If it wasn’t clear before her now-iconic 2024 Met Gala appearance, now you know: Tyla is going to be big. At just 23, the South African performer has already conquered the charts with mega-hits like “Water,” and she’s set to release a new album this year. And now, she’s Pandora’s newest brand ambassador, joining the likes of Charli XCX and Pamela Anderson. We caught up with Tyla at Pandora’s Charm House pool party after her first-ever Coachella appearance to chat festival style, travel essentials, and the exact earrings she wore onstage.
Tyla’s favorites, at a glance
Her lip gloss
What’s the one beauty essential she brings everywhere? “Lip gloss. Anything that’s shiny,” Tyla says. While she’s “not a brand person,” she mentions Laneige and Topicals as two recent favorites with the right consistency.
Her stage style hack
“Accessory-wise, I love rings, or like a good hoop or a nice, shiny earring—things that shine on stage,” Tyla says of her stage outfits. Her first-weekend Coachella ensemble included these Pandora hoops accessorized with this exact charm, which the singer associates with a tiger instead of a shark. “I haven’t really seen it before. We got an opportunity to go to this room where Pandora set up a bunch of stations, and we made some jewelry. And I ended up making the charm earrings.” The rest, as they say, is history.
Her favorite jeans
“I just love low-rise things. I just love it. I feel like it makes me look curvy,” Tyla says. And to that point, “I love Levi’s, like Levi’s shorts. But I like customizing it, cutting it the way I wanna cut it, and flipping [the waistband] over just so it shows more.”
Her skin-saving moisturizer
As an occupational hazard, the singer is constantly traveling, giving her plenty of opportunities to ace her packing list. “I need Skin Food—thick, thick face lotion, because I hate being dry,” she says. This cult-favorite face moisturizer, also a go-to among Glamour editors, is rich enough to keep plane air and desert heat at bay.
Her favorite candles
Tyla’s travel routine is heavy on self-care—including fragrance. “I sometimes carry a little candle even though I can’t light it. It’s just for vibes,” she says with a laugh, naming Le Labo as her current obsession.
Her styling essential
When chatting with Tyla, one thing immediately becomes clear: She loves a good DIY project. “I love white tanks. They’re so classic and clean, and I just love rough cutting it and making it look like I just threw it on,” she says. True to form, her first Coachella look included a tank top that was torn and tied into a knot. On that point, she mentions that her upcoming tour has a specific dress code: “Whatever you wear, you should look like you just came out of a bush,” she says. “You know, like ripped up, not too serious, not too clean.”
Her go-to charm
Tyla is a big fan of the charm bracelet revival, and her favorites include the tooth above and the Tigger below. While she says she doesn’t pay attention to jewelry trends, she encourages everyone to try mixed-metal looks: “I really like to mix. I think it looks good,” she says, chains and bracelets clacking.
Her studio outfit
The vibe when heading to the studio is “cozy—like cozy,” she says, drawing out the last syllable, but still fly, because whenever I feel good and I feel hot, I make better music. I don’t know how, but it works like that.” She gravitates toward “things that are very baggy, like very baggy, or sometimes I’ll be in a mood to throw on a capri jean or low-waist jeans and a little sneaker. Like a Nike—an old-school Nike sneaker or the ones with the little heel—and then a crop-top.” Tyla has been spotted in the exact pair below.