Ingrid Nilsen

Who is Ingrid Nilsen?

Ingrid Nilsen is an American beauty vlogger who is active on YouTube, Instagram and other social platforms. She was born on 2nd February 1989 in Rowland Heights, California. She grew up in a house with her parents and a grandmother as an only child. She is of mixed ethnicity: her mother is Thai, and her father is Norwegian.

Early life of Ingrid Nilsen

Growing up as an only child with multicultural background had its challenges. Other kids didn’t really care about her environment and only mocked her, considering her lunches. Her grandmother used to make lunches for her, so Ingrid was used to bringing Thai food to school. Other kids used to make fun of her for it, but it didn’t really bother her. Growing up as an only child had its pros and cons as well. On the good side, Ingrid learned how to have a good time by herself, which allowed her creative side to shine. She was also mature for her age because she was used to taking care of herself. These good things were balanced out by the worse habits. Ingrid didn’t have a sibling to have fun or fight with, so she grew up scared of conflict and socializing.

Ingrid wasn’t interested in makeup as a child. She could be described as a tomboy since she had short hair and didn’t wear makeup on any occasion. Although when attending college, her friend took her to Sephora to pick a mascara for her. From that day, Ingrid started to discover the beauty world day by day, until it became a passion of hers, which made her more confident. As a young adult, she was determined to overcome her fears and by that become a stronger human being.

Career of Ingrid Nilsen

In 2009, she decided that a good way of challenging herself would be starting a YouTube channel, so she did. Her channel used to be called Miss Glamorazzi and consisted mainly of makeup tips and tutorials. Although it was challenging at first, Ingrid quickly gained a lot of followers and simultaneously became more confident. In 2014 she caught the eye of CoverGirl brand, who approached her with a chance to collaborate with them. Ingrid accepted the offer and became the first YouTuber to represent CoverGirl.

Personal life of Ingrid Nilsen

Her channel was becoming more and more popular, which gave Ingrid the confidence to share one more secret with her fans. In 2015, she made a coming-out video where she came out as a lesbian. The same year her girlfriend Hannah Hart publicly confirmed their relationship. Hannah was a fellow YouTube personality whose channel consisted mainly of cooking and LBGTQ+ stuff. They were dating till 2016 and often appeared in each other’s videos. After their breakup, Ingrid stayed single until 2018, when she announced to be in a relationship with Erica Anderson. Erica made an appearance in numerous of Ingrid’s videos, and apparently, they are still together.

Ingrid Nilsen's YouTube content

Ingrid’s YouTube channel grew and started to cover more topics than makeup. She found a fashion style that suited her and decided to share it with her audience as well. Although she used to have short hair, she decided to grow it out and filmed a couple hairstyle tutorials as well. But her Hair section on YouTube doesn’t cover just that. Ingrid believes that women have a right to choose what to do with their body hair and decided to share her thoughts on the topic. In 2019, she decided to stop shaving for a whole summer and filmed a few videos where she talked about her feelings and thoughts. After that experience, she stopped shaving her armpits and uttered her support to all the women who decided to do the same.

Ingrid noticed that her fans appreciated it when she talked about taboo topics, and she wasn’t scared to continue doing so. She dedicated one entire series to the period. In the series, she spoke of her must-have products and her experiences and described how did her period change while she was getting older. She wanted to help younger and older women with her knowledge and also inspire them to feel more confident in their own bodies. But she understood that not everyone has access to period products and wanted to help them as well. For this very purpose, she collaborated with Do Something and U by Kotex in 2016. Together they initiated the first nationwide period product drive, where they donated period products to homeless shelters. In two months, their movement Power to the period donated over 240 000 products.

As a lesbian herself, Ingrid wanted to help younger people to come out to their families. She wanted to create an environment which would work as a safe space for LGBTQ+ people. She partnered with a nonprofit organization, It Gets Better, and with them, encouraged other people like her to talk about their experiences on the internet. This captain was covered on YouTube, Instagram and Tiktok and raised 50 000 $.

Besides her activities as a public defender, Ingrid didn’t forget about her YouTube channel and beauty content, which made people happy. In order to keep her fans entertained during December, she created a series called Vlogmas. The title speaks for itself: Ingrid made 24 daily vlogs every year in December and created a sort of YouTube advent calendar. This content became very popular and inspired some other influencers.

Leaving YouTube

In 2020, Ingrid announced the sad news that she was leaving YouTube. She made a 50-minute-long video explaining the reasons that led her to this decision and thanked her fans for all of their support. She talked about her experiences as a content creator and shared that she feels like she grew up together with her audience. Although her viewers weren’t happy about it, they supported her choice and wished her good luck. Some of them even stated how glad they were to see her leave on her own terms and not because of some controversy. In the same year, Ingrid founded a candle company, The New Savant. She may have ended up in another industry, but she still manages to make people happy with the products she sells.  

Interesting facts about Ingrid Nilsen

  • As of 2022, she is 33 years old.
  • Her zodiac sign is Aquarius.
  • Her height is 5'4'' or 163 cm.
  • Her weight is 50 kilograms or 110 lbs.
  • Besides her main, she has a second YouTube channel TheGridMonster, which consists mainly of vlogs.
  • She took part in the reality TV show Project Runway: Threads, where she acted as a judge.
  • She once interviewed Barack Obama and talked with him about serious topics.
  • She is one of the United Nations Change Ambassarods as a fighter for equal rights between genders.
  • Her most viewed video is Something I Want You To Know, where she came out as a lesbian.
  • She remains active on her Instagram account, where she has over 1,1 million followers.