no question that those privileges play a vital role in her social media presence as the new ‘it girl,'” she told The Post.

Earle’s iconic “get ready with me” clips have even inspired her fans to film some of their own, including 16-year-old Chloe Urbon who has since “come out of my comfort zone” after watching the influencer’s videos. Instagram/Alix Earle
Earle’s father T.J. (left) traded wife Alisa for Ashley Dupré (right), the former call girl — and onetime Post sex columnist — central to the end of Eliot Spitzer’s gubernatorial career. Getty Images
Her rapidly increasing internet fame has creators and fans alike shocked, as Kirk puts it: “It’s so crazy to see the influence one person can have.” Instagram/Alix Earle

Earle is no stranger to other women not liking her.

In one post, she details her sorority-rush experience and being rejected by her top choices.

“Looking back, I thought my life was over,” laughs Earle, who ultimately joined a different sorority of but quit after a year because she chafed at rules about what she could post on social media. “If I could go back, I would not change anything … Everything happens for a reason.”

Alix Earle’s wit and wisdom:


On curling eyelashes: “Beauty is pain. You have to get it [the curler] all the way up there at the start of the lash and you have to curl it almost where it pinches, almost where you want your eye to water up.”
On hair color: “If you’re blonde and you’re thinking about going darker, you need to really consider your mental state.”
On choosing a plastic surgeon: “I was like, ‘If I’m doing something to my body, I would rather just like spend more money and have it be better.”
On getting breast implants: “You should love yourself, but if there is something you want to do for yourself, then do it. Don’t care about what other people think.”