Barbie fan spent nearly $200K turning her house pink

A Barbie fan has become an Instagram star for sharing her obsession with the color pink and creating her own real-life Barbie dream house.

Bruna Barbie, from Curitiba, Paraná in Brazil, who used to work as a lawyer, was first nicknamed Barbie in school and it stuck.

Now the model and influencer, who has a law degree, is making a living simply for her love of all things pink.

She shares her day-to-day “pink life” on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, where she has more than 23 million followers in total and her videos get more than 40 million views.

Bruna said: “I was born in Brazil, in the city of Curitiba in the State of Paraná. I have a brother and I am the youngest daughter.

“I did well in school and went on to achieve a degree in law; I have also worked as a model over the years but today I am a proud digital influencer.

“I’ve always been in love with the color pink since I was little, but from my teen years onwards, I wouldn’t trade pink for anything!

“At school, classmates started calling me ‘Barbie’ and it stuck.”

As an adult, she has spent more than £163,000 (about $199,000) turning her home completely pink – including the water of her swimming pool.

On TikTok, Bruna is one of the 10 most followed Brazilians. She has more than 18.3 million digital followers on the app.

Bruna said: “I started on VibeFlog sharing photos of my day-to-day with my pink looks and before I knew it, I started to get popular on the internet. I didn’t really think too much about it.

“Then in 2009 I joined Orkut and ran five profiles. My followers started asking me to create a YouTube account.

“Until then I’d only really shared photos of my pink outfits, but soon after, I decided to take the leap and make some videos for YouTube. I started sharing my pink life more and more.”

Then, one of Bruna’s videos went viral on YouTube and she was asked to appear on the “Internet Famous” board on a Brazilian TV show.

After that, Bruna’s following skyrocketed and more social media opportunities started coming her way.

As her online presence continued to grow, Bruna came to be faced with a risky decision.

She explained: “I was getting busier and busier running my social media. I didn’t have to give up my law career for my pink career but I definitely had to pause it.

“I was growing as a digital influencer and it wasn’t possible to reconcile the two jobs.

“I soon realized I wanted to share my passion for the color pink and my inspiration from the Barbie doll with the world.”

As Bruna started to earn good money out of being an influencer, she decided to start her next mission: to make her very own Barbie dollhouse to live in.

She doesn’t usually spend a lot of money because brands often send her free pink items such as clothes, makeup, and decorative furniture.

Her bedroom, appliances, kitchen utensil, bathroom, clothes, glasses, shoes, and even her swimming pool are now bright pink.

In 2021, she bought herself a pink car – the exact same Barbie toy car that Barbie creator Mattel released.

She said: “With my successful work as a digital influencer, I started making a lot of money. Then I saw the possibility of building a house inspired by Barbie and inspired by my pink style.

“My home is a place where wishes come true, where imagination is transformed into sweet, pink, and unparalleled experiences and where fantasy goes hand in hand with the real world.

“I managed to make one of my dreams come true, having a doll house. That’s right, I have a whole pink house.

“I have no idea how much I have spent in total, but at the beginning of the construction and decoration I had already spent more than one million reais (£163,000, $199,000).”

Ultimately, it’s Bruna’s incredibly pink house that is the backdrop of the majority of her influencer content.

In one TikTok video, which has more than 1.5 million likes and 31,600 comments, Bruna throws a bucket of pink dye into her swimming pool to turn the water bright pink.

She then relaxes on a pink sunlounger by the pool before using a bubble machine to create bubbles.

In another Tiktok video, which has more than 612,000 likes, Bruna’s house gets given a pink makeover.

A painter uses a giant roller to give her pale pink house a bright fuchsia makeover. He paints the walls, the floor, the roof and the outside of the swimming pool – and creates a fun pink striped effect.

Keen to get involved, Bruna then dresses in pink overalls with a matching hat as she has a go at painting her house.

She dips her paintbrush in the paint and helps create the perfect pink blend. The video, titled Barbie Life In The Dreamhouse, has more than one million likes and 15,600 comments.

Bruna said: “When I started the pink house project I was already quite popular on the internet and I had a very good acceptance of brands.

“Due to the diversity we are experiencing today, dozens of companies supported me so I closed many advertising jobs and was able to decorate the whole house.

“Another dream I managed to fulfill last year was to get my pink car, which is actually the same Barbie toy car that Barbie maker Mattel released, only mine is life-size!”

Bruna, who is a vegetarian and loves animals (she has four pet dogs), is also the godmother of the Ajudai project, where she helps the animal cause – the whole reason she went to law school was to enable her to be able to defend animals in the future.

Now, her next goal is to open her very own animal shelter one day – but she can’t promise it won’t be pink!

In one of Bruna’s recent TikTok videos, the influencer gives a tour of her pink home, showing off the pink pool, pink dressing room, and pink car.

She also introduces her adorable puppy, wearing a pink bow, and her boyfriend.

Another video gives fans a sneak peek of Bruna’s bright pink front door and soft pink living room as she dresses as a pink Easter bunny and shows off a basket full of pink Easter treats. The video has received more than 34,900 likes.

Bruna cannot believe that her full-time profession is being an influencer and sharing her pink life online.

However, she insists she doesn’t copy Barbie and instead uses her as inspiration. In fact, she pointed out that she’s pinker than the Barbie doll herself.

Her boyfriend, model Dienisson Gemelli, even wears pink with her.

She said: “I have normal expenses she has are normal expenses for anyone. But I don’t try to be Barbie, I’m just hugely inspired by her.

“I also love Elle Woods from Legally Blonde as well as Paris Hilton as she wears a lot of pink.

“My boyfriend loves that I wear the color pink as he thinks it’s girly and fun. Sometimes he even wears it with me.

“Luckily, I don’t face comments from many trolls. Today I have five social networks – I have @Brunabarbiedecor, where I post house and decoration tips, and @Brunabarbieoficial, where I post things from my day-to-day life.

“Then I also have my YouTube channel Bruna Barbie, where I post vlogs, and my TikTok and Kwai @BrunaBarbieOficial, where I make short videos on fashion, beauty, recipes, and other topics.”

Bruna insists that she’s passionate about her work as a digital influencer – which merely started as a hobby – and she had no idea that one day the internet would be her profession.

She says she’s very grateful to God for the opportunities she’s been given – as well as her fans – who keep her career growing.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and has been reproduced here with permission.