Meet the most powerful beauty influencers of 2022

The dictionaries point out the marketing power, defining an influencer as a person who, because of their popularity and expertise in a certain area, is able to generate interest in something (like a product) and even influence the consumer choices of internet users through their posts on social media. This single term says a lot about our time and is inspiring the dreams of many teenagers and young adults all over the world. Because not just anyone can be an effective influencer… An influencer has to find the right way to maintain interest among their followers and inspire – or influence – them when they decide to open their wallets. And it’s clear that these social media users are increasingly difficult to convince.

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Mikayla Nogueira, the most influential

American makeup artist and social media star Mikayla Jane Nogueira seems to have found the perfect formula, resulting in her becoming the most popular influencer of the year 2022, according to the first Beauty Trends Report by the online beauty retailer LookFantastic.** Both humorous and frank, her posts are winning over followers all over the world, to the point that the young woman is the subject of 2,400 monthly searches on average. Search interest for her name has jumped by 1275% in just one year.

@mikaylanogueira TURNING MYSELF INTO A VAMPIRE ????????????‍♀️ #makeup #beauty #vampire #halloween #halloweenmakeup ♬ original sound – Mikayla Nogueira

With more than 13.8 million followers on TikTok, Mikayla Nogueira is a little less popular on Instagram with ‘only’ 490,000 followers. But it should be noted that this is an unauthenticated account through which the social networking star only shares personal posts. Her professional account, Beauty by Mikayla Jane, counts over 2.4 million followers. And that’s not all, since the makeup artist is regularly quoted in the media for her innovative techniques and tips and is at the origin of many beauty trends such as the ‘sticky method,’ just to name one. This kind of media coverage contributes to elevating the makeup artist’s status to that of the most powerful beauty influencers in the world.

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In second place is London-based Nigerian social media star Uche Natori, who, although not as well known as her counterpart, is one of the beauty influencers to follow very closely in the coming months. Famous for her perfect foundation – she refers to herself as “the base queen” – the young woman counts 300,000 followers on Instagram, nearly 160,000 on TikTok, is also present on YouTube, and has been the subject of 2,400 searches on average per month, as much as Mikayla. The top places in this ranking of the most popular female influencers of the year are rounded out by American Meredith Duxbury (1,900 monthly searches, 16.2 million followers on TikTok), Danielle Marcan (720 monthly searches, 3.4 million followers), and Tammi Clarke (480 monthly searches, 560,000 followers).

The unbeatable Kylie Jenner

When it comes to celebrity influencers (referring to those who were already famous before making a foray into the beauty scene) who dominate the world of makeup, this time, it’s Kylie Jenner, no surprises there, who has risen to the top rank in 2022. The former reality TV star is simply unstoppable on social media, with no fewer than 376 million followers on Instagram (and that’s not counting the people who follow her countless cosmetic and fashion brands). Meanwhile the hashtag #kyliejennermakeup alone has generated 255 million views on TikTok to date.

@kyliejenner get ready with me part 1 @kyliecosmetics ♬ Aesthetic – Tollan Kim

Another star who launched her own skincare brand in 2022, Hailey Bieber is the second most popular makeup celebrity influencer in the world. Some 50 million people now follow her on Instagram, while the hashtag #haileybiebermakeup is responsible for 209 million views on TikTok. She is ahead of actress Alexa Demie, star of the series Euphoria, whose makeup inspirations have been seen more than 80 million times on TikTok, Madison Beer (65 million views), and, coming in last in this Top 5, Kim Kardashian, whose influence, it should be said, goes far beyond the field of makeup and beauty.

**To determine these 2022 beauty trends, LookFantastic used internal data and researched which products, tools and celebrities influenced the beauty trends of 2022. From analysing online searches for skincare ingredients to analyzing the demand for certain brands and products, the platform deciphered the statistics and numbers in order to discover the major trends of the year.