Top 11 Best Makeup and beauty Influencer on Instagram to follow in 2020

The beauty industry is constantly changing, with more representation and avant-garde looks than ever before, redefining our perception of conventional makeup and beauty. Long are the days that makeup could only be sold through catalogues or department stores. Now, most beauty brands have direct-to-consumer business strategies and advertise their products on social media. However, the beauty market is an endlessly crowded one, which makes it difficult to navigate for many brands. 

This is why in recent years, many fashion and beauty brands have invested their digital spending in influencer marketing.  Even though cosmetic companies are the most likely to hire beauty influencers to partner or represent their brands, other industries can benefit from working with beauty and makeup influencers by reaching a new audience who often turn to these influencers for guidance and recommendations. 

This works particularly well if your brand overlaps with the beauty industry, which can mean fashion, lifestyle, jewellery or other accessories. Even tech brands like Apple have partnered with beauty influencers, as their platform has a strong base for engaging and consistent content. Beauty influencers also have become big activists and advocates in recent years, representing more personalised characteristics that people identify with on social media. For some brands, it may be valuable to work with beauty and makeup influencers for no other reason than they share similar messaging or values. 

The desire that society has formed to impose more realistic beauty standards has also evolved into a social media strategy tool for beauty brands, specifically when it comes to UGC (user-generated content). The beauty industry has seen major shifts, from over the counter glossy makeup professionals to barefaced, authentic influencers who teach people how to use makeup to feel flawless in their own skin. Makeup in 2020 is more advanced than it has ever been. Makeup means skincare, serums, nutrients, transparent glosses, false eyelashes and so much more. Therefore, the makeup marketplace has just spiralled out of control. Forbes reported that 62 percent of women said that they follow beauty influencers on social media platforms.

How fashion brands use influencers

Since social media platforms have cracked down on advertising, lots of fashion and beauty brands have struggled to come up with strategies that help their business grow organically. According to L2’s fashion video report, fashion brands are particularly struggling to engage customers with social media videos, without promoting them as advertisements. According to the report, even storytelling videos struggled to perform well – and most views don’t come from organic searches, but paid advertisement clicks.

Influencers have allowed beauty brands to reach customers in nontraditional ways that go beyond purchasing. This includes amplifying brand values, image and messaging when it comes to creating organic content. Since influencers have the power to form genuine relationships with consumers, there is a leverage for brands to understand what customers want, and how to provide that to them.

For fashion and beauty brands to compete in the crowded social media landscape that’s currently present, it’s obvious that they need influencers to maintain relationships with their customers in the long-run to see real ROI.

Glossier is the perfect example of this, it launched a referral scheme that each had a personal link to the consumer, so it was easy to keep track of where sales were coming from… and how. Glossier is the perfect example of how big a small brand can grow, thanks to social media. The beauty brand proves that there is huge power in cult-following and that you can’t create social media hype without one. Peer to peer recommendations is not outdated, just hard to identify when it comes to social media marketing.

Top makeup & beauty influencers on Instagram to follow in 2020 

As we progress through the chaotic year that is 2020, we decided to take a look at the top makeup and beauty influencers on Instagram to follow, so you can ensure that they are on your radar. Here are the top beauty influencers 2020:

1. Huda Kattan

Huda Kattan founded the company in 2013, making her the highest-paid influencer in the industry. Her account has more than 47 Million followers, and was ranked #1 on the ‘2017 Influencer Instagram Rich List’, earning $18,000 a post. That same year, she was chosen as one of “The 25 Most Influential People on the Internet” by Time magazine. In 2018, Huda started her own Facebook Watch original reality series called Huda Boss.

(Image source bbc.co.uk)

2. James Charles

Instagram page, which features his signature highly glamorous makeup looks making him one of the most followed makeup influencers on Instagram. In April 2020, he started a YouTube series called Instant Influencer, aimed to find the next ‘beauty influencer’, with him as the main host. Since James Charles has also launched his own line of makeup palettes and brushes with Morphe Brushes.

(Image from Nylon.com)

3. Zoë Sugg

er own brand of lifestyle products called Zoella, breaking the record for highest first-time sales in a week. Sugg also wrote a novel called Girl Online – which also sold out.

(image sourced from hellomagazine.com)

4. Shayla Mitchell 

makeupshayla, the beauty influencer is a brand ambassador for ColorPop Cosmetics, and has +2.7 million followers on Instagram. Her speciality is the range of beauty looks she’s embedded on her feed, from casual to high-octane glamour. She also uses Youtube to show her audience more in-depth makeup tutorials with the links to all her favourite products.

(image sourced from coveteur.com)

5. Michelle Phan 

(image from cnn.com)