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2024 SI Swim Rookie Achieng Agutu Shares Her Best Confidence-Boosting Beauty Tips

The model and influencer is the queen of being unapologetically herself, and she wants you to step into your power, too.

Ananya Panchal

Achieng Agutu

Achieng Agutu.

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Swim Search co-winner and 2024 rookie Achieng Agutu is the “tantalizing confidence queen,” who uses her platform to encourage women in all walks of life to be “that girl,” and live their lives with confidence. Over the month of January, the New York City-based influencer will share her best tips on building and maintaining confidence, as well as inspire you on how to step into your power and be the most “unapologetic,” confident, and self-loving version of yourself. 

We caught up with the New York City resident, who was born and raised in Kenya, and talked all things beauty, building confidence from within and self-care tips.

The 26-year-old says she’s always had a strong sense of self, even as a little girl, but she truly unlocked it and stepped into her power when she moved to the United States in 2013. Her goal with social media and building her brand is not only to find her own voice, style and community, but to build other women up—watching her platform grow has been like a “proud mom” moment, she shares.

“Just seeing people in my personal circle or other people who follow me sending me messages like, ‘today I went and I talked to this person,’ or ‘I finally applied for that job,’ or ‘I finally wore that outfit,’ or ‘I took that trip that I've been holding on for months or years,’ it’s just like so exciting and beautiful to see,” she says, adding that she wants everyone to unapologetically love themselves. “I’m a proud best friend just cheering from the sidelines. I want people to just feel and know that they can do whatever the heck they want to and live in their power and in their energy and it doesn’t really matter what people think.”

Agutu’s top beauty tips that help with confidence

Get a good sheet mask

It’s a staple in her skincare routine, but it also doubles as a self-care moment. Agutu loves to put on a hydrating or brightening sheet mask, tuning out the world and stepping out for a hot girl walk.

Mix your moisturizer and sunscreen

Finding a good moisturizer that contains a solid amount of SPF and doesn’t leave a white cast is difficult. Instead, just pick your faves and mix the two in your palm, or pour some sunscreen in your lotion bottle and shake. It saves time, and ensures that you’re getting sun protection every day, even if you spend most of the day indoors.

Apply Vaseline to parts of your body where you spray perfume for a long-lasting scent

“Something I’ve been really loving is oils and scented oils, perfumes. The best way to keep your fragrance on is using vaseline, and putting that in the area that you’re going to spray [perfume],” she suggests. “Or you can melt your Vaseline, put your fragrance in, and then use it as a fragrance balm—delicious, amazing, simple, cute and cheap. There’s already so many expensive fragrance balms out there, but honey, you can [customize it] it in your kitchen, in your house, today.”

Agutu’s favorite products 

Clarins Double Serum Anti-Aging + Anti-Wrinkle Serum, $134 (clarinsusa.com)

clarins double serum

This fan-favorite serum is a best-seller for a reason.

Clarins Double Serum Eye-Under Eye Tightening Cream, $83 (clarinsusa.com)

clarins eye serum

Agutu says the No. 1 hack to looking and feeling good in the morning is eight hours of sleep. But if you need a little extra TLC, this eye serum is magical.

Ole Henrikson Banana Bright + Vitamin CC Stick, $34 (olehenriksen.com)

ole henriksen banana bright vitamin CC stick

“It’s like a mixture of makeup and skincare and it’s the best ever,” she gushes.

Dibs Status Stick Face-and-Body Highlighter, $36 (dibsbeauty.com)

Dibs status stick

Agutu admits that she has sensitive eyelids and shimmery powder eyeshadows don’t really work for her. She loves to take a bit of this balm on her finger and tap it onto her eyelids—in addition to adding it to her shoulders, collarbones, knees and using it as a regular cheekbone highlighter.

Advice for anyone who struggles with negative self-talk

Agutu admits that she struggled with negative self-talk for a while, and occasionally those thought surface on tough days. She quotes rapper and fellow SI Swimsuit model Megan Thee Stallion, who says it best: “Bad bi----- have bad days, too.”

“Something my friend Serena Kerrigan used to tell me and her audience, is to imagine yourself as your best friend. Would you say those things to your best friend? I feel like I’m obsessed with my best friend and I’m always hyping her up and always wanting good things for her,” Agutu explains, noting that she would never use the negative language that sometimes creeps up in her own mind when talking to a friend. “I had to change the way I saw myself and start looking at myself like my best friend. In the mirror, when I look at myself [now, I’m like], ‘That’s my girl. That’s my homie. That’s my ride or die. That’s my bestie.’ Try that just for a week, every single day, for a week, and see how it changes your mindset. You’re your day one, literally from the womb.”

Tune in next Friday as Agutu shares her best tips on communicating confidence and setting boundaries.

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Published
Ananya Panchal
ANANYA PANCHAL

Ananya Panchal is a writer on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit. Before joining SI Swimsuit in 2022, she worked at Bustle, the San Francisco Chronicle and the TODAY Show. When she is not writing or doom-scrolling on social media, Panchal can be found playing sudoku, rewatching One Tree Hill or trying new restaurants. She's also a coffee and chocolate (separately) enthusiast. Panchal has a bachelor’s in communications and journalism from Boston University.