GAY TIMES

NIKITA DRAGUN

“From the middle of nowhere in Virginia all the way up, I’ve created everything,” Nikita Dragun, the self-described “unbothered kween” and CEO of Dragun Beauty rightfully boasts over the phone after her photoshoot at Hubble Studio in LA, which is met with the gayest finger-wa. and “yas honey!” from this strict professional. “Yeah, my body’s fake, everything about me is fake, but I’ve created it all my motherfucking self, so hi!” Self-made is a term that is overused - often incorrectly, we should add - but make no mistake honey, Nikita is self-fucking-made.

The model, makeup artist and influencer initially launched her career on YouTube back in 2013 and became an A-list star on the social media platform, racking up hundreds of thousands of views for her beauty tutorials, relatable life advice and transformative videos. Nikita was assigned male at birth, however, she - in her words - lived a “Hannah Montana life”, presenting herself as a woman to her loyal subscribers. But it wasn’t, like pop pioneer Hannah once said, the “best of both worlds” for Nikita, because she was keeping her authentic self in the closet. “People didn’t know that at the time, I was a boy,” she admits.

One year after she became a certified YouTube celeb, she posted the

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from GAY TIMES

GAY TIMES10 min read
How Ozempic Infiltrated The Queer Community – And Why Off-brand Diet Drugs Are Replacing It
“I don’t know a single gay guy who isn’t either on Ozempic, wishing they could be on Ozempic, or taking some weird shit and wishing it was Ozempic,” 33–year-old Malachi, an events manager from London, tells GAY TIMES. “I’ve been on it myself for a fe
GAY TIMES1 min read
Gay Times
Editorial Director Megan Wallace US Editor-in-Chief Fran Tirado Fashion & Creative Director Umar Sarwar Senior Art Director Jack Rowe Entertainment Editor Sam Damshenas Features Editor Zoya Raza-Sheikh Contributing Editor Jamie Windust Designer Anisa
GAY TIMES6 min readGender Studies
Ooh Girl, You Got Female: The Women Queens Proving That Drag Is For Everyone
In 2020, trans icon Kylie Sonique Love reentered the werk room on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6 after 11 years, making herstory with just five words: “Ooh girl, you got female.” The entrance line was of course a PC-friendly version of the controvers

Related Books & Audiobooks