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How TikTok's Mikayla Nogueira Boosted Her Confidence With a Simple Style Change

When it comes to fashion, TikTok star Mikayla Nogueira isn't limiting herself anymore. She told E! News, "The only one judging you is probably yourself."

By Alyssa Morin Aug 25, 2022 12:00 PMTags
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Mikayla Nogueira isn't hiding behind her clothes anymore.

The TikTok star has made a subtle yet impactful change she's made to her style choices that's boosted her confidence in an unexpected way.

"All my life I've been very modest with my clothes," the beauty influencer exclusively told E! News. "But I've made a point to change my wardrobe and wear things that are a little more revealing."

Before, she would've never imagined dressing up in sleeveless designs or showing off her legs in shorts. But that's since changed.

"My arms are one of my biggest insecurities, but now I will willingly show them," the 24-year-old said. "I would go entire summers wearing black leggings because I didn't feel confident in shorts. Pushing myself wear that stuff has really helped my confidence and I encourage anyone to do that."

As she put it, "The only one judging you is probably yourself."

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Mikayla—who recently released a sunglasses collection with dime Optics—hasn't always used fashion and beauty as a positive escape, however.

"When I was younger," she recalled, "I used makeup to mask my insecurities, which isn't always the best thing to do."

dime Optics

Similar to switching her mindset in the fashion space, Mikayla now understands the power of beauty.

"I see makeup as a way to enhance the beauty that you already have," she shared. "Makeup makes me feel very much beautiful. It's an art form that allows you to be creative and expressive."

Offering extra words of encouragement, she added, "My main message is that makeup is meant to be fun. It's not meant to be serious. It's not meant to be stressful."

dime Optics

Mikayla's TikTok content has clearly struck a chord with her 13 million followers, who eagerly watch her tutorials, reviews and hacks.

"I see no point in being dishonest," she said. "We're used to a lot of dishonesty in the beauty industry, especially with advertisements and with so many standards in society that we feel we have to live up to. So, I try to be my authentic, raw, genuine self."

In a July 22 TikTok, Mikayla pressed pause on the makeup videos to open up about her eating disorder and mental health struggles. It's a subject she told E! News she wanted to normalize by sharing her story her fans.

"All my life I felt I could never talk about my OCD or my depression or my anxiety or my eating disorder," she said. "I felt so ashamed to bring it up because I thought it was wrong to talk about it, and I learned that is so not true."

She continued, "When I talked about my eating disorder, my comments blow me away by how many people were going through the same thing."

"If we talk about it, we feel less alone," she put it simply. "It's OK talk about it, it's OK to be sad, it's OK to have bad days and I just want to normalize that."

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