YouTube is one of, if not the biggest video social media platforms and many popular YouTube personalities have been elevated to overnight celebrities. With the beauty industry being so vast and constantly evolving, those with the savvy to keep up with the trends become forevermore known as beauty gurus.
As explained by the link, a beauty guru is not necessarily someone formally trained in makeup artistry or cosmetics, but is purely someone that can teach about it. As I have developed a greater interest in beauty I have been hunting down new channels to follow and weeding out some that are outdated or uninspiring. Here is my list (in no particular order) of my favorite beauty gurus to watch.
I am sure you have heard of NikkieTutorials by now and if you haven’t, you must be new to my blog because I mention her all the time. Nikkie is a professional makeup artist with a huge social media following. She has over 2.5M subscribers on YouTube alone. Nikkie is probably most famous for her “The Power of Makeup” video (which has over 27M views) or her recommendation to use the Nivea Men Post Shave Balm in the sensitive formula as a makeup primer. Though Nikkie is quite young (younger than 25) she has generated massive success due to her hard work, genuine spirit and entertaining personality.
Part of the reason I recommend her channel is because her content is always original.
I never see her replicating old looks or other YouTuber’s looks. Nikkie also has a variety of uploaded content, including makeup and hair tutorials, product reviews, challenges, special guests and travel vlogs. Nikkie maintains contact with her followers through many other platforms, such as her blog (nikkietutorials.com) Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, maybe even more. Also, she uploads on a frequent and consistent basis. Many of her eye looks translate well on other skin tones, eye colors and eye shapes and she gives clear instructions making replicating her looks as easy as possible. If you are someone looking to try more advanced or adventurous makeup looks, needing some beauty inspiration or just a laugh then I highly recommend subscribing.
Jackie is one of my more recent discoveries. I have probably only been subscribed to her channel about a year to a year and a half. In that time I have seen immense growth within her channel. Jackie is truly a comedic personality so watching her videos is more like watching late night television than anything else. With nearly 700K subscribers and new videos added several times a week, Jackie is sure to be a sweeping YouTube sensation in no time.
For me it has been a struggle to find a Black woman with a great channel, though there are several others out there that just didn’t make my favorites list (ItsMyRayeRaye, DestinyGodley, NitraaB). I love Jackie for the same reasons I love Nikkie; she is hilarious, posts regular and compelling content with sufficient variety but with Jackie I have the added bonus of knowing that she has the same beauty struggles that I do, so basically any product she wears will flatter my features and skin tone. I also love Jackie’s product and style hauls! And her Snapchat stories are incredible. Her channel used to be titled MakeupGameOnPoint and she often refers to herself as Jackie O. (not sure why) but I don’t care what she calls herself as long as she keeps the videos coming.
Farah and Carli Bybel were the first people I ever subscribed to on YouTube, back before I could conceive of how big YouTube and beauty on YouTube would/could be. There are three things that make Farah very unique to my top five list. First, she has her own line of skincare called Farsali (which she has a separate channel for). Secondly, like Nikkie, Farrah is not local to the states; she lives in Canada! But she also frequently incorporates a lot of her Indian culture into her looks and tutorials. And finally, she posts equal amount beauty looks as she does beauty DIY videos which I greatly appreciate.
Farah is gorgeous and very kind and while she is not the best at describing things, and a few of her looks are slightly repetitive, her DIYs and hair tutorials are always extremely helpful. Definitely a must-have channel if you love taking care of your hair.
Not playing favorites here, but I really adore Amanda. I believe she is around my and Nikkie’s age (under 25) but like Nikkie she has a lot going for herself. She is very fun and bubbly and has a deal with L’Oreal. Amanda is really great about posting lookbooks, hauls and room tours and her channel features a lot of home decor as well as makeup/beauty related things.
She, like Jackie and Nikkie, are very active on Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. Amanda also has a separate vlog channel which is less beauty related content and more like, “spend a day with me.” Her subscription number is running just above 600K, but with all of her deals and endorsements her YouTube success is only beginning.
LustreLux, aka Katy, had serious insta-fame, with only 2 years on YouTube under her belt and currently trending towards 1.5M subscribers. Her channel has the perfect combination of content, quality and branding that I so often see from successful channels. I think the fact that she is so tightly woven into the beauty community also helped to boost her popularity, not that she isn’t totally deserving of it. Desi Perkins, Nikkie Tutorials and Chrisspy are often seen together with LustreLux and frequently mention each other in their videos.
One thing that I love about LustreLux is that she seems so down to earth and to be honest, doesn’t come off as very “girly” like many involved in the beauty industry, making her seem almost approachable in a way. Her looks are either soft or bold with a subtle touch and much of her content is vlog or review type of videos. I think she is perfect for the niche market of women who are somewhat afraid of applying heavy makeup but have the desire to learn.
Though to me it seems that these girls are so mainstream that everyone must know about them by now, I hope I was able to introduce you to your new favorite channel. Some honorable mentions are VintageOrTacky, MissLizHeart, Kandee Johnson (of course) and a new woman I recently discovered, Makeup With Jah; her channel is still budding but her eye looks are to die for.
Thanks for reading! xxo
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