Reels, videos, stories and posts – we think this all that comprises an Instagram influencer’s life. But that’s far from the truth. An influencer may be in the public eye at all times, but they have very real, human emotions just like the rest of us. So, when Nayanika aka @makeupbynayanika decided to start a public Instagram account, there were some apprehensions in her mind about all the pressures that come with being an influencer, but she has now accepted that it is all just part of her job as a creator.
A beauty influencer and a makeup blogger, Nayanika was always “obsessed” with makeup since a child and many a lipsticks had to give up their lives in the hands of little Nayanika. But that obsession with makeup soon turned into more than just that for her when she decided to start an instagram page and document her makeup journey.
A part time gig but a full time dream
Nayanika is an influencer on the side and is focusing on her studies along with maintaining a full fledged career. She says she would love to just make content full time but she jokes that because she comes from and Indian family, she will have to complete her education.
The social media influencer is one of the fastest growing personalities on the internet and says that not having a large number of followers has its own perks. ” I have always tried to achieve and organic and friendly relationship with my audience. I am never just trying to sell them anything. I look at it as a friend giving you recommendations and that is what I do with everyone who sends me a DM. I only suggest things that I truly believe will help them. If I feel a certain person doesn’t need a particular product, I would never recommend it to them regardless of whether or not I am doing an ad of that product. And this goes a long way because they then come back to me for all their other queries or if they need more recommendations. It makes people believe that I am not going to rip them off and lie to them,” explains the beauty blogger.
The dark side
Along with the perks, there are a lot of pressures that come with being an influencer, too, like managing your time, but Nayanika says that’s not an issue for her for the most part. “This is not a problem because I love to do what I do so working on weekends is not a problem. But a lot of times, people expect you to work on weekends and get your work done just because you are working from home. So, I feel I am taken for granted a lot. I am expected to work on weekends and I think everyone needs a break. But I think I have learned how to balance things out,” says the content creator, who has almost 36k followers on Instagram.
Social media often becomes a place that promotes unrealistic beauty standards and a lot of us feel the pressure to always be perfect as a result of that, but Nayanika doesn’t endorse that idea of perfection. “I always come on my stories looking like a homeless person. And I understand that sometimes, people come on social media for an escape, but I feel like I have to show theme what life is really about. You have to be real with your audience because perfect things on social media give everyone a lot of complexes. I never want anyone to feel uncomfortable in their body after coming to my page. I want people to understand that it’s okay to have swollen eyes or lines and pores and all the normal humanly things because we are all human at the end of the day,” she says.
Nayanika is managed by Chtrbox Represent which also manages 50 other influencers from across genres like food, beauty, fitness, travel and everything social media.