“I started making GRWM videos to educate others about the industry while also sharing makeup hacks and tips,” she says. “My beauty routine has always been a big part of my job. I’ve always had a big passion for makeup.”

Tiffany Chan, a sexologist, artist and model on explicit social media platform OnlyFans, similarly divulges her skincare routines on YouTube and posts GRWM videos on TikTok. She considers her beauty routine “a time for me where I can focus on self-care as well as artistry, where I can express myself based on the project, role or scene I am taking on that day. It has always provided a way for me to mentally prepare for the day, regulate my mood, keep my health in check, come up with creative ideas and take a break from reality.”

She adds, “I also love to both watch and create beauty routines and makeup content simply because I enjoy learning and sharing with others in my field. Sex workers often have amazing tips and hacks when it comes to creating a specific look such as for cosplays, and I love the fact they often don’t have a problem being brutally honest when a product does or does not work.”

Keilakatt, has almost 403,000 followers and 12 million likes on TikTok, and Chan, who has just under 494,000 followers and 6.6 million likes on TikTok, are two of many sex workers letting fans in on their jobs and what they do to create looks for them. Others include escorts such as Lucy Huxley and Kayla Jade, who post on the TikTok accounts @lucyhuxleyxxx, which has nearly 115,000 followers and 3.6 million likes, and @blueeyedkaylajade, which has 1.7 million followers and 47 million likes, respectively, and often show themselves using makeup, haircare and skincare products as they tell stories about client encounters.

Social media has widened the audience for sex workers, particularly among cisgender heterosexual women who may not regularly seek them out, but regularly seek out beauty content. On TikTok, where there are tens of millions of beauty posts and billions of views of them, their entrance into the beauty discourse gives them an outlet for mainstream exposure that tends to be closed for them due to legal limitations on sex work and the persistent stigma surrounding it despite a growing decriminalization effort. Countering stigma busting, the forward to Project 2025, a political initiative from the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, proposes the adult content industry be outlawed.

Publications from Allure to Refinery29 have picked up on people’s interested in sex workers’ beauty and wellness routines and revealed them to readers. Chan figures, “It’s a way for them to show how even sex workers—some being very well-known influencers and social media personalities today—are like everyone else as well as share tips with their communities.”

The press coverage and sex workers’ beauty content cater to people’s curiosity about what everyday life as a sex worker is like. “Fans love to peek behind the curtain, catching a glimpse of the ‘real’ person behind the persona,” says Countless Diamond, a dominatrix who’s shared beauty content on TikTok. “This type of content humanizes sex workers, creating a connection that fans crave.”

Misdom says day-in-the-life videos of hers are strong performers on TikTok. Her most popular is a video with the caption, “Come work with a Vegas stripper,” that has closing in on 290,000 likes. “People are drawn to this kind of content because it’s not your typical 9-to-5 job. We make a significant amount of money and enjoy a lot of freedom, which fascinates others,” says Misdom. “Plus, dancers prioritize image and hygiene, so people trust us to share the best tricks and tips.”

There’s a practical reason why sex workers post beauty videos, too. Social media platforms often censor sexual content, and beauty posts allow sex workers to gain traction on social media without posting anything overtly sexual. “Many of us craft SFW videos that showcase who we are, subtly drawing attention to our online presence,” says Diamond. “For those intrigued, this often leads them to organically discover our NSFW platforms. It’s a clever workaround that merges authenticity with marketing.”

Beauty and GRWM content sometimes facilitate sex workers slipping in content related to their work without being penalized. “Some post GRWMs as a way to give a glimpse of sexy lingerie and make it more acceptable to the guidelines because they are putting clothing on rather than taking it off,” says Chan. “It is, in part, a way to create without sex being involved, but also paves a way for those that want that kind of content to still find it.”

Sex workers’ looks and styles are frequently their signatures, and beauty content can be a way of building a brand. “The digital age of sex work revolves around visual appeal,” says Diamond. “Your profile picture, for instance, is often the first hook. By curating our imagery online, we can tell viewers exactly who we are and what we offer. Whether it’s an e-girl with cat ear headphones and a gaming setup or a dominatrix in sleek latex, our beauty routines are powerful tools for storytelling and branding.”

Diamond says her long, sharp nails, bold red lips, smokey eyes and winged eyeliner “distinguish me from my everyday self and allow me to embody the role of Countess Diamond with confidence and authority. It’s not just aesthetics, it’s fully stepping into a persona.”

Beauty posts can foster solidarity among sex workers by enabling them to reach each other and be open about their work. “What I love about creating this kind of content is helping other girls like me feel less insecure about the work we do,” says Misdom. “The positive feedback from viewers and making other dancers feel less alone and more included means so much to me. Our line of work often gets a bad reputation, but, in reality, we’re all just trying to survive and uplift each other. I’ve been able to build a huge community, and now more people feel comfortable sharing their own stories.”

Chan says, “Being a sex worker can be lonely work. Even though our jobs often center around being there emotionally and erotically for hundreds of thousands—sometimes millions—of others, it can be difficult to find true community among friends. Sometimes, it is a way to build a community with others in the same field without sex being a central part of it. This is at least how it feels for me.”

Lydia Dupra, who founded the brand Heaux Cosmetics to meet sex workers’ needs, believes sex work and beauty content make for a natural combination. She points out sex workers have long been beauty icons. “Cosmetics were almost exclusively used by sex workers until the early 20th century,” she says. “I felt the sex workers deserved a permanent light in the billion-dollar industry they helped create.”

Heaux Cosmetics, which makes oils containing pheromones promoted as sparking attraction and bonding, enlists sex workers as brand ambassadors for its social media. Dupra says, “The sex work community made Heaux Cosmetics successful with their support, so not only is this brand made for them, but I also consider them first anytime there’s an opportunity to.”

In 2022, OnlyFans launched a Creative Fashion Fund and documented nine fashion designers and stylists competing for a $100,000 prize. Rebecca Minkoff offered a mentorship and posted behind-the-scenes content on the platform. On the whole, though, brands have shied away from collaborating with OnlyFans influencers and sex workers more generally.

Stephanie Elias, co-founder and CEO of Personal Fav Co, was in talks with a sex worker as a potential ambassador, but became concerned stores would be less likely to sell her lubricant brand’s products if she inked the deal. “Mainstream retail is super conservative, and we didn’t want to hinder our chances of getting on shelf,” she says. “Walmart and Target, for example, are relatively conservative in nature.”

The hurdles to brand partnerships with sex works are illustrative of the broader stigma against sex workers. Misdom has received backlash for being open about her work online.

“People say things like, ‘You should be ashamed of your job,’ ‘Her eyes look sad,’ ‘Your parents would be so proud,’ ‘You’re replaceable once you get old,’ and ‘You’re never going to get married,’” she says. “To the haters, I say, don’t judge unless you’ve walked in our shoes. We dancers face so much criticism and hate, but we’re some of the most understanding people because we’ve been through it all. I knew putting myself out there would bring some negativity, but my goal was to help other girls in my industry feel less alone or ashamed while also sharing a passion for makeup and beauty.”

Dupra reports Heaux’s association with sex work hasn’t hindered its success. “We don’t have any explicit marketing that would hyper-sexualize or alienate broader audiences,” she says. “In the beginning, it was challenging to gain people’s trust. Now that we have hundreds of thousands of customers, people really show up in the comments to defend us. Our storefront welcomes skeptics to try our formulas for free, and after six years in business, the general public has accepted that pheromones work.”

At the very least, Dupra sees the popularity of sex worker influencers as evidence that the industry is moving in the right direction. She says, “Sex workers becoming influencers are a sign of cultural acceptance, which is a great stride in overall harm reduction.”