- 5 minutes ago
Youtube influencer Desi Perkins visits a Mexican market in Los Angeles.
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00:00I'm Desi Perkins. I'm a social media influencer.
00:03I make beauty tutorials on YouTube, fashion videos, lifestyle.
00:09I grew up in LA and I am Mexican-American.
00:13Today I'm going to be going around LA to dig a little deeper into my Mexican culture
00:17and really show that beauty is more than just skin deep.
00:22The first stop is El Mercadito and this is located in the thriving Latino community of Boyle Heights.
00:30Here I'm meeting Jessie Tapia, a local, to show me around.
00:33Hi, I'm Desi.
00:35I'm Jessie. Nice to meet you.
00:37So excited to show you El Mercadito today.
00:39Me too.
00:39Before we get started, I have one quick spot to show you.
00:42All right, let's go.
00:42Great, let's go.
00:44So this mural, basically everyone in this that comes to visit El Mercadito comes in place to her.
00:49They bring her flowers, they bring her candles.
00:51This is always kind of either a first stop or a last stop.
00:55Yeah, it's beautiful.
00:57Let's go check out the market.
01:01I love Mexican candy.
01:02It's like the best.
01:03Have you tried the cocoa one?
01:06It's really good.
01:09These are all, they're called sages.
01:11You turn them on, it's basically to cleanse your house.
01:14Oh yeah, girl.
01:14All the bad spirits every day.
01:15I have definitely seen that in my day.
01:17My mom, my aunt, always like cleansing new houses.
01:21Nobody wants evil spirits.
01:22All right.
01:25Jessie showed me around the market.
01:27I got to relive my memories.
01:29Hello, do you have the water that is in the little bags?
01:32Do you have the water?
01:33Yes.
01:34Yes.
01:35Can you give us two of the cocoa, please?
01:37Yes, of course.
01:38We had drinks that reminded me of memories growing up in Mexico.
01:41Just like I remembered it.
01:42It's really good.
01:43It's really, really good.
01:44It's so weird having these again.
01:46Like, it's been so long.
01:47I think the last time was like, I was like 15.
01:49Wow.
01:50Yeah.
01:51But what really caught my eye was a store that sold natural Mexican remedies.
01:54Hi, I'm Jessie.
01:55Nice to meet you.
01:56Hi, I'm Jessie.
01:57Nice meeting you.
01:58I'm really into skincare, and so I wanted to see if you had any good remedies for me.
02:03For the teeth, we have the charcoal, which it has also on other plants.
02:07And there's a wonderful remedy to make your teeth very healthy.
02:11And you make all of these?
02:12Yes.
02:13I use them all.
02:14I prepare them all.
02:15So they're all natural.
02:16And you have beautiful skin, so I can see that.
02:19And we made a deodorant.
02:21Natural deodorant.
02:22Which is also made from a stone, and it's free of any radicals, chemicals.
02:27It's called alombre.
02:29Would you like to try it?
02:30I do.
02:30I need to.
02:31It's hot outside.
02:32Yeah.
02:34It does smell really fresh.
02:36Exactly.
02:37Like clean.
02:38Just in case.
02:40I'm going to have to put it to the test today, make sure I don't stink later.
02:45You're very welcome.
02:46I'm going to take this.
02:47Okay.
02:48To dive deeper, Jessie sent me to the next stop of the day.
02:55Herbs of Mexico is another Boyle Heights institution.
02:57It's an herb and wellness store that originated in the 60s and still serves the community today.
03:03Buenos dias.
03:04I'm Desi.
03:05Jade.
03:05Nice to meet you.
03:06Nice to meet you.
03:06I met up with herbal specialist Jade Lopez to further explore traditional Mexican remedies.
03:11Is there a mask that you like to make?
03:13Definitely.
03:14I would love to learn.
03:15Let's go.
03:15Good.
03:16So here's what I have for us today.
03:19Bentonite clay.
03:20It's also known as Aztec clay.
03:22The herb that I recommend that you use for dark spots is going to be tepescovite.
03:27This is a tried and true Mexican herb for burns, for scarring, for reducing blotchiness
03:34and discoloration in general.
03:36Oh.
03:36So this is a magic herb.
03:39I never use teaspoons or tablespoons.
03:43It's all old Mexicans.
03:45I was going to say.
03:45Do it.
03:46That's the Abuela way.
03:48They don't even own measuring cups.
03:50No.
03:50And then you can add any essential oil, but the oil that's going to be most important
03:55is probably like an emollient oil, like almond oil, jojoba, olive oil.
04:01But I think I'm going to use the moringa oil because this is also another amazing herb
04:06that's used for everything from skin care, balancing sugar levels.
04:11A lot of people just take it as their daily super food.
04:15And you're going to just do a thin layer like that all over your face.
04:22And this is really great for blackheads.
04:24Ooh, yes.
04:25Skin discoloration.
04:26Wait for it to dry and then wash it off with warm water.
04:30Yeah.
04:30And it's a natural exfoliant.
04:31Can I take these?
04:33Yeah, go ahead.
04:34Okay.
04:35I'm like, bye.
04:38Another big trend in the beauty world, especially in Latin America, is permanent makeup or micropigmenting,
04:44which is the process of tattooing semi-permanent makeup on your face.
04:49Elite Permanent Makeup Center is leading the industry in permanent makeup.
04:52So I met up with specialist Shanashi Jimenez to learn more.
04:56So permanent makeup has definitely been around for a very long time.
05:00Now it's kind of having a little bit of a resurgence where people are more so looking to get it
05:04done,
05:04but more on the natural end of the spectrum.
05:06Whereas before it was more the old school style where you could tell it was permanent makeup.
05:10Oh yeah, I've seen some brows.
05:12Mm-hmm.
05:12Like really thin, kind of like sharpie looking brows.
05:15So what kind of permanent makeup are people doing exactly like now?
05:18What are all the options?
05:20So right now the most common one is the microblading.
05:23Mm-hmm.
05:23Microblading for sure.
05:25The lips.
05:26Yeah.
05:26The lips, definitely.
05:27So lip liner or?
05:29The full lip actually.
05:30Okay.
05:30And I feel like, especially in Latin America, like we love our liner.
05:34We love our brows.
05:36Mm-hmm.
05:36So it's definitely becoming really popular in a lot of cultures,
05:39but definitely in the more kind of like Hispanic Latin American culture.
05:42I myself for example, I'm Mexican.
05:43So I actually have my brows, my eyes and my lips done.
05:46And my mom, she has it all done also.
05:48Brows, eyes.
05:49My ass too.
05:50Yeah.
05:50We can actually go watch the owner do one right now.
05:52Oh, yes.
05:53We have to.
05:54Let's do it.
05:55Let's go see that.
05:56So we're going to go ahead and we're going to introduce you to the owner.
05:59Manon.
06:00Hi.
06:01Nice to meet you.
06:03All right.
06:04So how does this work?
06:05Like what do you use to do it?
06:07We use this digital cartridge machine.
06:09Mm-hmm.
06:10This is the color she chose.
06:13Mm-hmm.
06:13Oh, nice.
06:15This all is disposable.
06:17It's really safe.
06:20This is the machine and this is the needle.
06:23Are you nervous?
06:24I hope it doesn't hurt.
06:26No, it's not going to be hurt.
06:27I feel nervous just watching, but it's about to start.
06:30Are you ready?
06:31Mm-hmm.
06:32I'm going to start from the bottom of the lips.
06:34Because she don't want any line and any lip liner, she wants just natural looking,
06:40everything like blended.
06:42It's painful.
06:43Mm-mm.
06:44It's not painful.
06:46It actually ended up looking really relaxing.
06:49How long does this last, the tattoo?
06:52Uh, this is last for a couple of years.
06:55Mm-hmm.
06:55Uh, it depends the skin.
06:57Some skin faded faster and some skin stay longer.
07:01Yeah.
07:01But it depends how she take care of that.
07:05Oh, my God.
07:07It looks so good.
07:10Wow.
07:11I love it.
07:12And it does look natural.
07:13You have really flush lips.
07:15So, did it hurt?
07:17Uh, no.
07:18No?
07:18It felt like a vibration.
07:19I could feel the machine, but no, it was super numb.
07:21Oh, it looks really good.
07:23Okay.
07:24Wow.
07:25That's incredible.
07:25That's really cool.
07:27For the last stop of the day, I'm visiting celebrity makeup artist Andre Sarmiento to talk to me
07:32more about the impact of Latinas in beauty.
07:35Hi, Desi.
07:36Hi.
07:36How are you, honey?
07:37I'm excited to play with makeup today.
07:39I know.
07:40Thank you for coming.
07:41Andre's work has been featured in the pages of Elle, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and Vogue.
07:46I'm seeing a lot of Latina-owned brands here.
07:50Yes, exactly.
07:51That is our focus today since you brought your lovely makeup.
07:54Yeah.
07:55I figured it'd be great to explore other brands that have been created by other Latina entrepreneurs,
08:02such as yourself, you know?
08:03Yeah.
08:03Let's play with some eyes.
08:05Let's play with a little bit of your palette.
08:07This is exciting.
08:08Wow, that is gorgeous.
08:10Wow.
08:10Yeah, I actually created this with my best friend, Katie.
08:13I know.
08:14And, yeah, she's also a Latina, so.
08:17I heard that you were a big Selena fan, and I happen to have some of the collection here
08:25with me today for us to play with.
08:28Selena from MAC.
08:29Also really amazing that her legacy kind of continues on in beauty, and since beauty is
08:35such a big thing today, it's just so cool that her name gets to be part of something
08:40that's so huge.
08:40Yeah, and I feel like she was such a strong influence for a lot of women growing up, a
08:47lot of Mexican-American women, especially, like, I'm Mexican-American, and she was, like,
08:51the ideal beauty for me.
08:53Like, she gave me more confidence to be proud to be Mexican-American, and, like, I feel like
08:59that's such a good thing, you know?
09:00Yeah.
09:01She really broke through.
09:02She did.
09:03Kind of think, oh, it makes me sad.
09:04I know.
09:05I can't even use it.
09:06I have it, and I don't even want to use it, but.
09:07I'm going to, like, tap the edge over here, guys, because I don't want to, like, brush
09:11it over Selena at all.
09:13I know.
09:13It hurts.
09:14I mean, yeah.
09:15Yeah.
09:16Being Latina, especially my skin tone, I feel like it's really hard to find foundation shades
09:21that have that really olive undertone.
09:24Absolutely.
09:24Our whole collection, we wanted to make sure anywhere from really fair to really deep skin
09:29tones can wear it.
09:30Yeah, that's so smart.
09:31It's hard to kind of get that nuance, that subtlety.
09:34They may not always have the thing that we need.
09:37We have to try this amazing highlighter of yours called Fuego.
09:43You know I had to hit over some Spanish makeup.
09:46Yes, you had to.
09:47This is amazing.
09:49Gorgeous.
09:50Wow.
09:52This one is called More Creamer, Please.
09:55Wow, that is gorgeous.
09:57Wow.
10:01And then I'm actually going to take a little bit of this Nuance Firming Day and Night Cream,
10:07which is by Salma Hayek, and I'm just going to use it just to, like, amp up this highlight
10:11a little bit in a natural kind of way.
10:14It's nice to kind of touch up this area with, like, a little bit of moisture.
10:18All right, so we're finished playing with these products.
10:21Let's take a look, see how you feel.
10:23Oh, I love the lip.
10:25I love how you added that little bit of sheer.
10:27Yeah.
10:28Mm-hmm.
10:29It was a blast, and I hope we can do it again.
10:31Thank you for doing my makeup.
10:32Yeah, you look amazing.
10:34Thank you, thank you.
10:35We'll all do this too.
10:36After a long day on the streets of LA, it was really nice to just see what a strong bond
10:40our community has.
10:42From the market to the permanent makeup center to meeting with Andre, I feel we all just have
10:47this really strong connection and bond.
10:50I'm really happy I got to meet all of these people along the way, and that they share with
10:54me a pride in their Latin identity.
10:56I love everyone in the city.
10:57Thank you for joining us.
10:59My
10:59You