Toni Bravo’s experience as a social media coordinator for Rare Beauty prepared her to become a full-time content creator, with her most notable collaboration being with Tower 28. Here’s the story of how Toni Bravo is redefining modern beauty culture.
Early Beginnings at Rare Beauty
Bravo landed a summer internship at Rare Beauty, which led to a full-time job offer. A week after graduating from college, the beauty creator started her role as a social media coordinator and stayed at the company for six months. When speaking to AfroTech, Bravo revealed, “It was really, really helpful to learn how much work goes into building a community, a brand, and understanding what felt for me the most authentic, organic, and sustainable was really, really helpful.”
Eventually, Bravo was at a crossroads between her 9-to-5 job at Rare and her growing content career. When leaving Rare, the beauty creator took the skill of making her visions come to life and developing her personal brand.
Becoming a Full-Time Content Creator
Bravo’s road to becoming a content creator started early in life. She grew up documenting her life on YouTube. The beauty creator returned to social media during her sophomore year of college with rollerskating content. During her junior year, she worked for Buzzfeed as a talent resident under their Cocoa Butter team.
Learning about makeup became a central focus in Bravo’s early videos. She became viral for trying on purple blush in her car. Viewers related to Bravo’s naiveté towards makeup as she chronicled what products caught her attention. Building influence with trust quickly made Bravo a voice for people of color in the beauty industry.
Bravo signed with a team and a manager at the talent agency, Digital Brand Architects. She was doing five brand deals a week, in which she learned what she did and didn’t like when it came to sponsorships and the content business. Bravo also credits her team for being transparent when it comes to budgets and advocating that she gets the best deal.
Beauty Partnership with Tower 28
Bravo’s partnership with Tower 28 marks the brand’s first collaboration with a content creator. The collab was one year in the making as there were many moving parts: sampling, feedback, shade development, naming, and executing a campaign. Tower 28 and Bravo released two limited edition shades: Downtown Daiquiri and Sunset Shirley. The names for the blushes were inspired by three things: Bravo’s time spent living in Downtown L.A., Sunset Boulevard, and her admiration for Shirley Temple. Downtown Daiquiri comes in bright coral, while Sunset Shirley is a magenta shade.
The collaboration grew from Bravo’s affection for Tower 28 and her struggle to find certain shades, despite having an extensive collection (hence her nickname, “CEO of Blush”). The product itself is called the GetSet Matte Powder Blush, and it is the first-ever setting blush, which is good for sensitive skin. The blush gives 12 hours of color and has a blurring effect on smooth textured skin, and controls shine on oily skin.
What Content Creators Can Learn from Toni Bravo
Bravo is not just making a name for herself in the content creator space; she is actively changing the industry for other creators as well. One of her pieces of advice is that creators should approach short-form content with imperfection. Audiences crave relatability and don’t want to see their influencers be perfect – being imperfect is where short form thrives because it becomes a log of your growth as a creator.
Another lesson that Bravo also wants creators to know is that they should look for compatibility when working with a brand, as every brand has its own priorities. “When you work for a brand, you are the brand. That’s where I learned about branding personally, as an individual,” Bravo told NetInfluencer. Another notable tip is to be selective with brands, as your own personal brand carries their story even when the partnership ends. A way to know if the brand is a good fit is if the creator is excited and wants to put their best foot forward.
Rest is something the beauty creator does not negotiate. She has been open about speaking about burnout in the content creator community and believes “Great ideas come when you have slowness.”
When it comes to privacy, Bravo believes that delayed sharing can lead to a bigger payoff. “People don’t forget things when you share them. It’s nice to have things that are just yours for a while,” Bravo shared.
After being listed to Forbes 2025 30 under 30, the beauty creator is showing no signs of slowing down and is changing the beauty industry as we see it.
