Danita Nereyda shows true beauty goes beyond makeup

Written by Katherine Fernandez

These days, it seems like every corner of the internet is filled with beautiful women living perfect lives. Influencers can often appear larger than life, but beauty and lifestyle guru Danita Nereyda wants her followers to know there is always more than meets the eye.

In her formative years, Danita fell in love with all things hair and makeup and displayed an aptitude for the business. Self-taught and armed with a bevy of skills, Nereyda’s career began at the age of 12 when she landed her first paying client. She gained a list of loyal customers; and soon after, Nereyda became a licensed esthetician. Her success in the beauty industry led her to leave her hometown and relocate to Los Angeles. She spent almost a decade working on hair and makeup for actresses and models, many of whom encouraged her to pursue a career as an influencer. Her easy-going and lighthearted personality was a rarity in Hollywood, where so many people feigned perfection and desperately clung to that facade. It was her realness that catapulted her into internet stardom.

“You have to be able to go through these real-life situations and talk about them because you never know who you’re going to inspire, you never know who you’re helping, you never know who you’re saving. I don’t want to waste this life trying to portray a person that I’m not,” said Nereyda.

After finding viral fame and reaching over 2 million viewers, Nereyda’s accounts were unfortunately hacked. For many influencers, a setback of that kind would be more than enough to crush their spirits, but Nereyda persisted.

“When my page got hacked, I snapped back into reality and realized that this isn’t everything. Now I go about things differently. That [experience] was the one step back that I needed to take so that I could take five steps forward,” Nereyda said of the ordeal. Rather than allowing the barrage of changes in her life to overwhelm her, she embraced this period of transition, rebuilt her following, and quickly realized that her content was impacting people in a way she wasn’t expecting.

“When I started receiving messages like ‘You made my day’ or ‘I really needed that,’ I started to get really excited that I was reaching real-life people and making a difference,” said Nereyda.

Although you wouldn’t know it just by looking at her, the 32-year-old Afro-Cubana is a proud mother of two. Her children are a grounding force for Nereyda and remind her that retaining her authenticity is key.

“It’s very important for me to show my daughter and my son that you don’t have to cater to anybody; you don’t have to be a certain way. You be who you are, be true to yourself. My kids are my motivation and drive, and they allow me to be the goofy mom that I am.”

Looking towards the future, Nereyda hopes to use her platform to impact young women and guide them in an age where social media has had so many adverse effects on mental health. Keep up with Danita on Instagram @danita_nereyda2 or on TikTok @danitanereyda.