Who is Dulce Candy – the beauty vlogger who stopped the #GOPDebate in its tracks?
At Thursday night's GOP debate the successful YouTube contributor challenged the candidates with a question about immigration and entrepreneurship. Jeb Bush, for one, struggled to answer.
"That beautiful young woman who's an entrepreneur who served in the military, first of all, is deserving of our respect for service in the military and the fact that she's an entrepreneur," Bush said. "Dulce Candy — a pretty cool name, actually — that is now an entrepreneur over at the YouTube is part of that American spirit, and we should celebrate it as conservatives."
Here's nine things about her that might surprise you.
1. Dulce Candy is her real name
Dulce Candy Tejeda Ruiz is a beauty, fashion and lifestyle content creator and the CEO of Dulce Candy, Inc. She’s also the author of a book titled “The Sweet Life.”
2. Seventeen Magazine changed her life
In 2008 she started a YouTube channel, DulceCandy78 , posting video makeup tutorials that she created in her spare time. She became more serious about her digital life after a 2009 appearance as a “Beauty Smartie” in Seventeen Magazine in 2009. She now has more than two million subscribers on YouTube.
3. Her fashion empire is growing
In addition to her self-produced makeup and fashion tutorials, she has 1 million Instagram followers, and has inked content deals with companies such as, Too Faced, Cover Girl, Kohl’s, L’Oreal, Olay and Macy’s.
4. She is a Dreamer
In 1994 at age 6, Dulce Candy immigrated illegally from Michoacán, Mexico, to the United States. Her mother brought her four daughters to California, climbing fences and swimming across a river along the way, and eventually made it to Oxnard, where the family was reunited with her father, who was working as a farm laborer. Growing up, she and her family lived in a trailer park.
5. She’s a military veteran
Dulce Candy joined the U.S. Army in 2006. She became a certified a generator mechanic and was stationed at Fort Hood in Texas. She was in Baghdad, Iraq, for a 15 month deployment as a driver. She came under fire several times while driving VIPs into the “Green Zone.” She earned a combat action badge.
6. She suffered from depression in high school
In fact, in one of her YouTube videos, she says she has attempted suicide.
7. She's headed back to school
In a 2015 interview with Teen Vogue , she said that she’s now studying for a degree in fashion design.
8. Dulce Candy is a mom
The Los Angeles-based sensation is 27. She met her husband while in Kuwait while they were both serving in the military. They got married in 2011 and have a 3-year-old son named Izek.
9. Jessica Alba is her beauty crush
She told the SFGate that admires Jessica Alba because the actress loves to explore different trends, and she has her own way of personalizing them. Alba follows Dulce on Instagram.
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