EXCLUSIVE: Emira D'Spain on How She's Healing Post-Gender Confirmation Surgery and Advice to Her 15 Year Old Self

Signed as the first Black transgender model for Victoria's Secret, TikTok beauty expert Emira D'Spain is no stranger to getting in her bag and staying there.

Before there were a million followers on TikTok for D'Spain, the viral beauty influencer had already made great strides on the fashion and editorial side by leading Paper's content and curating the magazine's first YouTube beauty series. In 2021, she became the magazine's beauty director and due to her bubbly and down-to-earth personality, her cross-posting efforts quickly gained her viral popularity on social media.

For the LGBTQIA+ community, our identities are often tied to our work through our stories and for D'Spain, this helped curate Paper's beauty coverage,but she didn't want to just rest in being trans — but rather to highlight and uplift. While D'Spain is quite open and candid about her identity as a Black trans woman, she has worked to not make being trans the bane of her existence but a grounding pillar.

In honor of International Transgender Day of Visibility, Hypebae Beauty chatted with the icon, D'Spain, about her current journey post-gender confirmation surgery and of course all things related to inner and outer beauty.

Keep reading on for more.

How do you see beauty and who or what is responsible for helping cultivate your personal routine?

To me, beauty is about reflecting your personality through the physical. Using hair and makeup to bring to life your emotions and how you feel in that very moment or how you want the world to think you feel.

My personal routine really comes from trial and error and really just finding ways to unwind or wind-up. My evening beauty routine is very lengthy but it relaxes me and I often use it to reflect on my day and decompress. My morning/glam routine is always so fun, it gets me so hype. Even on bad days, I use my makeup and hair routine as therapy in a way.

What is a makeup or skincare tip you would go back in time and tell your 15-year-old self now?

Stop picking at your skin. I was so bad about that. I was always touching my face and picking at things. Also to READ the ingredients in skincare. I struggled a lot with acne and was constantly trying new products without really understanding the basic ingredients. My skin was so irritated and inflamed all the time.

We know that you don't talk much about your trans-identity online, but we want to celebrate your major milestone of gender confirmation surgery. Can you tell us how you're recovering and how the process overall has made you feel?

A lot of LGBTQ creators I know have centered their online platforms around their gender identities and sexualities and there isn’t anything wrong with that, but for me – my transition is just such a small part of who I am as a person. My goal was always to spread positivity and inspire people to be confident

Before sharing about that moment, I went back and forth for months trying to decide if it was something I felt comfortable documenting online. I obviously decided to film a TikTok about it and I’m so happy I did. The love I received from the Cunty Barbies has made me so happy.

Recovery has been going really well and I’m healing swiftly and beautifully.

For International Transgender Day of Visibility, what advice do you have for other trans people of color who are struggling with feeling like their most beautiful selves?

My biggest piece of advice is going to sound cheesy and cliche but it’s true. Don’t rush anything. Take your time, enjoy every moment with yourself. So many trans people rush for all the surgeries but beauty has to come from the inside. Take the time to work on yourself internally and do things for YOU. Also I forget who this quote is by but “comparison is the thief of joy.

This interview has been condensed for clarity.