hi! i'm the only living twink beauty editor

i'm derek — people online know me as "the fragrance twink," but at heart, i'm part journalist, part queer anthropologist. with a ba in public policy from duke university, i love to twink outside the box and write about what beauty reveals about our identities, desires and the culture around us.

I began my career as a beauty editor, but found myself increasingly drawn to stories beyond the boundaries of traditional beauty journalism, particularly its intersections with queer culture. I now work independently as a freelance beauty writer, content creator, and editor of The Tasteful Twink on Substack.

@derekdengg
Derek Deng in a white polo against a pink backdrop
120k+followers across tiktok, instagram and substack
7Mviews on the gay fragrance matrix
29k+people surveyed on their signature scent

as featured in

the matrices

it started with one question to men on grindr: what's your signature scent? now it's a running survey of 29,000+ gays, lesbians, bisexuals, enbies and everyone in between.

the deep dives on substack →