We Tried Mikayla Nogueira’s New Brand, POV Beauty—Here Are Our Honest Thoughts

Mikayla Nogueira is officially making the transition from beauty content creator to beauty brand founder with the launch of Point of View (POV) Beauty, which is available to purchase now.

This isn't unusual territory for Nogueira, who has rapidly risen to TikTok fame, garnering millions of followers with her in-depth makeup reviews. Since joining the platform in 2020, Nogueira has partnered with a long roster of makeup brands on sponsored content and limited-edition collaborations. However, a brand of her own is an entirely new venture for Nogueira, but one that she says felt like a "natural" next step.

The story behind POV Beauty

We won't lie—when we got wind of Nogueira's new venture, our first thought was: Why not makeup? It is what she is known for, after all. However, after sitting down with the creator during a brunch to celebrate the launch of POV Beauty, Nogueira made it clear that part of building a solid brand (one that withstands the test of time and consumers) starts with a solid foundation (sort of like your makeup routine). So, instead of launching with colorful palettes or highlighters, Nogueira decided on skin prep, which is arguably the most important part of a makeup routine.

Before becoming famous on TikTok for makeup tutorials, Nogueira worked at Ulta Beauty selling makeup. During her time at the retailer, she noticed a few pain points. "Makeup was used to cover a particular insecurity," she told us. "Sometimes makeup actually made those concerns worse."

Nogueira remembered cruising the aisles at Ulta to craft the perfect skin prep routine for her makeup looks, a process that is like putting a puzzle together. "There was no gondola with a clear-cut routine and steps laid out," she said. "Rather just a smorgasbord of products, and the issue is that you don't know if you can layer those five products or if they'd work for you."

As Nogueira's followers grew so did the questions she received about how to properly prep your skin for makeup, further encouraging her to build POV Beauty, a tailored line of skin prep products made to make your makeup look (and feel better) and last longer.

What is POV Beauty?

Created alongside Ani Hadjinian as co-founder and CEO, and in partnership with Imaginary Ventures, POV Beauty is a five-piece lineup with everything you need to prep your skin for makeup. Here's what's in the lineup (in order of use):

• Drench It ($34): A hydrating priming milk infused with fermented rice water for a "glass skin" base. This one has a super thin, almost watery texture and if you have dry skin (like Nogueira) you'll probably love this.
• Drip It ($36): A bouncy glow serum to soothe and moisturize.
• Whip It ($38): A whipped moisturizer to quench and hydrate the skin barrier.
• Glaze It ($28): A gripping tack primer made to keep your makeup in place without drying out your skin (and pilling).
• Amp It ($22): A lip treatment to plump the lips, smooth lines, and hydrate.

Nogueira worked with a Korean chemist to develop the line of formulas that work best together and won't pill or feel heavy on the skin. Her theory is that, yes, skin prep is at the core of any pleasant makeup application but not all skincare products are designed to work together for best results.

As a result, POV Beauty's system is supposed to be layered from thinnest (Drench It) to thickest (Glaze It) to plump the skin and create just the right amount of tackiness that a traditional grip primer would provide without ruining your makeup.

My results with POV Beauty

Frankly, I was a bit skeptical. I've tried plenty of skincare products and makeup primers over the years; I've mix-and-matched items from brands and while, yes, I agree that finding the right cocktail for your skin takes some trial and error, I wasn't sure how much you really need a dedicated line for skin prep.

Now here's the deal: The best part of playing with makeup and skincare is that you can, essentially, do whatever you want. So you don't *need* to uproot your entire skincare routine, ditch what you already have, and only use POV Beauty. On the other hand, the products do look and feel really well together. So, if you used them together, you might actually really enjoy them. I can also see a makeup artist loving the collection in their kit to prep clients before an event or shoot.

Regardless, I did my full face of makeup for an evening and used POV to set the stage. I followed Nogueira's instructions exactly—cleansed my skin (I used Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser) and followed with Drench It, which has a milky liquid texture. This felt like a really nice hydrating essence and it definitely made my skin look and feel smooth and plump—I can definitely see myself reaching for this again (especially since I've kept all the products at my desk where I do my makeup). Drip It has a nice bouncy finish when absorbed into the skin.

Once those two were absorbed I layered on Whip It, a thick moisturizer that keeps the skin barrier moisturized. Then, I went in with Glaze it (the star of the line IMO), which is a tacky (but not sticky) primer that helps your foundation glide on like butter but stay put for hours. I used two pumps of this and massaged it in and let it dry slightly before applying full-coverage foundation. The last step is the lip ampoule which I really enjoyed: The formula is smooth and silky, the applicator hugs the lips as you apply, and it serves as a nice hydrating base for a lip color.

Now look—I am a mom to an almost two-year-old child and my time is limited, so adding more steps to my already-tight routine takes a lot of convincing. On days where I am even energized enough to rock a full face, I typically only apply a toner, serum, and moisturizer ahead of makeup. However, taking your time to apply primers and the works really does make a difference in how your makeup looks and feels, and I definitely felt like my makeup was super polished and smooth once I used all of this.

Final thoughts

My skin had a subtle satin finish that wasn't too dewy or too dry and my makeup looked brand new for the entire day. I didn't touch up with setting powder throughout the day and I felt like my skin wasn't too shiny either. Ultimately, the gripping primer and lip treatment will probably be the items I reach for the most (I have them at my desk and have used both every time I've put on makeup since).

While you can certainly commit to a dedicated skin prep routine you certainly don't have to, but you can cherry pick from this line to mix and match to your liking, which I think is cool. Again, this is Nogueira's POV but yours is truly whatever you want.