The account's founder, Yana Sheptovetskaya, on why the page is ad-free and how she's approaching Instagram like a magazine.
The former fashion editor — AnOther Magazine, Dazed and Confused — turned photographer isn’t against all ads. She just doesn’t want to see them on her Instagram feed. That’s why she unfollowed influencers who frequently post sponsored content on their pages. It’s also why she doesn’t post ads on her popular beauty Instagram, @gelcream.
Launched in May 2016, Gelcream is the anti-influencer beauty account that’s amassed more than 80,000 followers, including influencers and beauty brands alike. Sheptovetskaya said she started the page out of boredom. Originally from Moscow, she had just relocated to San Francisco with her husband and was looking for work and trying out American beauty products in the meantime. Inspired by Instagram-savvy brands such as Glossier, she decided to start her own beauty account and named it after a product she had seen while online shopping.