Who doesn’t want to be beautiful? The beauty industry is one of the most ubiquitous for influencers. Professional makeup artists, frequent makeup shoppers, and stay-at-home beauty enthusiasts all have the opportunity to develop a following as Instagram beauty influencers. Visually-focused social media platforms like Instagram allow makeup influencers to make their own unique mark on the industry, sharing the products they use for their signature styles and their takes on the newest beauty trends.

Because of the beauty industry’s massive popularity, demand is high for makeup and skincare guidance from trusted individuals, so influencers hold an integral position in shaping the future directions of makeup trends.

Credibility keeps followers loyal to their favorite influencers, and those followers depend on their favorite makeup influencers to show them the way. For brands searching for authentic partnerships, these makeup influencers are the golden ticket. Followings are built upon content, and for makeup application, the proof is in the pudding. There is no room in this rapidly-growing industry for fraudulent influencers.

These are the top 12 makeup influencers on Instagram devoted to sharing their artistry, showing how to create beauty in every way: from minimalism and elegance to ultra-glam. We pulled proprietary data like audience demographics, Audience Health Score, and engagement levels from Julius, an enterprise-level influencer marketing platform that lets brands and agencies discover, analyze, activate, manage, and measure influencers at scale. These selected influencers have high follower engagements from a trusted fan-base. Their followers are likely to seek the beauty products favored by their trusted gurus.

1. Robin Black @beautyisboring

Robin Black is a makeup artist with an experienced background in the field of beauty. She founded the website Beauty Is Boring and runs her Instagram from the same name @beautyisboring. She documents her inventive makeup style on models to create striking photos of elegant clean faces, pairing a nude natural look with a focused bold feature. Her Instagram feed consistently displays the models’ faces against a pale white background to draw attention to her own color and technique.

Robin Black’s Instagram @beautyisboring has collected 138.1k followers. Most of the account’s followers are female and are interested in makeup, lipstick, and skincare. 45% of Robin’s followers are from the United States and 44% are ages 26-32. Her engagement rate on Instagram is 1.99%. 

2. Eleanor Barnes @snitchery

Eleanor is an NYC-based makeup artist who posts pictures of her finished creations as self-portraits on her Instagram. She is interested in anime and frequently transforms herself into popular animated characters with makeup and her collection of wigs. She opts for a dramatic application style and experiments with daring, bright colors as opposed to a natural look.

Eleanor has over 707k followers on her Instagram and an engagement rate of 10.86%. @snitchery attracts a younger audience with its feed of high-saturation posts, as 52% of her followers are ages 19-25. 54% of Eleanor’s Instagram followers are from the United States and are mostly female. 

3. Rocio Cervantes @rocioceja_

Rocio is best known for her eye makeup, focusing her artistry on finely detailed creations using a range of bright colors and sharp lines. Rocio’s feed sets her apart from other makeup Instagrammers because she zooms in on her eyes to show her work, cropping out the rest of her face. Rocio is also a key advocate for acne-covering makeup techniques.

Rocio has accumulated a following of 213k on her profile and has an engagement rate of 6.55%. 96% of her followers are female and a decent slice of her following (29%) is Hispanic. 

4. Jade Marie @jadeywadey180

Jade Marie is a makeup artist and esthetician who is passionate about skincare and facial treatments as the key to a glowing face. She posts photos, videos, and IGTV episodes showing followers her beautification processes and her favorite looks. Jade favors a contoured and highlighted face and shares her best advice for a sculpted appearance.

Jade Marie has achieved a grand following of 1.2 million on Instagram. Her followers are interested in cosmetics, eyeshadow, and beauty bloggers. Jade Marie has an engagement rate of 1.05%.

5. Tailor Made Jane @tailormadejane

Tailor Made Jane is a makeup guru from Las Vegas who shows her followers photos of her daily makeup looks as well as videos showing the process. She tends to go for big and bold eye makeup paired with a neutral lip color. Her diversity of content and tutorials taken selfie-style in her day-to-day life serves as a daily beauty inspiration for her followers.

Tailor Made Jane has 323.4k followers on Instagram; 98% of whom are female. 36% of her followers are of African descent and most of her following hails from the US, followed by the UK and Nigeria. Tailor Made Jane has an engagement rate of 3.95%.

6. Sadia Slayy @sadiaslayy

Sadia Slayy is an LA-based Pakistani makeup artist who is known to be quite unconventional with her application techniques. She posts videos of her daily glam makeup looks to her account, but for a splash of humor, she will often challenge herself to use everyday objects as tools in her routine to achieve a similarly beautiful complexion.

Sadia Slayy has accumulated 1.4 million Instagram followers. 33% of Sadia’s followers are Hispanic and most of her makeup-interested audience is female. She has an engagement rate of 3.11%.

7. Ryan Potter @ryanbpotter

20-year-old Ryan Potter is a makeup enthusiast based in Seattle. His go-to look is clean and natural with a pop of color from his liberal use of blush. Ryan posts photos of his daily looks as well as some examples of his more extravagant makeup artistry. He has recently been uploading IGTV videos to explore his detailed process.

Ryan has over 366k followers on Instagram. He appeals to a younger demographic, as 57% of his audience is under 26. Ryan also defies makeup gender norms with 17% male followers. Ryan has an engagement rate of 4.78%.

8. Nikki Wolff @nikki_makeup

Nikki Wolff is a self-proclaimed beauty expert with a decade of experience internationally in the makeup industry. Nikki demonstrates her artistry by filling her feed with beautifully shot images of her makeup skills on models. Each post highlights flawless work with a dewy finish.

Nikki Wolff has collected 885.1k followers so far and maintains an engagement rate of 3.3%. Nikki has a global following, with followers hailing from the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Australia to name a few. Her followers are interested in makeup art, lipstick, and eye shadow. 

9. Melly Sanchez @thefashionfreakk

Melly Sanchez’s makeup definitely acts as a statement piece, whether it’s dramatic eyes, bold lips, or colorful hair… or all three at once. On Instagram, Melly posts makeup tutorials and selfies highlighting her work, but she also shows off her fashion sense where her makeup complements her outfits.

Melly Sanchez, also known as @thefashionfreakk, has 1.5 million followers and an engagement rate of 3.95%. 65% of Melly’s followers are from the United States.

10. Abby Roberts @abbyrobertsartistry

Abby Roberts is a teenage makeup artist from the United Kingdom who uses makeup as an art form, instead of an accessory to an #ootd. Her Instagram showcases her brilliant ability to draw photorealistic objects on her face as well as her talent to transform herself into other people and characters with makeup alone.

Abby Roberts has 426.9k followers so far and a large engagement rate of 11.13%. Abby’s dedicated following ranges from across the globe, gaining popularity in the US, Russia, the UK, Italy, and Brazil. 98% of Abby’s beauty-interested followers are female. 

11. Lavie Dun Prince @laviedunprince

Jose is a Mexican-American self-taught makeup artist. This beauty guru tends to feature glamorous creations on his Instagram involving great amounts of neon colors designed against his matte face. His profile involves a spectrum of glam, ranging from dramatic eye creations paired with a nude lip to a full-blown rainbow of shimmer blended across the length of his face.

@laviedunprince has over 285k followers on Instagram and an engagement rate of 8.59%. The majority of his followers are under 33 years old and 39% of them are Hispanic. 

12. Katie Jane Hughes @katiejanehughes

Katie Jane Hughes is a British makeup artist who runs her own beauty blog, katiejanehughes.com. On her website, along with journal articles about her favorite products and makeup tips, Katie provides a portfolio of her art on other models. Katie’s Instagram, however, is filled with mostly her own self-portraits, zooming in on a specific detail of her face, or capturing her whole elegant canvas.

Katie Jane Hughes has 314k followers on Instagram and an engagement rate of 4.62%. Katie’s followers are interested in makeup and skincare and are specifically into lipstick and eyeshadow.

Want more influencers? Check out Julius' influencer discovery tools for brands and agencies.