Best Beauty Influencers on Instagram: Top Choices

TL;DR

Find the top 10 beauty influencers on Instagram across skincare, hair, fragrance, lifestyle, and makeup, with their total follower counts and net worth.

Around 67% of beauty product shoppers consider social media influencers one of the top ways to discover new products. Additionally, 42% of buyers are more likely to buy a beauty product promoted by an influencer.

Brands building creator-led campaigns can compare beauty marketing agencies to find partners that connect influencer strategy with full-funnel beauty growth.

With growing trust in social media personalities, more and more beauty influencers are leveraging content promotion to reach their audiences.

These influencers are trusted by millions and are best known for sharing their expertise across skincare, haircare, fragrance, wellness, and style on social platforms, especially Instagram.

If you love trying new products or plan to work in the beauty industry, it helps to follow experts who can guide you on everything from skincare routines to hair trends, or who can help promote your brand while you keep up with the latest beauty trends.

Hence, we have compiled a list of the top 10 beauty influencers who offer the best insights across the beauty category and also partner with brands for better audience exposure and improved brand awareness. (Looking specifically for makeup artists? See our list of top makeup influencers.)

Top Instagram Beauty Influencers

Here is a list of the best Instagram beauty influencers to follow for a better understanding of the wider beauty world:

Safiya Nygaard

Total Instagram Followers: 2.1 Million
Total YouTube Subscribers: 9.65 Million
Total Instagram Posts: 720
Net Worth: $3 Million

Born in 1992, Safiya Nygaard is one of the most successful social media influencers and YouTubers, regularly posting videos, reels, and photos that showcase innovative beauty hacks, product experiments, and style challenges.

She is best known for her "bad makeup science experiments," where she mixes beauty products together to create new ones.

Safiya was once part of BuzzFeed's popular series Lady Like, which helped her gain popularity in the beauty space.

Her witty personality keeps her followers engaged. She often makes videos featuring bold fashion and beauty experiments with confidence and ease, which makes her stand out from competitors.

In addition to posting on social media, Safiya has collaborated with top brands, including ColourPop.

She has also been nominated for Streamy Awards in the Beauty and Creator of the Year categories several times.

Huda Kattan

Total Instagram Followers: 2.7 Million
Total YouTube Subscribers: 4.14 Million
Total Instagram Posts: 642
Net Worth: $560 Million

Huda Kattan is a leading entrepreneur, beauty blogger, and founder of the global beauty brand Huda Beauty.

Born in 1983, Huda majored in finance and studied makeup in Los Angeles. In her early career, she worked with top brands and celebrities, including Revlon, Eva Longoria, and Nicole Richie.

Huda Beauty started as a WordPress blog of beauty tips, hacks, and tutorials. In 2013, she turned it into her own beauty brand.

Huda Beauty is now a top-tier brand whose range goes well beyond makeup, spanning cosmetics, skincare, and fragrance, with products such as lipsticks, foundations, and highlighters alongside its other lines.

This successful entrepreneur is also a social media star and has earned many accolades for her expertise and audience engagement. She was ranked no. 1 on the 2017 "Influencer Instagram Rich List" and the "Cosmetify Beauty Influencer Rich List."

She has also been named one of the most influential people on the internet by leading publications, including Time and Forbes.

One of the key reasons behind her Instagram success is her sister Alya, who manages her social media accounts efficiently.

Michelle Phan

Total Instagram Followers: 1.9 Million
Total YouTube Subscribers: 8.72 Million
Total Instagram Posts: 2276
Net Worth: $50 Million

Michelle Phan is one of the top-earning Instagram stars, a YouTuber, and an entrepreneur who started as a beauty blogger in 2005.

She shared her beauty knowledge with followers through tutorials on her personal blog, which later turned into vlogs on Xanga. Phan then started her YouTube channel, which currently has 8.72 million subscribers.

Her content covers beauty tutorials and celebrity-inspired looks. BuzzFeed's "How To Get Lady Gaga's Eyes" was one of the videos that helped her gain millions of subscribers.

She used Instagram in 2016 to announce that she had bought shares of EM Cosmetics through Ipsy. She later acquired the company and relaunched it as her own brand.

Michelle Phan also wrote a beauty book titled Makeup: Your Life Guide to Beauty, Style, and Success with Random House.

She has been nominated for and has won various beauty awards, including the Streamy Award for Inspiration Icon and the Shorty Award for Best YouTube Guru.

Nyane Lebajoa

Total Instagram Followers: 1.5 Million
Total YouTube Subscribers: 40.3K
Total Instagram Posts: 2944
Net Worth: $87 Million

Born in 1994, Nyane Lebajoa is a leading Instagram and YouTube personality best known for her good looks and unique sense of style.

She started her beauty career as a model at 14. Nyane is a model, writer, designer, and Instagram blogger.

Her following has grown thanks to her dedication to beauty and self-care content. In one of her most famous videos, Nyane even confessed that she usually goes for a makeup-free look.

Besides posting videos, posts, and reels, Nyane is among the most successful women entrepreneurs in the space. She started her own company, Temper, which focuses on hair products and sells high-quality wigs in a wide range of colors and styles.

She often posts Q&A stories where she answers her followers' questions about beauty and hair.

Nikkie de Jager

Total Instagram Followers: 17.3 Million
Total YouTube Subscribers: 14.1 Million
Total Instagram Posts: 2920
Net Worth: $6 Million

Born in 1994, Nikkie de Jager is a Dutch beauty creator and vlogger who gained popularity with the YouTube video "The Power of Makeup."

With a massive following on Instagram, Nikkie also has a considerable fan base on her YouTube channel, NikkieTutorials.

She is one of the few beauty influencers who started as early as 14 with a YouTube video, creating tutorials that recreated celebrity looks.

By 2011, Nikkie was working as a professional makeup artist with Colourfool Agency, which she left in 2014 to work freelance.

She has earned many titles, including being ranked among the top beauty influencers of 2017 by Forbes.

Nikkie has also collaborated with top beauty brands and celebrities, including Maybelline, OFRA Cosmetics, and Lady Gaga, leveraging her fan base to promote their products.

She also launched her own beauty brand, Nimya, which sells a range of beauty products, and collaborated with Beauty Bay to launch an eyeshadow palette in 2020.

Nikkie has also won awards and nominations in several beauty influencer categories.

Chiara Ferragni

Total Instagram Followers: 28.9 Million
Total YouTube Subscribers: 157K
Total Instagram Posts: 16606
Net Worth: $20 Million

Chiara Ferragni, an Italy-based entrepreneur, model, fashion designer, and blogger, was among the first beauty and lifestyle influencers to cross 10 million followers and earned approximately $12,000 for a paid Instagram post.

She founded the beauty and lifestyle brand Chiara Ferragni.

She began her career as a model at just 16. After working with a modeling agency for two years, Ferragni started her own fashion and beauty blog, "The Blonde Salad."

Chiara established herself in the blogging world and gained a massive following, earning the title Blogger of the Moment from Teen Vogue.

Known for her fashion and beauty sense, Chiara modeled for the lifestyle brand Guess. She also collaborated with designer and businessman Steve Madden on a shoe collection and announced the launch of her fragrance line.

Her blog and shoe collection became a case study at Harvard Business School, and she became the first fashion blogger to appear on the cover of Vogue.

Chiara has been recognized by top publications and blogs, including New York Magazine, Business of Fashion, Bloglovin, Forbes, and Footwear News.

Hyram

Total Instagram Followers: 709K
Total YouTube Subscribers: 4.34M
Total Instagram Posts: 321

Hyram Yarbro is an American skincare creator best known for his honest, ingredient-focused product reviews. He launched his YouTube channel in 2017, and his audience grew rapidly as viewers turned to him for straightforward skincare advice.

His reviews have been credited with boosting sales of drugstore skincare brands such as CeraVe, which led to a paid partnership with L'Oréal.

In 2021, he launched the skincare line Selfless by Hyram in partnership with The Inkey List, sold online and at Sephora.

Hyram is one of the clearest examples of how skincare education can build a loyal audience, and his content is a useful reference for brands working with ingredient-led creators.

Hailey Bieber

Total Instagram Followers: 58.8M
Total YouTube Subscribers: 2.76M
Total Instagram Posts: 761

Hailey Bieber is a model, entrepreneur, and the founder of the skincare brand Rhode. Her skin-first approach to beauty, including the "glazed donut skin" look, made her one of the most influential lifestyle and beauty voices on Instagram.

Her posts blend skincare routines, wellness, fashion, and product launches, which makes her feed a strong example of founder-led beauty marketing.

She has used Instagram to build anticipation for Rhode drops and to keep her community engaged with product education and behind-the-scenes content.

Zoe Sugg

Total Instagram Followers: 9.2 Million
Total YouTube Subscribers: 4.94 Million
Total Instagram Posts: 2087
Net Worth: $4.5 Million

Zoe Sugg, also known as Zoella, is an entrepreneur, author, and beauty and lifestyle influencer. She has her own brand, Zoella Beauty, which has also expanded into homeware.

She started her career as a blogger while working as a trainee interior designer. Her blog gained over 500 million views within a year thanks to its high-quality content.

Zoe went on to create her YouTube and Instagram channels, which feature product reviews, hauls, and beauty and lifestyle tips.

She also debuted as a writer in 2014 with her first book, Girl Online, which explores blogging and the internet world.

She has won many awards, including Best Established Beauty Blog, Best Beauty Vlogger, UK Favorite Vlogger, Choice Webstar: Fashion/Beauty, and Best British Vlogger.

Bretman Rock

Total Instagram Followers: 18.6 Million
Total YouTube Subscribers: 8.86 Million
Total Instagram Posts: 1794
Net Worth: $1.5 Million

Born in 1998, Bretman Rock is a Hawaii-based social media personality best known for his humor and beauty content. He has even launched his own show, MTV's Following: Bretman Rock, which features his daily life.

Bretman started as a comedian on YouTube. Inspired by Talia Joy and Patrick Starrr, he later shifted his focus to beauty content and personal vlogs.

Rock is also known for collaborating with fellow creators and celebrities, including James Charles, Nikita Dragun, Chelsea Handler, and Bella Poarch.

Time named him one of the 30 most influential teens, and Gay Times featured him on its 2019 Pride Month cover.

Bretman has launched a cosmetic collection with Wet n Wild and an eyewear range with Dime Optics.

He is actively involved in promoting top brands and has appeared in TV shows including Escape the Night and Instant Influencer. He was also the first openly gay man featured on the cover of Playboy.

Rock has won awards in categories including Beauty Influencer and Breakthrough Social Star, and has been nominated for the GLAAD Media Awards and the WOWIE Awards in social media and beauty-related categories.

Conclusion

There is abundant information about beauty online, and trying every product and hack can backfire on skin and hair, especially for non-specialists. Trusting every video or tip is not always a good idea.

However, when product reviews and routines come from a reliable source, such as a leading beauty influencer who has tried and tested the product, you can use them with more confidence.

As a beauty brand, collaborating with these influencers across skincare, hair, fragrance, and lifestyle can improve your awareness and build trust with your audience. For makeup-specific partnerships, see our guide to top makeup influencers.

Their large followings can also become your prospective customers if your marketing and branding are done right, at the right time.

Want to promote your beauty brand? Schedule a one-on-one marketing call with Brenton Way's team. We will help you plan and execute your strategy using our wide range of beauty marketing services, including influencer marketing and PR, social media marketing, paid campaign management, branding, and creative content creation.