What Hot Girls in LA Are Buying, According to Esther Povitsky

Esther Povitsky (a.k.a. Little Esther, a.k.a. @esthermonster) has been a comedian in Los Angeles for 13 years, and if you think you’ve seen her somewhere, it’s probably because you have. She has been a guest star on an impressive array of your favorite shows from New Girl and Parks and Recreation to Key & Peele and more, but she’s especially guffaw-inducing in both the series she co-created, Alone Together, and most recently, in Dollface on Hulu. But, if this is your first introduction, please watch her comedy special, “Hot for My Name” right now—I promise you will belly laugh. 

But even if you’re TV-averse and out-of-the-loop when it comes to comedy, there’s another reason you might recognize Esther: from her popular TikToks explaining “things hot girls in LA are currently obsessed with,” which feature Povitsky stepping into the role of the “Jane Goodall of hot girls” to share her observations about the products that hot girls are clamoring for (examples include a $98 collagen pearl powder, a tahini-infused chocolate chip cookie in very ~*~aesthetic packaging~*~, French nipple cream, and a niche brand of toothpaste that “sold out everywhere”). 

Mind you, it’s not always a product that she finds in her research—occasionally it’s an idea or a wellness trend, or even a supreme hot girl, named @aureta, who appears to be the Messiah of all things cool.

OK, so what makes her a self-proclaimed expert on the absolute 10s of this world? For one, she hosted an MTV show called, Esther with Hot Chicks; two, she says she is a “spy” in a group chat full of hot girls talking about their recent finds;  and three, she is completely, and unabashedly, gutsy. She has no qualms about approaching strangers, and for every awkward moment and embarrassing encounter, there is an elaborately spun joke that makes them all worth their while.

We spoke with Povitsky about house-made nut milks, revelatory makeup trends, and what all the products that make a “hot girl” function have in common.

VICE: Hi, Esther. I know that this all started because you're in this “hot girl” group chat, but can you break it down—how did you get added, and did you get their permission first?

Esther Povitsky: So, I was in Palm Springs once eight years ago and this fashion blogger who I'd never heard of—because I did not know anything about fashion—DM'd me and said, “I'm in Palm Springs, too, let's all meet up.” It was Rumi Neely and she basically, low-key, invented fashion blogging. So I met up with her and her friend Lauren Alexander, who is the founder of LNA. These two girls are just hot girls—they live and breathe it. I had never experienced anything like it and obviously I clung on for dear life; all the while knowing that I was not one of them, but that they were just sort of accepting me because for whatever reason, Rumi wanted this weird comedian as a tagalong. I still don't know why. The group chat is called “the overalls” because nothing in their life is off limits; and overalls are cute.

So that’s what inspired the videos?

I had just started using TikTok and thought, I have to share this because I've always been obsessed and identified as the Jane Goodall of Hot Girls. It started back when I first moved to LA in 2009, and there were hot girls everywhere. I'm from Skokie, Illinois and there's something in the water which is not hot there.

I couldn't believe there's just these beautiful hot girls who look like celebrities everywhere and I can just walk up to them and ask them things—that blew my mind. I also had a blog in 2009 called Esther with Hot Chicks where I would just walk up to random girls and be like, “Can I take a picture with you? I think you're hot.” And this is before Instagram, so when the hot girl trend started coming up, I was like, “guys I’ve been on this my whole frickin’ life,” so I just felt like I was eligible to be a good voice—studying hot girls, what they're up to, and what they're about. 

Did you sneakily spill the beans and it blew up, or did you say, “I'm going to tell people about some cool things you guys have been mentioning to me.”

Yes! I think I did the first one without asking permission and when the girls saw it they just thought it was funny. They're just like, “Esther, you're hilarious,” and I wasn't even trying to be funny. This was very serious journalism for me. Now we sort of have a system down, where I'll ask for submissions or what everyone is obsessed with right now, and they always have a million things [to offer]. I am very dedicated to keeping it true and honest—just because I think something is cool or is something the hot girls would like, that doesn't count. That’s a different series, you know. I will definitely be posting my picks [in the future], but this is a very serious art form and needs to be the highest level of a rich, successful hot girl.

Right, she’s effortless—a Serena van der Woodsen, if you will. 

Yes, they are just born that way. They're not trying, they like what they like, and they don't question it. A lot of the time, they'll tell me about something that’s a weird flavor or something I never would have heard of or tried and then it always blows my mind, and I think, “okay, this is how we do it. This is how to be hot.” 

I’ve noticed some snack recommendations in your videos.  Do hot girls know good food? 

Yes, they really do—and I learned that more so working with Shay Mitchell. I've always been obsessed with food because that's where I get all my joy from. I don't really drink, so food is my drug. I thought that was just me, being weird and obsessed, but Shay Mitchell will freaking Yelp the menu and study it, because her whole thing is, “if I'm going to eat this, it needs to be so delicious and I need to enjoy it.” So, I really learned from her that it's actually very hot girl vibes to study a menu beforehand, whereas I thought that was nerd loser vibes.

So, what are the top five most memorable products or things they’ve recommended that you now use every day?

They recommended the Agent Nateur collagen powder and I had never heard of that brand, but it's like the ultimate fairy girl brand, and since then I've started using a bunch of their products. Their face oil and eye cream are so expensive and luxurious that I’m addicted, but I do lowkey hate myself for that because they're so pricey.

Also, the Boka toothpaste. I was already a diehard for that, so I was really excited when they recommended it, because it does feel like a hot girl essential.

What about scents? What are the girls wearing?

The Corpus deodorant is great. It smells like cedar. 

Snacks?

Oh, my God. The Brune cookie, the cookie in the green pack—so fucking good! Pink is also good but DON’T get the red. Also, the Honey Mama’s tahini tangerine cocoa truffle bar. That flavor sounded really weird to me, but then I tried it—and loved it. Also, eating exactly one Brazil nut everyday. Add that into your diet because it apparently has all these crazy health benefits like selenium—I don’t know what that is, but a hot girl told me that. 

How about beauty products?

Rumi suggested wearing this Jillian Dempsey eye shadow, a taupe-colored eyeshadow, which I thought was really cool. Of course! That makes so much sense; I love that. It's so simple, you know, it's right under your nose the whole time, but you just don't think of it. 

Huda Beauty Power Bullet Matte Lipstick in the shade “Wedding Day” supposedly makes your lips look bigger—a good neutral to add volume and depth. Apparently Nam Vo is obsessed with the Natura Bissé cleanser that is good for “resurfacing and depuffing” 

The Etude House Dear Darling Water Tint in the shade “Cherry Ade” is apparently the “perfect popsicle lip tint.” 

Another hot girl told me the bisou balm from Violette_FR is “the perfect amount of color with the perfect lack of sheen.” I don't know what that means, but I trust it. 

Are there any Amazon or drugstore brands that we just don’t know all the hotties are buying? 

Yes, these cold season bath salts, and these faux-fur slippers. Also Cora Tampons and Gerolsteiner sparkling water. 

This one's funny—Rumi sent me a link to a “How to Clean Your Coffee Machine” video because she said, “I'm just worried that you will never clean yours.” 

Sometimes they'll recommend something that's so advanced, and I just know in my gut, I'm not ready for that yet; like that one skin care system that Lauren sent, NeoGenesis, is just way too over my head. Not ready. Not trying it. 

Are there any normal people things that you've introduced them to that they just had no idea about?

Yeah, I have submitted things to them, like the tropical-flavored Olipop, I told them about. 

I had pitched them Myracle Mylk, which I discovered at a really cool coffee shop in Echo Park called Stereoscope Coffee. (It's like the coolest coffee shop in L.A., in my opinion.) They were very not into the branding of it, they said it was giving Liquid Death and they just weren't really sure. It didn't go far in the group chat.

Is there anything else that gives them the ick?

We always talk about milk and coffees and coffee flavors, and eventually it was pumpkin season—and I asked, “do we like pumpkin spice lattes?” I got really rejected, but they're always so polite. They’ll say, “that's a little Lululemon yoga pants for us”—and then I didn't buy Lululemon for eight years.

For more hot girl trends, and other hilarious tropes, follow @esthermonster on TikTok and Instagram. 

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

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