With how seamlessly she can apply a full face of glam<\/a>, it\u2019s clear that Kensington Tillo \u2014 aka Kensnation<\/a> on TikTok and Instagram \u2014 was born to be an influencer. Fans often fill her comment section wanting to know her latest contour technique<\/a> or the lip liner<\/a> she\u2019s using (Tower 28 OneLiner<\/a>, by the way). Though she has 1.6 million followers on TikTok, Tillo tells Elite Daily she still finds it wild when someone admits they learned how to do makeup from her. \u201cI am like, \u2018It\u2019s working. I\u2019m being an influencer.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Even sitting down with Tillo at our shoot in West Hollywood earlier this month, I was selfishly taking notes of what to grab at Sephora \u2014 like Tarte mascara<\/a> and Charlotte Tilbury Contour Wand<\/a>. The 23-year-old content creator arrived with makeup already on, which included what everyone on set described as a \u201cgalactic slay\u201d graphic liner. The liner in question? It was from James Charles\u2019 Painted<\/a> collection. She wasn\u2019t around to attend the launch party recently, but had a very good excuse why \u2014 she was at Taylor Swift\u2019s Eras Tour<\/a> in Los Angeles. Tillo, who showed me her subtle \u201c1989\u201d tattoo on her arm, was actually at the show where Swift announced 1989 (Taylor\u2019s Version)<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>(\u201cConcerts have always been my happy place and just seeing Taylor in person was crazy,\u201d she says.)<\/p>\n Makeup may be where Tillo has landed, but the Colorado-born influencer actually dreamt of being a pop star like Swift when she was younger. \u201cI think that\u2019s what helped me get comfortable in front of cameras,\u201d she says. She also grew up watching Michelle Phan YouTube videos and digging through her mother\u2019s skin care, which ultimately drew her to the beauty world. After following in her mom\u2019s footsteps of becoming a model, Tillo did all sorts of modeling jobs. \u201cMy favorite ones were the beauty ones,\u201d she says, \u201cso it\u2019s always kind of been a thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/div>\n Making money from content creation was another story, though. In 2016, Tillo had her first viral moment with a selfie she posted on Instagram<\/a>. While that gained her a large following, she was modeling full time (which brought her to L.A. in 2017<\/a>) and only had an occasional paid post. It wasn\u2019t until 2021 that Tillo actually started making a livable income from TikTok. Once she found success on the FYP making GRWM <\/strong>videos<\/a> and makeup tutorials, she was able to quit modeling. Now, she says she\u2019s found her dream job. \u201cI still feel like a Sim,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel like I got a cheat code, and it\u2019s crazy. I say it all the time: My life doesn\u2019t feel real.\u201d<\/p>\n With her rise to TikTok fame over the last two years, Tillo has had the opportunity to meet several celebrities like Selena Gomez as well as Kylie and Kendall Jenner<\/a>. The latter have even joked with the content creator that she could be their third sister, and having seen her IRL, the resemblance truly is uncanny. While Tillo says every celebrity interaction has been a pinch-me moment for her, one of her favorites this year has been with Scarlett Johansson. At an event for Johansson\u2019s skin care brand, The Outset, the Black Widow<\/em> actor asked Tillo how she\u2019s able to keep her skin looking so good. Along with great genes, Tillo shared that she drinks a lot of water \u2014 to which Johansson replied: \u201cWater actually doesn\u2019t help your skin.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to the celebs she\u2019s already met, Tillo says she\u2019d love to work with Lady Gaga \u2014 and the two already have a bit of a connection. The content creator isn\u2019t shy about sharing her feelings on TikTok, which sometimes includes those days when she\u2019s overwhelmed. On a day in June when she was especially frustrated, Tillo took to TikTok to talk through those feelings<\/a>. The video, which now has more than 2 million views, was seen by Lady Gaga<\/a>, who commented, \u201cI know it doesn’t feel like it right now but you will feel better and you will be OK \u2014 this feeling will pass.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is the most insane full-circle moment,\u201d she says. Tillo, who grew up going to every single Lady Gaga concert with her brother, has even heard that the \u201cBorn This Way\u201d singer is a fan of her videos. \u201cI can’t imagine Lady Gaga just sitting on her phone watching me talk and drinking her morning coffee,\u201d she says. For 2024, Tillo is manifesting a chance to finally meet and work together with the Haus Labs founder.<\/p>\n It\u2019s just a constant wanting to impress people 24\/7 and the fear of people falling out of love with you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Gaga isn\u2019t the only one who loves Tillo\u2019s raw videos. Earlier this year, the content creator went viral for deciding to listen to her body<\/a> and leave Coachella a day before her brand trip was scheduled to end. Many applauded her<\/a> for taking care of herself, making TikToks defending her choice (\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure she doesn\u2019t need the whole entire Internet coming on and giving her sh*t about it when I\u2019m sure she was bummed about it,\u201d one user said in a video). But Tillo also received negative feedback, with some saying she was she was privileged or just hungover.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always been really open with my mental health and anxiety,\u201d she says. Tillo says that the people most confused about why she was leaving early were those who have never attended the four-day music festival in the desert. \u201cCoachella is a lot<\/a>,\u201d she admits. \u201cThe second you get on that party bus and dropped off at the festival, you are not finding a way home for eight-plus hours.\u201d<\/p>\n She jokes that it shouldn\u2019t be surprising to anyone who knows her that she couldn\u2019t handle Coachella. \u201cI am a very sensitive person,\u201d she says. \u201cI get overwhelmed very quickly.\u201d However, the influencer would love to try the festival again now that she knows what to expect \u2014 but this time, she\u2019ll happily buy her own ticket.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n With creators pulling back the curtain on influencer brand trips more and more, these luxe experiences have been making headlines lately. \u201cI\u2019ve been on some brand trips where it\u2019s been a lot more wholesome, but I\u2019ve also been on some where it\u2019s bottles of tequila every single night,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like go, go, go, with a strict itinerary.\u201d But there\u2019s one thing that Tillo says is always true of these trips: \u201cEveryone is a lot nicer than you would think.\u201d She\u2019s even made friends with fellow content creators like Meredith Duxbury<\/a> and Xandra Pohl<\/a>. \u201cEvery single person that I’ve met on these trips, I am now friends with,\u201d she says. She even goes to them with questions about makeup or the content creator lifestyle.<\/p>\n While she still deals with deadlines and stress just like any other 9-to-5, Tillo knows that there\u2019s privilege that comes with being a viral content creator. She\u2019s not shy about that, but she still wishes some people understood that with it also comes responsibility. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot mentally, and it\u2019s just kind of putting my life out there and having to keep up my presence,\u201d Tillo says. Posting online, which she tries to do almost every single day, can also be competitive since she knows how many people dream of doing what she does for a living. If you have to take one day off for your mental health, that could be the day someone steps in to take your place on the FYP. \u201cIt\u2019s just a constant wanting to impress people 24\/7 and the fear of people falling out of love with you,\u201d she says. \u201cAfter that, it\u2019s like what do you have?\u201d<\/p>\n But right now, Tillo is feeling the love. As her audience grows, she\u2019s able to secure more brand deals, like starring in her own Kosas campaign. As a fan \u2014 especially of their foundation, which is her go-to \u2014 working with the brand was a dream come true. She almost didn\u2019t believe them when they first introduced the idea at the beginning of the year, but by June, Tillo could check off having her own billboard on Sunset Boulevard<\/a>. \u201cThat was one of my career goals,\u201d says Tillo, who flew her family out to see it. She even jokes that she would walk back and forth, cheekily pointing out \u201cWho\u2019s that girl on the billboard?\u201d<\/p>\n Tillo isn\u2019t planning on stopping any time soon. The content creator\u2019s goals include everything from working with Rihanna to being a part of a YSL or Charlotte Tilbury campaign. She also mentions starting a lifestyle YouTube channel, and she\u2019s already proven she can dominate longer content after posting a 10-minute GRWM on her TikTok<\/a> recently. When I ask if a musical career is ever an option, considering she grew up singing, she laughs, \u201cI let that ship sail.\u201d However, if Swift ever needs someone to harmonize on one of her 1989 (Taylor\u2019s Version) <\/em>vault tracks, Tillo is so down.<\/p>\n Photographs by Shanelle Infante<\/em><\/p>\n Photo Director: Alex Pollack<\/em><\/p>\n Editor in Chief: Charlotte Owen<\/em><\/p>\n SVP Fashion: Tiffany Reid<\/em><\/p>\n SVP Creative: Karen Hibbert<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2023\/8\/29\/81742f8a-d138-459d-a7cb-0f647dd7ad35-img_4410.jpg?w=1024&h=1024&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&auto=format%2Ccompress&fp-x=0.556&fp-y=0.5331)
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2023\/8\/29\/add19510-432a-4582-a1f4-559dba1ab7df-img_4415.jpg?w=1024&h=1024&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&auto=format%2Ccompress&fp-x=0.524&fp-y=0.5353)
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2023\/8\/29\/d7fd57f2-3a35-4734-bac0-475929e9074a-img_4401.jpg?w=1320&h=1571&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format%2Ccompress)
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2023\/8\/29\/e38fdbe2-2336-451d-8c85-7e58797bd680-334a2018.jpg?w=1024&h=1024&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format%2Ccompress)
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2023\/8\/29\/811c466e-7a2c-46b6-a251-1a06e7dc1506-334a2098.jpg?w=1024&h=1024&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format%2Ccompress)
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2023\/8\/29\/db765419-439f-4ac9-9424-318c092bb5fc-334a2197.jpg?w=1320&h=1980&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format%2Ccompress)
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n