Ethel Emmons 
Before influencer marketing was popular, we relied on word-of-mouth testimonials and recommendations from friends and family and perhaps celebrity endorsements from time to time. According to Edelman’s 2019 report, “81% believe that trust in brand is a deal breaker or deciding factor in their brand buying decision”. Furthermore, “74% avoid advertising by using ad blocking technology, changing media habits to see less advertising, or paying for streaming services”. In the 18-34 year old range, “64% said they trust what influencers say about brands much more than what brands say about themselves in their advertising”.
Brands know that organic word-of-mouth recommendations, reviews, and testimonials are the most important currency in successful contemporary marketing. For this to work successfully, there needs to be relatability and surround sound. We like to hear success stories from people we know or we find relatable. We automatically put ourselves in their shoes – “if it worked for her, it would work for me too”. We don’t want to miss me out. We want to keep up. And many people should be saying similar stories too, not just Aunt Sally or Cousin Mathilda. We find safety and comfort in numbers.
To be a successful beauty brand or to get on major beauty retailers’ list, a huge following with high engagement is a prerequisite nowadays, although no one would actually list that as a hard requirement. It’s a given, yer unspoken. Celebrity brands are a no-brainer and not new. We’ve seen beauty and cosmetics line by Paris Hilton, JLo, Lauren Conrad, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Victoria Beckham, Gwyneth Platrow, Kylie Jenner, and Jessica Alba, to name a few celebs.
Given accelerating growth brought about by the influencer marketing trend to super hype up word-of-mouth marketing, finding mega-influencers their way into our bathroom shelves as established or upcoming beauty brands is a major phenomenon that shows no signs of stalling or stopping, pandemic or no pandemic. These mega-influencers have the mastery and know-how in their own niche, mega-following, undisputable social media presence, relatable online personalities, and amazing products that truly represent who they are. Plus hours and hours of tutorial videos under their belts. They know their stuff and have record to prove it. And they have leveraged their social currency to launch and sustain their beauty brands.
In this article, we rounded up our top 10 favorite influencer-driven beauty brands that you should follow on the basis of their brand story, range of product offerings, and product quality.
1. Huda Kattan (Huda Beauty)
Named as the most popular beauty brand of 2021 by Cosmetify, Huda Beauty has consistently occupied the top spot. The numbers are in their favor: 49.6M Instagram folders and 29.7M hashtag mentions. Huda Kattan, the brand founder, had a finance degree from University of Michigan when she moved to Dubai. From Dubai to LA, she studied make-up and became the makeup artist for the celebrities. In 2010, she started a beauty blog called “Huda Beauty”, which also became the name of her beauty brand in 2013. With her older sister’s initial investment of $6,500, she started to create and sell her false eyelashes, popularized by Kim Kardashian, and then later on added eye shadow palettes, lipsticks, and foundations. She made the Forbes “40 Under 40” List in 2020, the Times Magazine’s “The 25 Most Influential People on the Internet” in 2017, and the top spot on Cometify’s “The 2021 Beauty Influencer Rich List” in 2021.
We’re Obsessed With: Brown Obsessions Eyeshadow Palette
Brown never looked so good! Infused with divine swirls of toffee, caramel and chocolate, these Brown Obsessions mimic the dreamy tortoiseshell designs that Huda is obsessed with. Effortlessly easy to master, these sumptuously pigmented palettes feature four delectable finishes in complementary tones that look ravishing on every skin tone. Velvety smooth powders, intense metallics, buttery marble cream shimmers, and an irresistible new pearl flake texture give you creative freedom to playfully shade, highlight, and define the eyes.
Caramel Brown Obsessions: Add a little fire to your look with this spicy combination of burnt caramel, hazelnut and maple mattes accompanied by molten copper apricot and rhubarb shimmers.
2. Michelle Phan (EM Cosmetics)
Another blogger and YouTuber influencer, Michelle has an impressive 8.82M subscribers with over 1B video views. She established her beauty brand on the strength of her makeup knowledge. Her Jun 2021 video tutorial on her healthy glow skin routine gathered 580K views. In this video, she spelled out the 14 products that she is using to achieve this healthy glow.
Must-Try Now: Sunscape Highlighter
Embrace light and luminosity with the radiance of Sunscape Highlighter, a unique gel-meets-powder hybrid that imparts a pearlescent glow with a tint of sheer color. Formulated with an innovative blend of multi-chromatic minerals to create a fine, pearly powder that blurs and diffuses skin for a radiant, lit-from-within glow. Developed with Illumi-Filter Technology for a soft focus filter effect that blurs, this highlighter refines and diffuses skin for a heavenly complexion. Sublime formula layers and builds seamlessly for a subtle to brilliant radiance. This silky Italian powder feels soft and blends seamlessly for a lustrous, pearlescent glow with a skin-like finish.
3. Patrick Starr (One Size Beauty)
Known as the make-up artist to the celebrities, Patrick is a prolific social media influencer. His stats don’t lie: 4.33M YouTube subscribers and 4.2M Instagram followers. He is also a musical artist who has been classically trained to play piano. However, his interest and skills in photography led him to make-up and beauty in general. While working at MAC cosmetics, he found his niche that made him a blockbuster success today. He used his learnings and experience at MAC to create his beauty and lifestyle video tutorials.
Total Transformation: Turn Up The Base Versatile Powder Foundation
The creamy, true-color pigments address acne, pores, texture, and uneven tone for a Patrick Starrr-approved, soft-matte blur. It is easily blendable and can last for 12 hours. Whether you opt for a more natural look or desire a full beat, this make-up foundation is customizable and buildable, which means you control the coverage.
This foundation has triple-blended pigments that will give you that seamless true-color coverage. It also gives you a buttery smooth, soft-matte finish that you’ll have on repeat.
4. Hyram Yarbro (Selfless by Hyram)
With 4.6M YouTube subscribers and 6.6M TikTok followers, Hyram is a Gen Z skincare authority that can make his followers trash what they are using, just because he said so. He is a new breed of skin influencer. He is comfortable in his own skin to speak what’s on his mind, without compromising his point of view. Although not a trained in the dermatology or any medical field, he is perceived as a skin authority who says it like it is. He stands up for what he believes is right, and he knows his stuff through his own research and experience. His unbiased product reviews make even those brands who paid him to promote their products worry about what’s he’s going to say about them. For the consumers and his followers, he’s exactly what they need when it comes to real recommendations and reviews.
For Clear and Smooth Skin: Retinol & Rainbow Algae Repair Serum
In this serum, a gentle, slow-release retinol and nutrient-rich rainbow algae reduce the appearance of post-blemish marks and hyperpigmentation from breakouts while squalane visibly plumps and softens skin immediately after application.
- 2% Encapsulated Retinol Complex (0.2% Retinol): Scientifically shown to reduce the appearance of blemish scars.
- 1.5% Rainbow Algae: Assists in reducing the appearance of hyperpigmentation.
- 4% Squalane: Visibly plumps and softens immediately after application.
5. Annie Lawless (Lawless Beauty)
Founder of Suja Juice and Lawless Beauty, Annie is devoted to clean, natural, and healthy products that go skin-deep. Her incredible success in Suja Juice in short 3 years took it to Forbes’s America’s Most Promising Companies in 2015, earning $42M in revenue. With a combined investment from Coca-Cola and Goldman Sachs, Suja Juice received a valuation of $300M at the time. This did not stop Annie from resting on her proverbial laurels. She was inspired to do more to fill the void in the clean makeup space without sacrificing performance, quality, with toxin-free and beautiful ingredients.
Can’t Get Enough Of: The One Eyeshadow Palette
“My idea for this palette was simple. I wanted to create the perfect palette—the one palette that has everything you need in one place. A palette that can create all of my favorite, essential eye looks, with nothing extra or lacking.”—Annie Lawless, Brand Founder and CEO
A go-to palette for any occasion, with 18 gorgeous shades in a variety of finishes, ranging from staple neutrals to bold pops of color, all included in magnetic pans. This palette is the go-to for any occasion, with 18 gorgeous talc-free shades in a variety of finishes, ranging from staple neutrals to bold pops of color, all included in magnetic pans. This product is talc-free, aluminum-free, mineral-oil free, cruelty-free and contains skin-softening ingredients such as Jojoba Oil, Olive Oil and Calendula Flower.
6. Negin Mirsalehi (Gisou)
Coming from six generations of beekeepers on her father’s side, Negin’s beauty formulation for skin and hair is enriched with Mirsalehi Honey from the Mirsalehi Bee Garden. The Honey Infused Hair Oil is Gisou’s iconic first product that repairs and rebuilds hair to the core. Honey is a natural humectant that draws natural moisture to keep the skin and hair looking healthy, soft and smooth.
For Picture-Perfect Beautiful Hair: The Honey Infused Hair Oil
Honey – the key ingredient – is a natural humectant that moisturizes dry, damaged hair. Rich in vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants, honey protects, repairs and nourishes for strong, healthy, shiny hair. This is the brand’s iconic hair oil – based on a family recipe -that is formulated to rebuild and repair hair with the power of Mirsalehi honey.
7. Addison Rae (Item Beauty)
Who would have thought that just being and feeling “you” can win you a shelf with Sephora? Followed by 40.1M Instagram’mers, Addison was an aspiring dancer, but when she didn’t make the team at LSU, she decided to choose herself over them. Her success story is a fairy tale built on believing and loving yourself and choosing yourself. Her inspiring message to fellow Gen Z’ers: “Embrace your contradictions, own your weirdness and be completely in love with who you are.”
OMG Where Have You Been All My Life: Lip Quip (Lip Oil)
Addison’s go-to shade is “Come Thru, Sheer Rose”. Drench your pout in this next-level nourishing lip shine made with a juicy blend of jojoba oil, almond oil, camellia japonica seed oil, and shea butter for intense glossy hydration.
We level up your makeup by infusing clean, science-backed ingredients and skin-soothing beauty boosters. Clean, dermatologist-tested formulas without any of the bad stuff.
8. Jess Hunt (Refy Beauty)
With 1.6M followers on Instagram, this beauty influencer founded Refy Beauty in partnership with Jenna Meek, the makeup and hair brand founder of Shrine. Another Sephora staple, Refy Beauty is about “redefining beauty, encouraging you to embrace you”.
All You Ever Need For A Beautiful Face: Refy Gloss Highlighter
Gloss Highlighter will give you a radiant glass-like finish. This first-of-its-kind formula is universal and completely multi-use. It is a nonstick universal formula that can be used on top of makeup or as a primer base, giving you the perfect glass-like glow.
It can be used on cheekbones, eyelids, and under brows, or on the cupid’s bow, lips, and collarbones. The ingredients include natural oils and minerals to add moisture and blend seamlessly, leaving skin feeling smooth and silky.
9. Marianna Hewitt & Lauren Ireland (Summer Fridays)
As beauty influencers, Marianna and Lauren have been sent and have used all the beauty products out there. But they were left looking for more; their beauty needs not quite satisfied, so they ventured out together to create their own beauty line that truly represents their beauty philosophy.
Jetlag and Stress Eraser: Jet Lag Mask
Busy lives can leave skin stressed, tired and thirsty. Used as a nightly mask, daytime moisturizer or in-flight skin saver, our enhanced, fragrance-free formula helps nourish, hydrate and calm with niacinamide, glycerin, hyaluronic acid and antioxidants.
10. Hindash (Hindash Cosmetics)
With 1.3M Instagram followers and 1.5M YouTube subscribers, a Dubai-based Hindash is an award-winning artist who started out as a painter whose works of art have been featured in over 20 art galleries around the globe. His makeup video tutorials garnered over 70 million views, which made him super famous that in March 2021 he debuted his eponymous label at the world’s most attractive landmark, the Burj Khalifa.
Beautopsy has quickly become a fan favorite, with Cult Beauty stating it as “One of the most game-changing palletes we’’ve ever laid our eyes on.” The Hindash Cosmetics label is set to provide Hindash followers with an innovative and timeless product-line, that Hindash himself has developed through years of visualization and manifestation.
So One-of-a-Kind: Beautopsy Gradient Palette
Beautopsy pressed pigment palette is a 6-pan gradient color story inspired by a painter’s palette, deconstructed, and reassembled in a sleek, contemporary multi-use product. Beautopsy is made of a vegan formula that blends 12 fundamental colors that flatter and enhance all skin tones.
Use as eyeshadow, eyeliner, contour, highlight, blush, and bronzer – the gradients offer a limitless color way pay-off.
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