Getting to know Valeria Loren
Meet Valeria, beauty influencer & makeup guru, with over 60k instagram followers & 100k+ Youtube subscribers. You may see pops of lifestyle & fashion on Vale’s page but if you’re looking for killer makeup inspo or tips on how to execute the perfect makeup look, look no further. Vale’s page is filled with endless makeup tips, recommendations & amazing beauty tutorials. Not only does she provide value, she’s one of the most authentic & kind influencers out there.
How did the beautiful Vale get to where she is now? Let’s find out!
When did you first start using social media?
As soon as Instagram came out in 2010, I was on it right away. From what I recall, I graduated highschool in 2013 & was watching a lot of Youtube Videos at the time, for example, Casey Holmes, Karen aka @iluvsarahii, Diana Curmei, Huda Kattan & so many more, and they were inspiring me. I was on my way to the mall, I turned to my mom and I said “wow I really want to start a beauty page.” At the time, this was super groundbreaking and also very new compared to how normalized it is now. That’s where it all started to happen for me.
Walk me through the step-by-step process that you went through to get to where you are today. What was the first thing you did? Next?
MY INITIAL INSPO:
One of my biggest beauty inspirations, Karen, hosted a Live Glam class, an LA based online beauty certification school. It was a 4HR class for $200 USD, so I signed up and received my makeup certification from Karen at Live Glam. In just a year, I was already at 2k followers and was already on PR teams. Since day 1, I have not stopped, and present day, I have been posting every day for the past 4 years.
CONNECTING WITH BRANDS:
For brand reach outs, to be completely honest, I have opened 80% of my opportunities with brands. I feel a lot of this has to do with my location living in Orlando, Florida, mainly because it’s harder to make connections here vs. living in LA, so I did have to rely on myself to take the first step & do the reach outs. The first brand to ever send me product was Sigma when I was only at 2000 followers and I was over the moon.
Fast forward to present day, at the beginning of each season, I will write down a list of all the brands I want to work with, do reach outs & even send out follow ups to the beauty brands that denied me.
From here, I will purchase the beauty products and begin incorporating them into videos to get noticed by the brands, and get reposted. This is mainly my strategy on how to work my way up to working with a brand more permanently, and also a good way to segway into getting on their PR lists. A lot of these reach outs received no’s, but at the same time, a lot of these brands said yes.
The biggest win was getting Marc Jacobs under my belt, as this was on my dream brand list & mood board for a while, and I kept pushing & stuck it out, and luckily was introduced to the brand in late 2019 & added to the PR list, which was a very exciting moment for me.
How long was it before your social media platforms became profitable? How did you live through those first few months/years? Did you have any struggles?
I started doing Instagram full time really early & earlier than most. Luckily, I was living at home with my parents, and also had a job at a sports store, called Sports Authority, so anything I was making from my online community, it was enough to get me by without being luxurious or reckless with my disposable income. After Sports Authority went bankrupt, I was out of a job and tried applying to beauty stores such as Mac, and was sadly denied. That brought me to the realization & also forced me into taking my instagram seriously and doing it as a full time career. In the beginning, everything was great, every few months that passed, I’d raise my rates as per industry standard. However, the very first year I struggled was in 2019, which was very tough for me considering this was my peak and also the biggest I had ever been, so it was frustrating and also brought on feelings of self doubt for myself personally & in the content I was creating.
To further paint this picture for you – for individuals with stable jobs, they know when they show up to work, they are going to get paid no matter what. On the other hand – for influencers, we are creating free content all the time in the hopes we get noticed, which I believe is one of the most commonly misunderstood things about social media because from an outside perspective, it looks like I am doing very well, however there are many dry seasons throughout my career without any pay, where I struggled to pay for groceries, my dog’s food and questioned many times, if I should stop my instagram and youtube and go get a full time job.
Having gone through so many ups and downs financially in the influencer world, it has truly humbled me and also made me very grateful for my community and for all of their support. It has also taught me how to handle myself emotionally, and how to deal with situations like this in the future because you never know if this will happen again or when it will happen to you.
What did you do prior to influencing on social media? If you weren’t an influencer, what would be your dream job?
I would definitely stay in the beauty community i.e. Ouai, regardless of it being hair/makeup. I love the background side of it, for example being able to run the events & organize/ plan internal marketing strategies. This side of it truly fascinates me. I truly wouldn’t have to be in front of the camera to know that I am proud of my work, because to me, being behind the scenes is just as fulfilling.
Completely unrelated to beauty though, my other dream job is being a dolphin trainer at SeaWorld or the manager of the Seaworld show. Growing up in Orlando, my parents were always bringing me to the theme parks, and seeing the trainers swim with the sea animals always blew my mind because having the opportunity to see an animal so up close, and have that experience is worth it to me. Not a lot of people can say they swim next to Orcas on a daily basis.
What are your thoughts on social media? And what do you think is the most commonly misunderstood thing about social media?
I understand many struggle with mental health issues and many relate these hardships as a result of using social media on a daily basis. However, I strongly feel there comes a point where you need to ask yourself, am I really going to let an application truly affect my mental health? In other words, if you do not like something about your life, then ask yourself, “what can I do to change that and transform my life into something I actually want?”
Social media can be used negatively, but it can also be used for so many positive things for example, spreading information about international issues or sparking a movement such as movember. In addition, you should view instagram as a positive thing and as an outlet to being creative & showcasing what you want the world to see. You can always go on social media and find the content that interests you, and stick to looking at that imagery/videos i.e food pages, beauty pages etc.
I struggle with this as well, as I often get inspo from other fashion pages i.e. influencer Tezza. I can’t always execute her exact look because we are very different, no two people will ever look the same, but I can still get an overall vision for my new feed post.
The most commonly misunderstood thing is having this idea that people’s lives are so amazing, and in some cases, they may be great. However, there are some points where you can get inspired by other’s lives, but there is a difference in being inspired by someone’s life & being completely consumed by it i.e. a person’s marriage, their financial stability and the designer items they can afford. Being consumed and letting it affect you is where the lines can get blurred. However, the positive side of this is that other’s lives can be a point of motivation & drive you to work hard to reach the goals and dreams you may have for yourself.
What negative assumptions, if any, have been made about you via social media?
Overall, I have not had anything super negative said about me. However, there were two cases I experienced.
First, people thought I was pregnant for 3 months straight. It came to a point where I had to address it. I believe because of how much I choose to share on instagram, people believe they have earned the right to know everything and feel entitled to an opinion on my life as well. Therefore, if you don’t want people commenting on your relationship or personal life, you should refrain from sharing your marital issues on social media because you are essentially inviting people to have a say in your life.
Second, I did run into an experience where fans were displeased with my opinion on a beauty scandal, which I chose to share in a YouTube video. All in all, I believe the best way to avoid this if you have to question whether you should say something or not, I would avoid saying it altogether. Exceptions are made when you truly feel passionate about something, and want to share what you stand for, then you have the right to say how you feel on your page.
Tell us something about yourself that your followers don’t know
I am always tidying up, and my house is never perfect, I’ll say that, but I am very petty when it comes to cleaning the house. If I ask Jason to clean, and he doesn’t do it. I will take all of his stuff around the house and make a little pile on his side of the bed, so if he wants to sleep he either has to A) clean it or B) shove it on the floor, into his bedside area away from my personal area/communal areas.
Of all the gifted packages you receive as an influencer, which product/item excites you the most? What would be your dream brand to collab with?
Co-branded influencer products 100%. As an influencer, it’s so exciting to receive a product that was co-created by another influencer because it inspires me and makes me dream of receiving my very own co-branded collab product, for example, my OFRA palette. It also makes you feel amazing when you choose to purchase and support that person because you feel a stronger connection with the product and the person behind the product.
One of my favourite influencer collab products to receive was definitely the Desi & Katy eyeshadow palette.
My dream collabs would be with Colourpop Cosmetics, a video collab with Kylie Jenner or a Luxy Hair extensions collab.
Who are three of the most important, and influential people in your life? and why?
Overall my friends & family support means everything to me.
My husband, Jason, he is my best friend and has supported me since day one. He bought me my very first camera and if it wasn’t for him, I would not be where I am today and I most likely would not have started at all. He truly held my hand. Moving forward, I want to be able to give back to him and make him proud.
My mom always knows how to keep me grounded & ultimately keeps me going in this industry. For me, I could message my mom at any time and tell her I got new products in the mail, and she is always so excited & tells me to send her pictures of everything I received. When I lived at home, she would be there to help unbox all of my packages with me & whenever a new opportunity comes my way, is in the work or falls off, she is the very first person I call besides my husband.
My cousin – she owns her own photography business, and has built an empire for herself all by the age of 25. This alone, has deeply inspired me everyday to keep pushing & giving my work my all. She is extremely supportive, is always thinking of others, & is truly like a sister to me.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to an aspiring influencer if you only had a few minutes to give them your best tip?
- Try new things.
- Dont be scared, go for it.
- Do not compare yourself to anyone, only try to compete with yourself to be a better you everyday.
- Ask questions + make connections.
- You only miss the shots you dont take.
In the beginning, Jason, Vale’s hubby, played a huge role in helping develop Vale’s career. He assisted in handling conversations with brands, so Vale could do what she does best – create, create, create. Fast forward, Vale’s career has even further progressed, as she’s now managed by Insanity HQ. Keep an eye out because this is only the beginning for Vale & you might just see this beautiful girl launching her very own beauty-focused collection in the future. Be sure to follow along with her journey @valeloren.
Thanks for reading loves & hope you enjoyed it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below xx
Check out Vale’s very first Youtube Video back in 2015.
Who are some of Vale’s biggest inspirations?
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