There's no doubting the influence of New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. While she tackles important political issues, like the environment and the economic divide in America, she's built a strong social media presence, with over 3 million followers on Instagram. Her fans and constituents regularly tune into her Stories to get a look at the inner workings of the House and to watch AOC take on simple — yet relatable — tasks, like drinking wine while building Ikea furniture. But Ocasio-Cortez has also gotten a reputation as a beauty enthusiast. In the past, she's shared her love of press-on nails, outlined her entire skincare routine, and tweeted about her go-to red lipstick (which promptly sold out, of course).
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That's why we weren't surprised that her new Netflix documentary, Knock Down the House, had a prominent beauty moment. The film follows AOC on her journey to beat then-incumbent Joe Crowley, and the very first scene shows Ocasio-Cortez doing her makeup in front of a bathroom mirror, dabbing on concealer with her fingers and filling in her brows with a pencil. Being the beauty detectives that we are, we recognised some of the products she's using. On the counter, you can see a bottle of the Becca Aqua Luminous Perfecting Foundation and a tube of Maybelline Falsies Mascara. There's also a shot of AOC using what looks like the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge to blend in her coverage.
During the sequence, Ocasio-Cortez speaks openly about the pressure of appearance for women in the workplace. "Getting ready, for women, it involves so many decisions about how you’re going to present yourself to the world," she says. "There’s kind of standard protocol for how a man running for office should dress. You either put on a suit, or you put on a light colour shirt, slacks, and you roll up the sleeves." Ocasio-Cortez and her follow congresswomen are breaking through that stereotypes of how politicians are supposed to look — one jet-black manicure and red lip at a time.
This quick look into AOC's makeup routine comes just a few months after she shared her skincare and makeup routine with her Instagram followers. In the post, she said that she likes to keep her makeup simple. Her everyday look involves tinted moisturiser, concealer, mascara, blush, stick highlighter, brow gel, and lip colour. For fancier occasions, she adds eyeshadow and eyeliner, too. But besides her favourite Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Beso, this is the first time we've gotten a glimpse at the exact products in her makeup bag. Here's hoping we can get a shelfie of her skin-care products soon. Because if there's one thing we learned from her step-by-step, it's that she knows what she's doing when it comes to makeup and skin.