Desi Perkins was supposed to be an elementary school teacher. Instead, a Halloween skeleton makeup look she painted on her husband in 2012 detonated her Instagram, and she ended up teaching makeup to millions. The Mexican-American creator built one of YouTube’s most trusted beauty channels, then did what few influencers manage: she built real companies. Her DEZI eyewear did $2.5 million in sales within 24 hours of launch, and her Dezi Skin skincare line rolled into Sephora stores in April 2026. As of October 2026, the 39-year-old is a mother of two, a Sephora-stocked founder, and back on YouTube after years away.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Fact |
|---|---|
| Full name | Desi Perkins |
| Born | March 3, 1987, Los Angeles, California (age 39) |
| Background | Mexican-American; publicly proud Latina |
| Pre-fame | Elementary school teacher track; MAC artist; cocktail server; freelance MUA |
| Husband | Steven Perkins (married 2012; co-founder of Dezi Skin) |
| Children | Son Ocean (born Oct 20, 2020); daughter Harley (born Aug 15, 2022) |
| Brands | DEZI eyewear (founded 2020), Dezi Skin (founded 2021) |
| YouTube | About 3.2M subscribers |
| About 4.3M followers | |
| Net worth | No reliable published figure |
Early Life and Education
Desi Perkins was born on March 3, 1987, in Los Angeles, California. She is Mexican-American and has spoken proudly and often about her Latina identity, telling Bustle about the need for Latina inclusion in beauty and quoting the Selena line about being “more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans.” She grew up with three brothers: Michael, Marquis, and Danny. She has named her mother, Patty, in an Entertainment Tonight interview; her parents’ other details are not public.
The teacher detail is real, confirmed in her own words. In a DashVib interview she said: “I graduated college with the intent to be an elementary school teacher. I ended up teaching makeup instead.” During college she worked as a cocktail server. She has described quitting a toxic service job at her husband Steven’s urging on iHeart’s “The Unshakeables” podcast and on Yasmin Nouri’s “Behind Her Empire.”
The Halloween That Changed Everything
The origin story is specific and well documented. For Halloween 2012, Perkins painted skeleton special-effects makeup on her husband, Steven Perkins. She posted the photos to Instagram (Steven had made her download the app), and the response was immediate: a flood of booking requests from people who wanted the same work. She moved into freelance makeup artistry for fashion runways and television, and styled at Ipsy’s Generation Beauty Conference in New York.
She launched YouTube in August 2013. Her first video, “Soft Warm Sultry Eye Tutorial,” went up on August 30, 2013. Steven, a graphic designer and photographer, taught her video editing and shot and cut her early content.
Her breakouts included an “Eyebrow Tutorial” that drew 15 to 17 million views and the beloved “Husband Does My Makeup” videos. A second vlog channel, “The Perkins,” followed.
Rise to Fame
Perkins’s lane was warmth. Her tutorials were thorough, her product opinions were blunt, and Steven’s regular appearances gave the channel a duo dynamic that viewers loved. Through the mid-2010s she became one of beauty YouTube’s most-watched creators, notable for staying out of the era’s feuds: when the 2019 “Bye Sister” drama engulfed James Charles, Tati Westbrook, and Jeffree Star, Perkins was conspicuously absent from it. Trade press would later call her “one of the internet’s most trusted beauty creators” (Shopify, 2026).
Career Milestones and Collaborations
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2013 | Launches YouTube (August); first video August 30 |
| 2016 | Quay Australia x Desi Perkins sunglasses (summer); worn by Kylie Jenner and Jennifer Lopez |
| 2017 | Dose of Colors “Desi x Katy” collab with Katy DeGroot (LustreLux); second collection sold out |
| 2017-2018 | Benefit Cosmetics limited-edition collab; Ole Henriksen partnership |
| 2020 | Launches DEZI eyewear (July); $2.5M in 24 hours |
| 2021 | Launches Dezi Skin (April 8) with Claro Que C Vitamin C serum |
| 2025 | Dezi Skin launches on Sephora.com (August 5); five bestsellers |
| 2026 | Dezi Skin rolls into Sephora stores with April 16 launch party; returns to YouTube (April) |
DEZI Eyewear: The $2.5 Million Day
In July 2020, Perkins launched DEZI, her own eyewear line, self-funded from saved brand-deal income rather than outside investment. It sold out on day one: $2.5 million in sales within 24 hours and $3.6 million at the first restock. Celebrity sightings followed, including Beyoncé photographed in Dezi sunglasses in February 2024.
Dezi Skin and Sephora
Dezi Skin launched on April 8, 2021, after two years in development, debuting with the Claro Que C Vitamin C Glow Serum built around Mexican plum and other Mexico-sourced fruits. Perkins co-founded it with Steven. On August 5, 2025, the brand launched on Sephora.com with five bestsellers, and in 2026 it rolled into Sephora stores with a launch party on April 16, 2026. Inc. reported the milestone that June, noting Dezi Skin as the first brand with Spanish-language and Spanglish product names in Sephora’s skincare aisles, with three hero products selling out and 13.8 million impressions from more than 800 organic posts.
Personal Life
Perkins married Steven Perkins in 2012. They were open about a painful fertility journey: a miscarriage in 2013, which she revealed publicly in 2018, followed by a tumor removal, depression, and years of documented fertility treatment including IVF. She spoke to People about the stigma around infertility.
Their son, Ocean Perkins, was born on October 20, 2020 (8 lb 6 oz, 21 in). Their daughter, Harley, was born on August 15, 2022, with identical stats to her brother (8 lb 6 oz, 21 in); the second pregnancy was announced March 8, 2022. Both births were covered by Entertainment Tonight.
Controversies
There are none of substance to report, and inventing one would be worse than saying so. No major controversy, apology video, or feud was found across the research. The only item that surfaced was a 2017 LipstickAlley forum thread accusing Perkins and Katy DeGroot of snubbing Black creator MakeupShayla’s palette launch: unsubstantiated forum gossip with no corroboration. No lawsuits were found either; searches return only unrelated results.
Net Worth
No reliable named source has published Desi Perkins’s net worth, so no figure is stated here. Aggregator guesses range from $800,000 (outdated) to $10-15 million (self-contradictory, AI-generated-looking pages), with one wiki putting it at $3 million as of December 2023. The documented business numbers are more meaningful: $2.5 million in DEZI sales in 24 hours and a Sephora rollout across Sephora stores.
2024 to 2026 Developments
The Sephora expansion has been the story of the last two years: the August 2025 Sephora.com launch, the in-store rollout and April 16, 2026 launch party, and the Inc. feature that June. She appeared at the L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth event on November 21, 2024, was featured on iHeart’s “The Unshakeables” podcast around December 2024, and did an SI Swimsuit interview around March 2025. Then, in April 2026, she returned to YouTube after years away with “I’m Back!! Half 2016, Half 2026 Glam on Selena Gomez,” a collaboration video reported by HipLatina. Entertainment Tonight maintains a dedicated topic page tracking her family and business news.
Collaborations Before the Brands
Before DEZI and Dezi Skin, Perkins built her industry credibility through a string of collaborations that showed brands how much her audience trusted her. The Quay Australia x Desi Perkins sunglasses in summer 2016 were photographed on Kylie Jenner and Jennifer Lopez, the kind of organic celebrity placement money cannot buy. Her Dose of Colors “Desi x Katy” collections with Katy DeGroot (LustreLux) in 2017 sold out, with a second collection following on the same trajectory. She also did a limited-edition Benefit Cosmetics collaboration and partnered with Ole Henriksen before launching her own skincare, a apprenticeship arc that reads clearly in hindsight: sunglasses, color cosmetics, skincare prep, then her own lines.
Media Appearances and Interviews
Perkins has never hosted her own podcast, but her guest appearances form a thorough record of her business thinking. She appeared on iHeart’s “The Unshakeables” around December 2024, telling the story of quitting the toxic service job at Steven’s urging. She was a guest on Dear Media’s “Life with Marianna” in February 2021 and on Yasmin Nouri’s “Behind Her Empire.” Her print and digital interviews include Bustle (on Latina inclusion in beauty), People (on infertility stigma), Entertainment Tonight (which maintains a dedicated topic page for her), WhoWhatWear, Refinery29, NewBeauty, Glossy, Allure, Inc., Shopify, Remezcla, HipLatina, and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (around March 2025). She attended the L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth event on November 21, 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Desi Perkins?
Desi Perkins was born on March 3, 1987, in Los Angeles, California. She is 39 years old as of October 2026.
Is Desi Perkins married?
Yes. She married Steven Perkins, a graphic designer, photographer, and creator, in 2012. He co-founded Dezi Skin with her and appeared in her videos from the beginning.
How many kids does Desi Perkins have?
Two. Son Ocean Perkins, born October 20, 2020, and daughter Harley, born August 15, 2022. She has spoken openly about the couple’s earlier miscarriage in 2013 and their multi-year fertility and IVF journey.
What is Dezi Skin?
Dezi Skin is Desi Perkins’s skincare brand, launched April 8, 2021, co-founded with her husband Steven. Its first product was the Claro Que C Vitamin C Glow Serum. It launched on Sephora.com in August 2025 and rolled into Sephora stores in April 2026.
What is Desi Perkins’s net worth?
No reliable source has published a figure, so none is stated. Documented business results include $2.5 million in DEZI eyewear sales within 24 hours of launch.
Why did Desi Perkins leave YouTube?
She stepped back from regular uploading for several years while building DEZI and Dezi Skin and raising two children. She returned in April 2026 with a Selena Gomez collaboration video.
Was Desi Perkins really a teacher?
She studied with the intent to become an elementary school teacher and has said so herself: “I graduated college with the intent to be an elementary school teacher. I ended up teaching makeup instead.” She also worked at MAC Cosmetics during college and as a cocktail server before YouTube.
How did Desi Perkins become famous?
For Halloween 2012, she painted skeleton special-effects makeup on her husband Steven and posted the photos to Instagram. The resulting flood of booking requests pushed her into freelance artistry, and she launched YouTube in August 2013.
Where can you buy Dezi Skin?
Dezi Skin launched on Sephora.com in August 2025 and rolled into Sephora stores in April 2026. It is also sold through the brand’s own channels.
What happened to Desi Perkins’s DEZI eyewear?
DEZI launched in July 2020, self-funded from her saved brand-deal income. It sold out on day one with $2.5 million in sales within 24 hours and $3.6 million at the first restock. Beyoncé was photographed wearing Dezi sunglasses in February 2024.
Who is Steven Perkins?
Steven Perkins is Desi’s husband (married 2012), a graphic designer, photographer, and creator who taught her video editing, shot her early content, co-founded Dezi Skin with her, and starred in the “Husband Does My Makeup” videos.
What is Desi Perkins’s ethnicity?
She is Mexican-American and has spoken proudly about her Latina identity, including telling Bustle about the need for better Latina inclusion in the beauty industry.
