Charli and Dixie D'Amelio on Manicures, Millennials, and Making it Big

From ELLE

It's safe to say quarantine has been pretty uneventful for everyone—unless you're the D'Amelio sisters. Charli, 16, and Dixie, 18, have skyrocketed to fame during an unprecedented year, where they've taken over the video-sharing app TikTok, launched their own Gen Z-inspired beauty line, and are now dropping their latest project, a nail polish collection with Orosa Beauty, out today.

And what else? When ELLE.com chats with the sisters on the phone, it's the morning of Dixie's high school graduation. "It's just the students and we have to stand 6 feet apart," Dixie says of the untraditional ceremony. "It's going to be live streamed."

Charli also hit a major milestone earlier this year: Becoming the undisputed Queen of TikTok. With 76.1 million followers and counting, the teen has little time for Netflix binge-watching. "I personally haven't even watched that much," she says. "I've just been working a lot and trying new music."

"Charli steals all my music!" Dixie blurts out, in the way only a sister can. "I find a lot of my own music and she takes every single song I play and puts it on her playlist right away."

Ahead, the TikTok stars talk their new nail polish collection with Orosa, what they love about Gen Z (sorry, millennials!) and answer the age-old sibling question: Are you a Zack or a Cody?

How did this nail polish collaboration with Orosa come about?

Charli: Orosa sent us a package of their nail polish and I'm always trying new things with my nails, trying to do my nails myself. I was very much in love with their nail polish, because of how quickly it dried, how easy it was to apply because of the brush. We were so excited when they reached out to do a true collaboration with us, and we were able to pick our own colors and customize everything to be exactly how we wanted it.

Dixie: Everything was personalized, and we got to do all the steps of picking, and naming, and we literally went through every single color with our parents and figured out exactly what we wanted. Do our color groups match? Do my colors match with her color? Like, it was a lot but it was super fun.

Who is better at painting their nails?

Dixie: Definitely Charli.

Charli: Yeah, me.

Do you have any tips for at-home manicures?

Charli: Being patient! I feel like the hardest part of at-home manicures is after you're done painting them, just sitting still and letting them dry without going on to do other things, because that's the way I always end up messing up my nails.

What’s your go-to nail polish color?

Charli: Mine is definitely pink. That's color that I use the most [from our collection]. Piggy Pink.

Dixie: Mine is my gray color, Rapids.

What about some tips for learning TikTok dances?

Charli: I've heard of the trick of duetting the dance video you want to learn and putting it in slow motion to see all the moves slower. I always find myself doing a dance that I did a few weeks ago just to do it again and see if I can maybe do it better or do it differently. I always enjoy going back to dances that maybe aren't on trend anymore, but are still super fun.

What do you love most about your generation, Gen Z?

Dixie: How we can kind of turn everything into a joke, sometimes. It makes everything a lot easier. Just being able to laugh about things, but also using comedy to share stories. I think that's what TikTok does and I really appreciate that. It's like how people who use comedy as a coping mechanism.

What are your thoughts on millennials?

Charli: I don’t know...

Dixie: I honestly don’t know the groups. I don’t know how old a millennial is compared to Gen Z.

How has it been working with your sister?

Dixie: It's so fun! Being able to have someone who is going exactly what you're going through, and you guys can have the same pros and cons, and discuss things with each other. It makes life so much easier because no one else really understands except us.

You two are obviously so close, which brings me to the rapid fire part of the interview: Which famous sibling are you? First up is Kendall and Kylie.

Charli: You’re more like Kylie. I think I’m more like Kendall.

Dixie: Yeah, I feel more like Kylie.

Zack and Cody.

Dixie: I'm more like Zack, definitely.

Charli: 110%.

Dixie: Charli's more nervous than I am about things. I'm kind of a little reckless sometimes.

They're not sisters, but might as well be: Blair and Serena.

Charli: I actually don't know which show they're from... I know it's from a show! But I don't watch it.

Ross and Monica.

Dixie: I feel like I might be more like Ross. I don't want to say that, but I feel like I am.

Charli: I would say Monica, just because of the way that she acts around her friends. That's a lot like me.

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