Face Card
Tefi Pessoa Gives Us the Lowdown on Peptides, Facial Rebalancing, and Skin Scans
ByEmily Sandstrom
October 2, 2026
All photos courtesy of Tefi Pessoa.
Far and wide across the web, you will always find
SANDSTROM:Nice.
PESSOA:Then I have a peptide that I keep in a little fridge on my nightstand. I started taking peptides because I have PCOS. I know they recently rebranded to Big Bitch Syndrome. But I have the GHK-Cu, and I also take NAD+ for inflammation, which is supposed to help with PCOS. Those two things together really help. I wash my face, and you know what? People don’t leave it on for a minute. You have got to leave your face wash on for at least 60 seconds so that it can work.
SANDSTROM:You do?
PESSOA:That’s my belief. Then I put on my toner, then I put on my peptide. Then I take my little hand fan, like I’m a little flamenco dancer, and I let that dry for a minute. Then I put on my moisturizer. Right now, I’m using the
<p><b>SANDSTROM:</b>Oh, by
SANDSTROM:Okay, amazing. Have you ever injected GHK-Cu?
PESSOA:No, I use it topically. I got my haircut very short and I told my injector—the person I talk to about
SANDSTROM:Interesting. PCOS is such a tough one.
PESSOA:It’s kind of like an umbrella term for so much. I feel like in due time, we’ll find out exactly what it is. I know that some women get facial hair. I didn’t get facial hair. I was looking for very obvious signs that you see on TikTok.
SANDSTROM:You mentioned having Botox. Are you doing under your eyes or forehead or neck?
PESSOA:I do forehead. Crow’s feet. And my 11s and my bunny nose.
SANDSTROM:Wait, your where?
PESSOA:Your bunny nose, like when you scrunch.
SANDSTROM:Oh, wait, so now it doesn’t scrunch?
PESSOA:It gives me more of a tip. I have filler in the tip of my nose. But I just scheduled something for facial rebalancing because—well, I don’t want Instagram face.
SANDSTROM:You don’t have it.
PESSOA:Thank you. I want to be as balanced as I can be. I don’t want to look like an Australian youth. You know what I mean?
SANDSTROM:I absolutely do. Can you tell me about facial rebalancing?
PESSOA:I don’t really know what it is, except that I’m getting a consultation first before I do anything. But for example, when I first got filler when I was 31, they were like, “You have a weak chin.” I want to know what that means. I see people doing it on TikTok, and they do not look different, but they do look refreshed. Maybe just getting something done is all a bitch really needs.
SANDSTROM:I feel like I’ve heard that phrase, but only in the Clavicular universe.
PESSOA:Well, I hate that. [Laughs] I saw someone that said, “I want to look like my family and I want to look like myself.” I feel like sometimes I see women who can’t see themselves anymore. They want more, they want more, they want more. I feel like going to somebody who knows what they’re doing, who wants me to look my best, not like anybody else, is a way to combat that. But I don’t want to look 22. I don’t want to look 30. I’m happy looking 36. I just want to look my best. I know some women even now who lie about their age, and I completely reject it. If the cast ofGreasecan do that at 45, I’m fine.
SANDSTROM:Totally.
PESSOA:I’m not attached to youth, but I can’t deny that I am a product of a society that told me that this way is best. I could get a nose job, but I’m actively fighting that. I just want it straight. I’m trying to meet the standards in the middle.
SANDSTROM:I like that ethos. Do you think some of these feelings have amplified since being on camera more?
PESSOA:I think lessened, to be honest. Seeing yourself on camera is never as bad as you anticipate. There are certain things that I do though. I don’t drink the night before I have to be on camera, because that is horrible. You get so bloated and blotchy. Also I lose my voice when I drink too much and I don’t want to do that. I hope that part of my brand is also my voice. I think because of my age, I’ve kind of been like, “Bitch this is it.” I’m not going to spend 20K in some Manhattan office for a nose job. If I was 24 and still finding my voice, I do think it would affect me more.
SANDSTROM:I hear you. What do you think about girls changing things younger and younger? I find that very difficult to contend with, girls getting baby facelifts at 21 or 22.
PESSOA:Growing up in Miami, it was very common for girls at 18, 19 for graduation gifts to get nose jobs and breast augmentations. I think that a lot of the things that people are doing now, like fillers and Botox, are much safer than getting a nose job or a breast augmentation at 17. When you’re young, you’re looking at yourself so much. I can’t blame someone trying to find out what looks the best, but I do think that the girls that are getting threads today, like fox eye threads, they won’t be doing that at my age. They won’t.
SANDSTROM:Yeah.
PESSOA:Phases are tough.
SANDSTROM:The threads scare me more than anything.
PESSOA:Horrible.
SANDSTROM:I want to know what beauty trends you kind of hate.
PESSOA:I mean, this clean girl shit. What does a clean girl mean to me? A clean girl is a bitch that doesn’t smell like BO. I think that at a rapid pace, we are losing weird bitches doing cool stuff. Everyone should embrace being as weird as possible, as soon as possible. If you want to wear teal eyeshadow, teal eyeliner and red lash, you should lean in.
SANDSTROM:What do you think about the new trend of extreme weight loss in celebs?
PESSOA:As someone who’s gone to rehab for an eating disorder, the truth is they don’t know what they look like. Like anything that you depend on, they are leaning on it because they have no sense of control in their life. Also, as any girl knows in the world, the moment you start losing weight, people start complimenting you. If you’re going through trauma or there’s things that you’re avoiding, and the only thing that you have is compliments, you will abuse it. It’s very hard to talk somebody into getting better when they like the way that they feel and they do not see what you see. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of rest to be able to process. I cannot blame somebody for latching on to control in any way that they can. So I hope that people talk about them like people that need empathy. When people are like, “This is such a bad example for girls,” they have no idea what they look like. I promise you.
SANDSTROM:Do you think it’s the responsibility of people around them to let them know? And what do you think about young people watching them?
PESSOA:It reminds me of when Diane Sawyer told Britney Spears, “Do you feel like you are a bad example for children because of the way that you dress?” And she said, “I am not raising your children.” People in the limelight cannot be avoided. I think it’s important for you to sit down and be like, “You’re looking at a girl who’s gone through a lot and she’s very sad and you’re a happy girl, so you don’t have to look like that.” It’s important to raise your own children.
SANDSTROM:Before we jump off, I’m going to ask something really frivolous in comparison. Tell me your favorite lip product.
PESSOA:Oh my god, it’s this one by Dior. It’s the shade Talk My Dior. And my favorite lip liner is every bitch’s favorite lip liner, which is Stone by Mac.
SANDSTROM:It’s a really good one and it mixes with everything.
PESSOA:It mixes with everything. I put this together and I feel like I just got a small little seafood allergy, just enough.
