Forbes Top Influencers: Meet the 10 beauty power players

By Sarah Parsons | Published: 12-Apr-2017

British vlogger, Zoella was named the most powerful beauty influencer but the list spans across the globe

Forbes has revealed its list of the ten most powerful influencers in beauty, a first for the magazine.

According to the business publication, these ten influencers have a total reach of 135,000,000 across all major social media platforms.

Seven women and three men were included within the list, with Zoe “Zoella” Sugg coming out on top.

The social media stars span across the globe from the UK and US to the UAE and the Netherlands.

The Top Influencers list will be published quarterly, ranking ten superstars from each of three categories per launch, starting with Beauty, Fitness and Home.

Forbes partnered with influencer analytics firm Traackr and social insight platform Captiv8 to create the list.

Only influencers wthat had built up their reputation online – as opposed to already being an established celebrity – were included on the list, hence the absence of the Kardashian-Jenner dynasty.

So who are they?

1. Zoe “Zoella” Suggs

A post shared by Zoella (@zoella) on

The British vlogger came out as queen bee in the online beauty community. The 27-year-old started vlogging in her childhood bedroom, but now has 11.6 million YouTube subscribers, a cosmetics line with A.S. Watson’s Superdrug and three bestselling books.

2. Michelle Phan

The US-based beauty vlogger turned entrepreneur was valued at more than $500m in 2015. She has more than eight million subscribers and more than 1.1 billion views since she launched her online career. She is soon to relaunch her Em Cosmetics line.

3. Huda Kattan

A post shared by Huda Kattan (@hudabeauty) on

Kattan started blogging from Dubai in 2010 on the side of her finance career. Seven years later the 32-year-old now has a beauty empire that includes false lashes sold in vending machines, a Sephora make-up range and 19 million Instagram followers.

4. Nikkie de Jager

The Dutch make-up artist boasts more than 6.6 million YouTube subscribers and is most notable for her The Power of Makeup video, which revealed the transformative power of colour cosmetics. She has since partnered with Meitu's MakeupPlus app in a bid to end make-up shaming.

5. Shannon Harris

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The digital star known as Shaaanxo started vlogging in 2009 and has gone on to partner with Clinique and Smashbox Cosmetics. The New Zealand influencer claimed she started her online career to fill a void in the Australasia beauty vlogger scene.

6. Jeffree Star

The 31-year-old launched his singing and modelling career on MySpace, resulting in 25 million plays on his self-released music. Based in Los Angeles, he launched Jeffree Star Cosmetics and collaborated with fellow influencer Manny MUA on a colour cosmetics collection.

7. Kandee Johnson

A make-up artist prior to her digital career, the 38-year-old claims to have started vlogging with her grandparents’ ‘ancient video camera’. She now owns the Sinful Colors nail polish collection available in retail chains, such as Walmart and Walgreen’s, across the US.

8. Manny Gutierrez

One of Maybelline’s latest ambassadors, the male make-up star goes by MannyMUA online. He reportedly left medical school to launch his career as a make-up artist and worked at Sephora and MAC while starting his social media career.

9. Christen Dominique

This make-up vlogger had a busier beginning than most when it came to her career. She starting posting on YouTube in 2009 while being a full-time student, working a full-time job and looking after her children. Since then she has partnered with a range of brands from Urban Decay to L'Oréal and Sephora.

10. Wayne Goss

The British self-taught make-up artist is the creator and owner of the eponymous brush line launched in September 2013. The award winning entrepreneur has more than 279 million views and 2.3 million subscribers to his YouTube channel.

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