NikkieTutorials is checking goals off her bucket list.
The makeup artist and beauty YouTuber, who's real name is Nikkie de Jager, opened up to ET's Denny Directo about launching her beauty brand Nimya, her special moment at the Met Gala, working with Megan Thee Stallion, and upcoming wedding to fiancé Dylan Drossaers.
"I've been in this industry for 14 years now and along the way there were so many investors and people who were like, 'Hey, I want to do something together?' And I don't trust people. I was too afraid. The cosmetics industry is scary," Nikkie confessed about the idea of launching a brand. "There's lots of intimidating people and I was like, 'I'm not ready for that. I don't think I can put myself out there like that.' But then three years ago, I met my manager Wes [van Os], who's now my business partner as well, and he was like, 'Let's set up some goals for the future.'"
Among the goals were creating a brand and attending the Met Gala -- more on that later. When creating Nimya, Nikkie said Wes asked her to focus on products that she was missing in her routine.
"'What can we improve on, maybe? And then let's see where that goes,'" she recalled him telling her. "And then out of nowhere, we now have four products that are just so amazing and we built a brand around it."
The products include a face cream, setting spray, cooling eye stick and serum. Most of all, Nikkie wants people to know that these products were all created by her.
"Created by me, curated by me, and funded by me. So what you're getting is truly the best I could do, and I hope people feel that and fall in love with the products just as much as I have," she expressed. "I think the most revolutionary one might be our Brr Brr Cooling Eye Stick because it de-puffs and it just gets your eye area in that zone. It moisturizes, and I feel like every time I wake up, I'm like, 'Where is it?'"
Nikkie's done tutorials with Kim Kardashian, Selena Gomez and even Mama Monster herself, Lady Gaga. Her most recent tutorial was with the "Hot Girl Summer" rapper and was inspired by her energy and spirit.
"Megan is one fierce queen and she radiates confidence. Sometimes I can get in my head and after filming with her, I asked her, 'What do you do when you feel down? Or do you ever feel down?'" she recalled. "She's like, 'No.' I'm like, 'What do you see when you look in the mirror?' She goes, 'I see a bad b*tch.'"
"That's the energy we need. That's the energy we've been waiting for," Nikkie added. "And something she said was, 'I never let people see when I'm bothered or anything.' She's like, 'Always serve your A-game and then let other people handle it when it needs to be handled.' And I really like that. From now on, I was like, 'Yeah, let me be on my A-game. Let other people deal with the sh*t.'"
Meanwhile, she's hoping her next collab will be with the one and only Adele. "I would love to do her makeup! But most of all, I would just have to hang out with her," she exclaimed. "I would love to do a drunk challenge with her. Love to get drunk with Adele!"
As for checking goals off her list, Nikkie made her Met Gala dream come true after being invited by YouTube and Derek Blasberg. The makeup artist spoke about her gorgeous look and the powerful message behind it.
The Edwin Oudshoorn Couture design and floral crown was an homage to transgender activist and icon Marsha P. Johnson. "Who fought so hard for our community and really put trans lives on the agenda," Nikkie stated.
"Together with Sylvia [Rivera], they really paved the way. What's hard is that Marsha couldn't even go to certain gay bars. She got banned from them because she was fighting for our rights so much," she explained. "And I was like, 'If there's one thing I can do for my community and get someone's name on everyone's lips, it's got to be Marsha.' So I wore her quote. She was called Marsha, Pay It No Mind, Johnson. So I wore her quote and she was known for flowers, so I thought that was a beautiful reference. And it was my way of paying respect to such an icon. I just hope she's proud."
Nikkie is in a great space personally and professionally. She thanked her fiancé for supporting her and called him her "backbone." When she had doubts about launching her brand and posting her coming out video, she said he was the one telling her "you are doing the right thing."
"He has been such a gift and I just wish everyone could have their own Dylan one day because he is a gift," she expressed, before touching on where their wedding plans stand. The two got engaged in 2019, and amid the pandemic have been forced to postpone their special day twice.
"Honestly, right now we're like, 'You know what? We'll see. We'll see,' because every time we make plans, the world goes to sh*t again and we're like, 'We can't do it now,'" she shared. "So now we're just going to wait and see until the world heals and then we start planning."
With the time passing, she admitted that her idea of her dream wedding has changed. "Yeah, because we've changed locations three times now," she said with a laugh. "I'm like, 'No, this is a cute place.' And then we're six months further like, 'No, that's not cute anymore. Let's do this.' So in a way it's good. I get to work on my body a bit more for the dress. So that's good, too."
As for who will be by her side on her special day, "Just the people that I love."
Nimya by NikkieTutorials is now available online. See more of ET's exclusive interview with Nikkie in the video above.
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