Written by David Roberts
Reviewed by Lucas Walter
Updated
The top beauty influencers in 2026 are LENA, Mikayla Nogueira, Dr. Muneeb Shah, James Charles and Brad Mondo. This list ranks 20 beauty influencers by median views across their recent videos, not by follower count. Each one was found by searching across hundreds of thousands of top performing posts in the beauty niche.
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All 20, in rank order. Select a row to jump to the write-up.
| Rank | Creator | Followers | Median views | Engagement | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LENA @lenkalul | 4.7M | 2.4M | 2.5% | Makeup hacks and Halloween looks |
| 2 | Mikayla Nogueira @mikaylanogueira | 18M | 1.6M | 11.1% | Makeup reviews and GRWM |
| 3 | Dr. Muneeb Shah @dermdoctor | 18M | 1.1M | 0.7% | Dermatologist trend reactions |
| 4 | James Charles @JamesCharles | 24M | 984K | 2.3% | Full-face challenge videos |
| 5 | Brad Mondo @BradMondo | 8.9M | 656K | 2.8% | Hair dye fails, explained |
| 6 | Abbey Yung @abbeyyung | 3.1M | 614K | 4.5% | Haircare routines and tests |
| 7 | Golloria @golloria | 3.3M | 405K | 10.3% | Shade-match reviews for deep skin |
| 8 | Patrick Ta @patrickta | 4.1M | 342K | 2.5% | Celebrity glam and masterclasses |
| 9 | Dr. Shereene Idriss @shereeneidriss | 1.6M | 329K | – | Skin science explainers |
| 10 | Aistė Haas @heygreatnails | 842K | 283K | 4.5% | Seasonal nail art |
| 11 | Katie Jane Hughes @katiejanehughes | 1.1M | 172K | 3.1% | Skin-first makeup lessons |
| 12 | Dani @thedaninicolee | 186K | 143K | 11% | Skincare and GRWM routines |
| 13 | Matt @mattloveshair | 3.4M | 132K | 3.9% | Quick hair hacks |
| 14 | Meredith Duxbury @meredithduxbury | 18M | 94.1K | 4.8% | Maximalist full glam |
| 15 | Charine Cheung @charinecheungg | 611K | 75.1K | 6.5% | K-beauty skincare routines |
| 16 | Robert Welsh @RobertWelsh | 1.1M | 71.5K | 4.5% | Makeup myth-busting |
| 17 | Wayne Goss @gossmakeupartist | 703K | 68.4K | 4.5% | Makeup technique and verdicts |
| 18 | Tino Vo @vo.tino | 799K | 53.3K | 14.6% | Nail art tutorials |
| 19 | Tiffany Loe @tiffany.loe | 636K | 49.5K | 6.1% | Extension and color transformations |
| 20 | Dr. Dray @DrDrayzday | 2.7M | 41.8K | 2.3% | Dermatologist product reviews |
The best beauty influencers aren’t simply the accounts with the most followers. TikTok, Instagram and YouTube all show videos to people based on how the video performs individually, not just based on who follows the creator. As a result, a small or mid-sized account can reach more people than one several times its size.
That’s why we rank beauty influencers by median views of their videos (average number of people a typical video reaches). As of October 2026, the five most-watched are LENA, Mikayla Nogueira, Dr. Muneeb Shah, James Charles and Brad Mondo.
The groups follow the part of beauty each creator covers, with the working makeup artists apart from the reviewers. The number beside each name is the creator’s overall rank.
Five creators who test makeup on their own faces, from first impressions of a launch to Halloween hacks.
Quick makeup hacks and creative looks, filmed close up at a vanity, with tools as plain as a spoon or a strip of tape. Halloween looks lead this season, and every product used is listed in the caption.
20 sponsored posts in the last 90 days, in makeup and skincare.
First impressions and get-ready-with-me videos, talked through at a home vanity, with drugstore and prestige products side by side. A makeup artist by trade, and the founder of the makeup line Point of View Beauty.
8 sponsored posts in the last 90 days, in skincare and makeup.
Long YouTube videos built around one full face of makeup, such as buying every product from a single store or a single country and testing it on camera. The makeup line Painted is the creator’s own.
No sponsored posts found in the last 90 days.
Makeup reviews and wear tests for deep skin tones, with close attention to whether a shade matches and how it sits on the skin. Mostly first impressions of new launches, filmed at a vanity.
8 sponsored posts in the last 90 days, in makeup, skincare and makeup brushes.
Bold, maximalist full-glam looks applied in heavy layers, usually set to music with no talking. The get-ready-with-me videos became a book of the same idea.
4 sponsored posts in the last 90 days, in makeup, beauty retail and fragrance.
Four working makeup artists who show how a product goes on. Two sell a makeup line of their own.
A celebrity makeup artist filming glam sessions with clients, backstage moments, and masterclasses around the world. Patrick Ta Beauty is the artist’s own makeup line, and its launches and pop-ups fill part of the feed.
1 sponsored post in the last 90 days, in sparkling wine.
A makeup artist teaching skin-first, editorial makeup in short tutorials, often with a well-known client in the chair. Founder of KJH.brand, which sells makeup brushes.
2 sponsored posts in the last 90 days, in makeup.
A professional makeup artist reviewing products and testing claims made by other creators, seated at a desk and talking to camera. Also comments on news from the beauty industry.
No sponsored posts found in the last 90 days.
Short technique lessons and blunt product verdicts from a veteran makeup artist, shown close up on the artist’s own face. The Reels on Instagram now outdraw the long YouTube channel.
No sponsored posts found in the last 90 days.
Dermatologists who explain ingredients and skin conditions, beside creators who film their own morning and night routines.
A board-certified dermatologist reacting to skin trends and other people’s routines, talking straight to camera. Explains ingredients and conditions, and some videos point to the skincare line Remedy Science, the creator’s own.
1 sponsored post in the last 90 days, in baby skincare.
A New York dermatologist explaining skin science in short talking clips, from clogged pores and pigmentation to how skin changes with age. Also the founder of the skincare line Dr. Idriss.
2 sponsored posts in the last 90 days, in beauty devices.
Morning and night skincare routines and get-ready-with-me videos from Los Angeles, chatty and filmed at home. Body care and hygiene routines fill much of the rest of the feed.
2 sponsored posts in the last 90 days, in skincare.
Skincare routines and K-beauty product reviews that explain what each step does, plus quick natural-glam makeup. Talks to camera with the key point written on screen.
9 sponsored posts in the last 90 days, in skincare, makeup, haircare, hair tools and self-tan.
A dermatologist’s daily YouTube videos on skincare products, ingredients, and conditions such as thinning brows. Plain reviews to camera, with the affiliate links disclosed in each description.
3 sponsored posts in the last 90 days, in hair-growth devices and beauty retail.
Salon work and hair science: color corrections, extensions, quick styling hacks, and tests of shampoos and masks.
A hairstylist reacting to home hair-dye disasters, explaining what went wrong and how a salon would put it right. Owns the haircare line XMONDO.
2 sponsored posts in the last 90 days, in hair tools and photo apps.
A certified trichologist testing shampoos, conditioners, and masks against what the scalp needs, talking to camera at home. Followers post their results from the routine the account teaches, the Abbey Yung Method.
6 sponsored posts in the last 90 days, in haircare.
Quick styling hacks from a hairstylist, from claw-clip updos to curls that hold, each one shown step by step. Wear tests over several days check whether a hack lasts.
1 sponsored post in the last 90 days, in haircare.
Client hair transformations in the salon, from extensions and toppers to color without bleach, told as a story with the result at the end. Also coaches other stylists and owns CM Hair Extensions.
No sponsored posts found in the last 90 days.
Two nail artists who film close-up sets to music, with the polish and tools listed in the caption.
Nail art tutorials shot close up on the hands, set to music with short text on screen and no talking. Seasonal color stories, many of them made with the polish brands that sponsor them.
17 sponsored posts in the last 90 days, in nail polish.
Nail art tutorials with themed sets, ombré, and crystals, filmed on the hands to music. The caption lists every product used, most of them from the creator’s own nail art shop.
No sponsored posts found in the last 90 days.
We analyzed the 394 posts these 20 creators published on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube in the last 30 days. Of those, 63 beat their creator’s usual views by 3× or more.
Here are the hooks that are working, read from each post’s caption, title, or on-screen text.
“the new @belif USA cleanser that replaces two and actually leaves my skin hydrated and completely clean!”
The caption opens on a judgment about a product or a technique before the video shows anything: a cleanser that “replaces two”, wipes that are “one of the only ones I TRUST”, “You do not need foundation!”. The video then has to prove it. These came from 11 different creators this month.
Charine Cheung 964K views · 12.8× their usual7 of the 20 posts that opened this way were paid, marked with a partner tag or an ad label, and most of them name the brand in the first line. A sponsored post does not have to hide the product to break out.
“Never in a million years did I think sharing my haircare routine on the internet would turn into so many of you having the most insane hair transformations ever 😭”
A caption written the way people text a friend: a first-person line about the creator’s day, a reaction, or a thank-you to followers, with the product in the background or not there at all.
Abbey Yung 6.2M views · 10.1× their usualSome of these are not about beauty (a city greeting, a bowl of noodles, a trip to buy a birthday card), and they broke out anyway. When you brief a creator who writes like this, leave the first line to them.
“WAIT UNTIL YOU HEAR WHAT SHE TOLD ME BEFORE WE STARTED… 🥹”
The caption promises a result and holds it back until the end: a client’s new hair color, a finished nail set, a full glam on a celebrity client. It suits any product with a visible before and after.
Tiffany Loe 804K views · 16.3× their usualOne hairstylist who films client transformations supplies three of these; the rest come from six other creators, across hair, nails, makeup, and skincare.
Meredith Duxbury: “maximalist makeup is back 💖💋💘” reached 20M views, 215.7× their usual.
Matt: “get in bestie a new hair clip headband hairstyle hair tutorial is going viral all over hairtok and it’s actually SO cute!!!” reached 4M views, 30.6× their usual.
Patrick Ta: “Reunited w/ La Reina @georginagio In Madrid” reached 7.7M views, 22.4× their usual.
What the beauty accounts on this list do at each size on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Use it to judge whether a creator’s numbers are strong for their tier.
| Tier | Followers | Median views | Engagement | Posts a week | Sponsored posts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macro | Under 2M | 75.1K | 5.3% | 4.4 | 10% |
| Mega | 2M to 10M | 405K | 2.8% | 4.7 | 15% |
| Mega | Over 10M | 1M | 3.5% | 4.5 | 13% |
Medians across these 20 accounts, from each account’s recent videos. “Sponsored posts” is the share of posts in the 90 days to Oct 12, 2026 that carry a paid-partnership or paid-promotion label or a stated sponsor, or are part of a brand campaign.
For a beauty brand picking creators for a launch or a seeding list, these four checks say more than a follower count.
A beauty creator’s own line usually sits in the same aisle as yours: a makeup artist with a palette, a dermatologist with a serum, a stylist with extensions. Read the bio and the link in it before you pitch, and ask which categories the creator will not promote.
The same goes for standing deals. A creator who posts for one foundation brand every month is unlikely to call a rival’s the best they have tried.
Open the creator’s last 30 posts and count the ones with a partner tag, a paid-partnership label, or “ad” in the caption. Some beauty feeds are more than half paid, and there your post is one launch among many that month.
A feed with a few paid posts among many unpaid reviews gives each partnership more weight, and leaves room to ask for a period with no competing brand in your category.
Nail polish sells on a close-up of the finished set, often with no talking. A serum needs someone to explain the ingredient. Hair color and extensions need a before and an after. Choose the creator whose usual video already shows what your product does, rather than asking for a format they never film.
Under FDA rules, a claim in advertising or online that a product will restore hair growth or regenerate skin cells can make a cosmetic count as a drug. A creator’s paid post is advertising, so write the brief to keep the script to what the product’s own claims allow.
Dermatologists and trichologists can explain why an ingredient works without promising a result. With anyone else, give the approved claims in writing and read the caption before it goes live.
We identified and ranked these creators by searching hundreds of thousands of top performing beauty posts across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube with Klint.
We rank by median views across each creator’s recent videos, so one viral post can’t lift an account up the list. Creators from any country qualify if they post in English or with no words, and each one appears once, on the platform where their videos are watched most.
To get this list or a similar one for yourself, describe the creators you’re looking for in the Klint web app, or paste this prompt into any AI agent connected to Klint:
Find the top 20 English-language beauty influencers on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube (makeup, skincare, hair, nails). Rank by median views across their last 30 videos or their last 90 days, whichever is lower. Show followers, sponsored posts and best recent post.
Klint is trusted by 1,000+ marketers for AI-native influencer marketing.
As of October 2026 the top five beauty influencers by median views are LENA, Mikayla Nogueira, Dr. Muneeb Shah, James Charles and Brad Mondo.
By followers, James Charles, with 24M subscribers on YouTube. By reach, LENA: a typical Instagram video gets 2.4M views.
TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. A creator with big accounts on two of them is listed under the one that brings more views, and every figure on the card is from that account. Instagram figures count Reels only; YouTube figures count full-length videos.
They post in English, or with no words, from any country. 8 name a base in the US and 3 in the UK, in a bio or on their YouTube channel; the other 9 do not say where they live.
By hand, open the tagged posts of brands in your category and the hashtags your customers use, such as #skincareroutine or #nailart, and note who keeps coming up. With Klint you describe the creator in one sentence, for example “hairstylists under 500K followers who have not posted for a rival shampoo”, and get the list from TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
It depends on the platform, the format, and what the brand gets beyond the post. A dedicated YouTube review takes more work than a TikTok, and the right to use the video in ads or a period with no competing brand add to the fee. Many beauty brands start by gifting products to a seeding list and move to paid posts with the creators whose unpaid posts did well.
Yes. Any creator can ask to be taken off Klint’s lists, and the request applies to every page they would otherwise appear on.
On this list and would rather not be? Write to privacy@tryklint.ai and Klint will take you off.
