Thanks to Instagram, YouTube and even TikTok, a legion of beauty influencers has emerged in the last couple of years. From sharing tips on the best eye makeup to streaming live tutorials to recreate celebrity looks, these beauty influencers are followed by millions of people all over the world. And their popularity continues to grow.
What is a Beauty Influencer?
What is an influencer? They are essentially a social media user well-known in a certain niche. A beauty influencer has expertise in makeup, haircare, or skincare. What separates beauty influencers from other social media users is the number of people who follow them for their advice.
Today, beauty influencers engage with their followers on a range of social media channels. To set themselves apart, they are creating diverse content. Some influencers, for example, focus on reviewing beauty products while some specialize in creating targeted content for specific audiences.
Why Your Brand Should Consider Partnering with a Beauty Influencer
Thanks to their huge popularity, beauty influencers are actively courted by brands – both big and small. By tying up with them, brands find it easier to reach their target audience and create a stronger impact. So much so, influencer marketing, which was initially thought to be a fad, has proven to be a highly effective means to building brands.
From your business’ standpoint, partnering with a beauty influencer can help you boost awareness and connect with the right audience. This can prove especially useful when you’re trying to generate leads and drive conversions.
34 Top YouTube Beauty Influencers
YouTube is one of the most popular channels where beauty influencers connect with their followers. One way influencers use YouTube to market a brand is by sharing reviews. They may also try a product live on the channel to show the real effect. Here are some top beauty influencers you will find here.
1. Michelle Phan – 8.84M
https://www.youtube.com/user/michellephan
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup and General Beauty
Michelle Phan is one of the earliest beauty influencers to gain online popularity. She started off with a personal blog where she posted different makeup tutorials. After getting featured on BuzzFeed, she gained millions of subscribers. She has partnered with brands such as Lancome, Loreal and Endemol Beyond USA, to name a few.
2. Jeffree Star – 16.3M
A.K.A: Jeffrey Lynn Steininger Jr
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Jeffree Star is a top beauty influencer. According to Forbes, Star earned $18 million from his YouTube channel, making him one of the highest paid YouTuber that year. In 2014, he founded his makeup brand, Jeffree Star Cosmetics. He has since then launched a number of successful collections.
3. Tati – 8.8M
A.K.A: Tati Westbrook
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Tati Westbrook is a popular makeup artist and YouTuber. A former image consultant, Tati started her YouTube channel in 2010. By 2016, she had acquired one million subscribers. In 2018, she launched her company, Halo Beauty. The company sells vitamin supplements.
4. Manny MUA – 4.86M
A.K.A: Manny Gutierrez
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Manny MUA is an American makeup artist, beauty blogger and YouTuber. Since starting his YouTube channel in 2014, he has been posting make up tips and tutorials for his 4.8 subscribers. He also owns his beauty brand, Lunar Beauty. As an influencer, he has partnered with Morphe Cosmetics and OFRA Cosmetics.
5. James Charles – 24.8M
A.K.A: James Charles Dickinson
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup artist
James Charles is an American makeup artist and YouTuber. He started off with his YouTube channel where he posted makeup tutorials. In 2016, he was announced as the first male brand ambassador for CoverGirl. Since then, he has launched his eyeshadow palette and a makeup line in partnership with Morphe Cosmetics. For his work, he has won several awards including three Streamy Awards, a Teen Choice Award and two People’s Choice Awards.
6. JaclynHill1 – 5.9M
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6jgzx2g3nlbaYkd8EMweKA
A.K.A: Jaclyn Hill
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Jaclyn Hill is an American makeup artist and entrepreneur. She launched her YouTube career in 2011 when she started posting celebrity makeup tutorials. She has collaborated with several brands including Australian cosmetics brand BECCA and Morphe Cosmetics.
7. Jackie Aina – 3.58M
A.K.A: Jacquelyn Lonje Olayiwola Oyeshola Bolayemi Aina
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup artist
Nigerian-American beauty blogger, Jackie Aina, has partnered with several brands to raise awareness about people of color in the cosmetics industry. Some of her collaborations include Too Faced, Sigma Beauty, e.l.f Cosmetics and Sephora. In 2020, she launched her home good line, Forvr Mood.
8. Laura Lee – 4.57M
A.K.A: Laura Ann Lee
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Laura Lee is an American YouTuber and makeup artist. She owns her cosmetics brand, Laura Lee Los Angeles and the fashion brand, Nudie Patootie. She started her YouTube channel in 2013, focusing on beauty hacks, makeup tutorials and product reviews. In October 2014, she was named StarCentral Magazine’s Beauty Guru of the month.
9. Alissa Ashley – 2.07M
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Alissa Ashley shares makeup hacks on her popular YouTube channel. Before launching her successful YouTube career, she was working at a cosmetic retail job. She has partnered with Aaliyah Jay for one of her videos.
10. NikkiTutorials – 13.8M
A.K.A: Nikkie de Jager
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Nikkie de Jager is a Dutch beauty vlogger and makeup artist. Her YouTube video The Power of Makeup helped her gain instant fame after it went viral. In 2017, Forbes named her one of the top beauty influencers. In the same year, she won the award for YouTube Guru at the Shorty Awards.
11. Kianna Naomi – 909K
A.K.A.: thatskiannaxo
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup, fashion
Kianna Naomi is a YouTube content creator, focusing on fashion, lifestyle and makeup tutorials. Her YouTube career started in 2014. Since then, she has grown her subscriber base. She has collaborated with Jules LeBlanc in the Brat film Intern-in-Chief.
12. Allana Davison – 736K
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Allana Davison is a Canadian blogger, makeup artist and YouTuber. She’s famous for her lifestyle, makeup hacks and fashion content. Her online popularity after her video How to Look Good in 5 Minutes got over 2.4 million views.
13. Luxy Hair – 3.15M
A.K.A: Mimi Ikonn
Type of Beauty Influencer: Hair
Mimi Ikonn is an Azerbaijani YouTuber and entrepreneur. She launched her YouTube channel Luxy Hair in 2010. Since then, she has amassed a huge fanbase. Her strong focus is on no animal testing and cruelty-free fashion.
14. Chloe Morello – 2.67M
Type of Beauty Influencer: Skincare, Haircare
Chloe Morello is an Australia-based beauty and style influencer. Her channel hosts a number of fun tutorials, reviews and tips on personal style. She has also had celebrities join some of her videos. She has worked with many big brands such as Vaseline, YSL, Simone Perele and L’Oreal Paris, to name a few.
15. Elanna Pecherle – 274K
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup, fashion
Elanna Pecherle is a Canadian YouTuber, popular for her beauty and makeup tutorials. She started her channel in 2011. Since then, her videos have gained massive popularity. One of her most viewed videos is Great Gatsby Faux Bob || 1920a Inspired Hair.
16. Missy Sue
A.K.A: Melissa Cook
Type of Beauty Influencer: Hair
Missy Sue is a popular American hair stylist and influencer. She is well-known for her makeup tutorials, fashion tips and striking hairstyles. Apart from making videos, she has written a book, DIY Updos, Knots and Twists.
17. Miss Alex – 889K
A.K.A: Alex
Type of Beauty Influencer: Hair, makeup
Miss Alex is a UK-based YouTuber and influencer. Her YouTube career began in 2013 when she started posting tutorials on how to master celebrity looks. One of her videos (Perfect easy messy bun tutorial) has earned over 5 million views. She has partnered with brands such as Mark Hill Hair to incorporate their products into her videos.
18. Kayley Melissa – 1.78M
Type of Beauty Influencer: Beauty, haircare
Kayley Melissa is an American YouTube content creator and influencer. A hair braiding expert, Kayley launched her YouTube channel in 2010. Over the years, she has partnered with many different brands such as NuMe, Herbal Essences and CVS.
19. Brad Mondo – 7.13M
A.K.A: Brad Gesimondo
Type of Beauty Influencer: Hair
Brad Mondo is an American hairstylist and YouTuber. As a hairstylist, he has worked with celebrities such as Heather Marks, Vanessa Hudgens and Shay Mitchell. He set up his popular YouTube channel in 2015. Since then, he has launched his own brand, XMONDO, where he sells various hairstyling products.
20. Manes by Mell – 562K
A.K.A: Mell Guido
Type of Beauty Influencer: Hair
Manes by Mell is a Canadian hairstylist. Well-known for sharing tutorials and tips on how to manage curly hair, Mell started her channel in 2014.
21. Alex Gaboury – 680K
Type of Beauty Influencer: Hair
Alex Gaboury is well-known for her videos on hair styling. She started her YouTube channel in 2013 and quickly became popular thanks to her tutorials.
22. Nikita Dragun – 3.65M
A.K.A: Nikita Nguyen
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Nikia Dragun is an American makeup artist. She started her YouTube channel with a video on How to get silver hair. As her popularity grew, she launched her own cosmetics line called Dragun Beauty. She has tied up with Morphe to launch a limited edition makeup collection.
23. Carli Bybel – 6.14M
A.K.A: Carli Sue Bybel
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Carli Bybel is an American makeup artist and beauty vlogger. She started her YouTube channel in 2011; the following year she reached the 100,000 subscriber goal. Today, she works with various brands including Pranava Beauty that specializes vegan, cruelty-free products.
24. Patrick Starrr – 4.35M
A.K.A: Patrick Simondac
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Patrick Starrr is a Filipino-American makeup artist and beauty vlogger. He started his YouTube channel in 2013, and quickly gained fame thanks to his makeup tutorials and product reviews. He has worked with several celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner. In 2017, he started his beauty collection alongside MAC cosmetics. In recent years, he has collaborated with Luxury Brand Partners to develop his plus size clothing brand.
25. Desi Perkins – 3.31M
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Desi Perkins is one of the best-known makeup artists on YouTube. She launched her YouTube channel in 2013 with a beauty tutorial, Soft Warn Sultry Eye Tutorial. Soon after, she shared celebrity inspired make up looks that helped her gain millions of subscribers. Riding on her popularity, she launched her beauty line, Dezi Skin.
26. Rclbeauty101 – 14.5M
A.K.A: Rachel Levin
Type of Beauty Influencer: Beauty, makeup
Rachel Levin is an American beauty guru and popular YouTuber. She started her YouTube career as a teenager in 2010. Soon after, she was featured in The Wall Street Journal and in a Forbes article. In 2020, she launched her makeup brand, RCLO Cosmetics. Her products are popular with celebrities, helping her boost her fanbase.
27. Amanda Steele – 2.57M
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Amanda Steele is a YouTuber, well-known for her makeup tutorials and hacks. She launched her popular channel, MakeupByMandy24 in 2010. Soon after, she was signed with WME and IMG Models. In 2016, she won a Streamy Award.
28. KathleenLights – 4.16M
A.K.A: Kathleen Fuentes
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Kathleen Fuentes is a famous beauty vlogger. She started her YouTube channel in 2013 to share simple makeup hacks. After her videos started gaining traction and she grew her subscriber base, she started collaborating with cosmetic brands such as Ofra Cosmetics, Makeup Geek, Morphe Brushes and Colorpop.
29. Olivia Jade – 1.84M
A.K.A: Olivia Giannulli
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Olivia Jade is an American beauty vlogger, daughter of well-known celebrities Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli. She started her social media career in her teenage years. Her YouTube channel was launched in 2014. She covers a range of beauty and makeup topics on her channel.
30. Bethany Mota – 9.71M
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup, hairstyle
Bethany Mota launched her YouTube channel in 2009 to escape from the pressure of bullying. In a short span of time, she gained millions of subscribers. While she covers a host of different topics, her makeup and hairstyling videos are especially popular. She has partnered with brands such as J.C. Penney and Forever 21.
31. grav3yardgirl – 8.2M
A.K.A: Bunny Meyer, Rachel Meyer
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Bunny Meyer started her YouTube channel in 2010. She is known for her makeup and fashion videos where she shares hacks, tutorials and reviews.
32. Eugenia Cooney – 2.16M
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Eugenia Cooney is popular for her lifestyle and makeup videos on YouTube. She started her career in 2011 and posted videos on her “Emo” lifestyle. Today she is well-known for her videos where she covers gothic makeup. In 2020, Shorty Awards had nominated her in the category of YouTuber of the year.
33. Daisy Marquez – 1.49M
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
A self-taught makeup artist, Daisy Marquez posts beauty and fashion videos on her YouTube channel. Thanks to her popularity, she was featured in a Bustle article in 2018.
34. Wengie – 13.9M
A.K.A: Wen Jie Huang, Wendy Ayche
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Wengie is a beauty influencer and the most popular YouTuber from Australia. In her videos, she focuses on fashion, beauty and Do-It-Yourself hacks. She set up her YouTube channel in 2013. In 2017, she released her first single, which debuted at number 11. Wengie has collaborated with many well-known brands including Target.
10 Top Beauty Influencers from Instagram, TikTok and More
YouTube is not the only platform for influencers to connect with their million followers. Instagram, TikTok and other platforms have also gained popularity in recent years. As a result, many influencers are active on these sites and are actively courted by brands.
35. Nyma Tang @nymatang – 507K
www.instagram.com/nymatang
Channel: Instagram
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Nyma Tang is an American beauty vlogger who gained popularity in 2017 thanks to her YouTube series, The Darkest Shade. She has worked with well-known brands such as Bobbi Brown, Fenty Beauty and Pat McGrath.
36. Penelope Gwen @pennold- 304K
Penelope Gwen (@pennold) • Instagram photos and videos
Channel: Instagram
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Penelope Gwen is a British makeup artist and beauty influencer. She has built a strong fan base over five years on Instagram.
37. Huda Kattan @hudabeauty – 41.9M
HUDA KATTAN is on Instagram • 1,518 posts on their profile
Channel: Instagram
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Huda Kattan is an American makeup artist, entrepreneur and influencer. As a makeup artist, she counted Nicole Richie and Eva Longoria as her clients. Later she launched her first product, a series of false eyelashes, that brought her fame and recognition. Today, she owns her brand Huda Beauty that has a range of products such as lip liners, foundations, concealers and more.
38. Thomas Halbert @thomashalbert – 291K
TTHOMAS (@thomashalbert) • Instagram photos and videos
Channel: Instagram
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Thomas Halbert is a California-based influencer known for his makeup tutorials, beauty vlogs and product reviews.
39. Nam Vo @namv0 – 368K
https://www.instagram.com/namvo/
Channel: Instagram
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Nam Vo is a popular makeup artist. She’s well-known for her “dewy dumpling” look, a technique to create radiant skin and high cheekbones.
40. Shayla Mitchell @makeupshayla – 2.7M
https://www.instagram.com/makeupshayla
Channel: Instagram
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Shayla Mitchell is a popular makeup artist and YouTube influencer. She started her channel in 2012. Soon after she signed a contract with Maybelline and launched her eye makeup collection. She has also partnered with the Colorpop brand.
41. Nabela Noor – 1.9M
Nabela (??????) Noor (@nabela) • Instagram photos and videos
Channel: Instagram
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Nabela Noor is Bangladeshi American beauty influencer. On her Instagram, she shares beauty tips and advocates for diversity, acceptance and compassion.
42. Marianna Hewitt – 1M
Marianna Hewitt (@marianna_hewitt) • Instagram photos and videos
Channel: Instagram
Type of Beauty Influencer: Makeup
Before becoming an Instagram celebrity, Marianna Hewitt was a television host. In 2012, she started her YouTube channel and in just two years, grew her followers. Today, she owns a skincare brand, Summer Fridays and hosts her popular podcast with other popular beauty influencers.
Who is the most famous beauty influencer?
Huda Kattan with 49.3M followers on Instagram and 4.15M followers on YouTube is the most famous beauty influencer today. Her brand, Huda Beauty, shot to instant fame after Kim Kardashian wore her brand’s false eyelashes.
Who is the biggest beauty influencer of 2021?
Nikkie de Jager is the biggest beauty influencer of 2021. She appeared at the Met Gala and hosted Eurovision this year.
Who is the best makeup influencer on YouTube?
The biggest makeup influencer on YouTube is Tati Westbrook (8.7M followers). Her videos have helped her gain 1.4B views in total.
Who is the highest paid beauty influencer?
James Charles is the highest paid beauty influencer. He’s estimated to make $25,520 per video on YouTube. On Instagram and TikTok, his posts are estimated to help him earn $89,711 and $35,502, respectively.
Image: Depositphotos
This article, “42 Top Beauty Influencers” was first published on Small Business Trends
Source: Small Business Trends
