From trendsetting influencers who redefine hair and beauty norms, to renowned salons that transform dreams into reality, this compilation is a tribute to those who continuously inspire and elevate the world of aesthetics.
We will also take a look at some inspiring women who've made an indelible mark on the hair and beauty industry.
Embark on this journey of discovery with us, as we celebrate the individuals and establishments that define what it means to shine in the realm of hair and beauty.
Beauty Influencers
Here are some of our favourite beauty influencers, vloggers, inspirational artists and down-right creative geniuses that we admire and follow.
1. Carlibel
Carli Bybel has established herself as quite the entrepreneur in her own right. With a staggering Instagram following of 4.8 million followers, do you wonder how she got there? It started off with her own Youtube channel in 2011 with a simple "How to" video on curling your hair with a hair straightener.
Other videos soon followed, but the one that she was most known for was for the makeover she did on herself with a likeness to celebrity Megan Fox. From there, she has exploded into the social media scene and created her own self-titled brand with the spin-off of her last name Bybel.
Carli has her own website, a blog, and two Youtube channels promoting physical beauty and inner beauty. The topics she discloses on those platforms are hair, beauty, and fashion.
Carli has made collaborations with cosmetic brand BH Cosmetics to create her own makeup palette that is vegan and cruelty-free, which includes a variety of eye shadow colours and illuminating highlighters. Another collaboration she has done was design a line of outfits with the online clothing brand Missguided.
She also started her very own company called Pranava Beauty, where the name "Pranava" means "cosmic sound" in Sanskrit, which is also the same name for the yoga mantra "Om".
She specifically designed a line of bracelets she wanted to do to give back to charity. The charity she works alongside is WAH Global which offers water and healthcare to impoverished communities in Cambodia. Profits of her bracelets go towards a scholarship program she has created to provide tertiary education for 120 girls to be sent to the Bright Hope Institute for four years providing them with housing, meals, books and tuition and all that they need for their schooling.
In April 2017 she personally flew to Cambodia with her partner Brett Cap to give the girls a cheque for US$100,000 from the proceeds of her charity bracelets. This inspiring YouTuber is obviously physically beautiful but radiates this sense of beautiful compassion and a heart-warming message of light and love through her soul.
2. Melissa Sassine Makeup
Melissa Sassine has definitely got to be my favourite Australian beauty influencer to date. She has been in the industry for well over 10 years. She has established her own empire, dominating the bridal scene for her distinctive bridal look and forming her own brand of cosmetics called MS cosmetics which include a line of foundations, primers, concealers, contouring and powder compacts as well as palettes, lipsticks, lip liners, lip glosses, eyebrow products, gel eyeliner pencils, eyeshadows in compacts, and loose pigments and highlighters.
Melissa has her own educational facility known as MS Academy that she opened up in 2015 as she noticed something was lacking in the education department when it came to aspiring makeup students wanting to launch their careers and focus in the glamour and bridal industry as qualified makeup artists. Melissa Sassine's social media via Instagram and Snapchat is an insight into her world of brides, her educational classes with her students and staff, product launches of her own products or as well as products that other companies send her, photo shoots, foodie snaps, her love of high fashion and of course her partner and family.
Her empire is continuously booming with her expertise high in demand allowing her to travel interstate and internationally. Her following currently is at 450k+ on her Instagram page which she updates regularly.
3. KKim Thai
Kim started dabbling in makeup during a trip she went on overseas to visit family. Since coming back from that trip she has discovered her addiction for her love of all things hair and beauty related. From there she started to obtain skills for hair and makeup that she then applied to her friends for Prom and Homecoming events and dances during her junior and senior years of school.
In December 2014 she started her own YouTube channel with the encouragement from her school friends to turn this hobby of hers into a channel and has blew up on the social scene from there in merely the past two years.
She has used her page to promote beauty, travel and lifestyle. Kim is and advocate for anti-bullying and self-love, she embraces her imperfections and flaws, celebrating her not so stereotypical Asian body type, her unique round face and her stretch marks.
With a following of 380k+ followers and only just over two years under her belt she can only go up and up from here.
4. Glam and Gore
I stumbled on Mykie's Glam and Gore Instagram page by accident one day. As I scrolled through on her page, she really is just a breath of fresh air. Her Snapchat and Instagram accounts are quite funny and kooky like her personality.
A film school graduate and self-taught makeup artist, her passion for special effects and film have evolved from there, catapulting her social media name through the roof.
What I enjoy most about her is the fact that she consistently mixes it up. Her knowledge of makeup, special effects, filming techniques and industry advice have given avid viewers an understanding that you can be pretty and gory by using these techniques that she showcases on her channel which she first launched in March 2014.
She is clever in a way where she does not waste her looks on just one day of editing, instead she transforms her cute-as-a-button look into a horrifyingly gruesome spin off.
An example of this can be seen in her Disney Halloween series or her makeup tutorial of Game of Thrones character Khaleesi/Danenerys Targaryean.
A winner of the NYX 2015 Beauty Vlogger of the year awards her hard work has paid off as she truly is a fun person to watch and laugh along with. She has a whopping following with well over one million followers on Instagram and has two YouTube channels titled Glam and Gore and Mykie which she talks about topics not related to beauty.
5. Freakmofx
Kiana Jones, an Australian girl, truly has a gift of making things so realistic and creepy it makes you shudder at the thought of how accurate her portrayals of scary things are.
Originally from Perth, Kiana moved to Sydney to pursue her dreams and career to get her foot in the door of the competitive movie industry. She has worked on two movie sets, Kong: Skull Island and Top Knot Detective.
Her videos are quite squeamish but a thrill to watch no less, but they are definitely not for the faint of heart. She meticulously gives attention to detail with all her intricate prosthetic craftsmanship as well as all her other non-scary projects.
When the Facebook page for The Lad Bible featured her ghastly special effects skills, within 24 hours there were 8.5 million views. Kiana has a following of 140k+ followers on Instagram.
Australian Salon Instagrams to Follow
Are you looking for some hairspiration? The team here at AMR is always keeping an eye out for the latest and greatest trendsetters of the industry. More importantly, we love supporting homegrown talents!
We have selected five of our favourite Aussie salon Instagram accounts to further fuel your love and passion for artistic hair creations. Some of these salons I'm sure you have already heard of as they are quite renowned, but their Instagram accounts are also stunning, so they make the cut!
6. Viva La Blonde
Viva la Hello to this incredibly aesthetic Instagram page of a Perth-based salon specialising in beautiful blonde creations. What I really love about this page is that it shows how versatile and dynamic you can be with blonde hair colouring.
You would think that too much blonde would be boring, but they prove otherwise with a collection of fun and striking blondes. Maybe blondes do have more fun?
7. Valonz Haircutters
Everybody knows Valonz, widely recommended and home to the ever-so-talented Renya Xydis who has styled for Alice McCall and celebrities such as Rose Byre and Margot Robbie.
The Valonz team are truly industry trendsetters with their internationally renowned cut and colour team. They are the go-to for our homegrown celebs like Ricki Lee and Jessica Mauboy.
Their Instagram page bursts of colours and gorgeous hair designs.
8. Bixie Colour
Colour lives at Bixie Colour who promise to colour your hair with love. Well, love is exactly what we feel when we go through Bixie's Insta feed. Director Sheree Knobel has really built an astounding reputation for herself in the hair world having joined the ranks of Redken's Artistic Team and taking her global.
On their page, you will find bombshell blondes, stunning brunettes and caramels in eloquent waves and curls. Hairspiration for days!
9. Edwards And Co
Edwards and Co is one of the most well-known hair agencies in Australia founded by genius Jay Edwards. With salons across Sydney, Melbourne, Byron Bay and the Gold Coast, it has made its mark in the industry and took home the Best Salon Business Award at the Australian Hair Fashion Awards 2017.
Each of the stylists all have their own niche which will suit the client's needs. What I love about Edwards And Co is that it feels like a space that attracts all kinds of talent in their own right, nurturing and embracing the stylist's talent enabling client choice.
I love the minimalism vibe it projects and the Instagram definitely reflects this. It is aesthetically pleasing and timeless!
10. Hair & Harlow
I'm in love with the name and branding of Hair & Harlow - simplistic and professional. With salons in Sydney and Wollongong, Hair & Harlow classes itself as a prestige hair salon and that is exactly what their Insta page emanates.
Not only does it feed you with gorgeous and inspirational hair designs, but also some all-too-relatable and motivational quips and quotes to get you through the day.
So there you have it, 5 salon Instagram pages to give you some inspo. If you have any other favourites, please do share with us in the comments.
Girl Bosses Slaying the Aussie Hair & Beauty Industry
We thought we'd shout out to some of the women who have made major breaks and achieved success in our industry.
These Aussie women are the thought leaders, style makers and creative geniuses who have inspired many after them.
Lady Bosses in Hair
11. Kristina Youssef Kreations - KYK
Young, talented and ambitious Kristina Youssef defied her parents' cultural expectations when she decided to become a hairstylist.
Her dream was so powerful that she was determined to work hard to achieve her goals, and now she is one of Melbourne's leading stylists known for her attention to detail and on-point hairstyling.
She has worked with some big names like health and fitness ambassador Ashy Bines and The Bachelor AU contestants like Lana Jeavons.
12. Hair with Linda
Best known for her fancy festival braids, Linda has gained widespread attention from all around the world.
This Queen even got to work with Vanessa Hudgens! You go get 'em girl!
13. Hair by Suzy & co
Hair by Suzy is known for her beautiful 'Suzy Special' undone bridal up-do and bridal ponytail.
In true entrepreneurial spirit, she runs spectacular collaborative masterclasses to educate and inspire other hairstylists and beauty lovers.
14. Love is in the Hair by Janet
Love is in the Hair is one of our favourite Australian hair colourists and Fanola Australia ambassadors who has definitely taken her hair artistry to new heights. Read more about Love is in the Hair by Janet.
She is phenomenal in every sense and oh so humble about her successes! She has worked with some pretty awesome people like the eightythree girls.
Lady Bosses in Makeup
15. Melissa Sassine
Melissa Sassine is a passionate entrepreneur, multi-award winning makeup artist, educator, creator of Melissa Sassine Cosmetics, and all round boss babe!
She is one of Australia's most demanded bridal makeup artists and is empowering more women through social media and her makeup academy. "Beauty is the best possible version of yourself... inside and out" - Melissa Sassine.
16. Jenny Do
Another incredibly sought after bridal makeup artist is Jenny Do who is currently sitting on a whopping 300k+ followers on Instagram.
It all started with 4am car rides to service her clients to being booked out an entire year in advance. We love that hustle!
17. Emma Chen
Emma Chen is a force to be reckoned with. Both a master hairstylist and makeup artist, she has created amazing fashion and editorial looks.
She is running not-to-be-missed masterclasses all around Australia and the US.
18. Ann Hassarati
Ann Hassarati is a wealth of experience and knowledge in the makeup industry with over 20 years of experience. She has a natural talent of bringing out the best features of her clients' faces and is passionate about her craft.
She even has her own line of professional makeup brushes, emphasising the importance of investing in top quality tools.
"Love the creativity, versatility and the art that makeup brings to enhance the beauty of a woman. it's been my passion to bring out the best version of one's face." Ann Hassarati
Lady Bosses in Nails
19. Nails by Kirsten
This St Kilda based babe is known for her cute and quirky nail art designs. If you are ever looking for inspo and a well curated insta page, go check it!
20. CJ Artistry
If you haven't heard of CJ Artistry, then you've been living in a cave!
We interviewed these two powerhouse sisters last year for a blog and they were truly inspiring.
They wanted to create a space to make women look and feel good, then leave feeling empowered.
Lady Bosses in Lashes and Brows
21. Lashes by Ely
Lashes by Ely does some amazing lash work if you haven't yet been on her Instagram. She even does Love Island's gorgeous Tayla Damir's lashes and they look incredible!
With raving reviews all round, she is the lash go-to gal of the Northern beaches.
22. Tanya Beauty Care
I personally got my brows done by Tanya a few years ago when she wasn't all too known, but now she is one of the most in-demand brow experts in Sydney.
She has her own studio and academy offering training in her unique microblading technique to artists around the globe.
Lady Boss in Tanning
23. Bella Bronze Tans
Jasmine Scarr first started as a mobile tanning business and found she was dissatisfied with the products she was using on her clients. Thus, she launched her own cruelty free professional tanning range known as @bellabronzetans!
Now she operates from House of Beauty on the Gold Coast and Brisbane.
Share with us some of your industry favourites in the comments. Tag a phenomenal woman you know.
Influential Business Women
24. Stephanie Mason - Founder of Showpony Hair Extensions
Stephanie created Showpony Hair Extensions in 2009 and hit turnover of $1 million by year three. Launching in 2009 meant that Showpony launched shortly before the 2009 financial crisis hit where she witnessed local salons around her were closing during this time which gave her the drive to help those salons and learning just how she could do that.
Stephanie said after a few tough years in start-up mode, the business exploded overnight. Stephanie prides Showpony on being about exceptional product quality and salon education.
Stephanie was first a model and noticed during her time as a model that the demand for high quality hair extensions was vital and from there, she came up with the idea that today is known to be Showpony Hair Extensions.
25. Lydia Jordane - Founder of Lycon Cosmetics
Lydia created Lycon Cosmetics in Australia in 1978 and had been waxing since 1968. Lydia grew up around cosmetics manufacturing with her father working in the industry since she was just a baby.
Lydia took it upon herself to do the research and began secretly ordering ingredients under the disguise of her father's business, Lydia secretly created her first wax on her family kitchen stove in 1968 when she was only a teenager.
Lycon has quickly become the most trusted wax of choice for spas and salons across the world.
26. Kate Morris - Founder of Adore Beauty
With a $12,000 loan from her father-in-law, Kate Morris was able to turn her once garage project into a multimillion-dollar business named Adore Beauty. Kate was a university student who had a part-time job selling cosmetics in a department store and was only 21 when she launched her ecommerce site.
When Adore Beauty launched it only offered customer two brands, but Kate had more than a hunch that it would work and take off.
In 2018, Kate joined the Financial Review Young Rich List with an estimated wealth of $30 million and in 2019 she ended the year with the sale of a 60% stake in the company to Quadrant Private Equity with Adore Beauty estimated to be worth $110 million at the time.
In 2017, Morris bought back a 25% stake held by Woolworths saying that both companies strategies diverged so they parted amicably after hearing people do not understand the business with remarks being made such as "Amazon is here, why would you want to grow?"
27. Jo Horgan - Founder of Mecca
Wrap tenacity, persuasiveness and determination in a bright and energetic shell and you have the founder of Mecca, Jo Horgan. Mecca was born in 1997 because Jo saw an opportunity to bring seven of the most exciting, niche beauty brands Down Under that were not currently available to the Australian market.
Jo is the mastermind behind Mecca Cosmetica which is a curated edit of cult high-end beauty brands, Mecca Maxima which is curated for a slightly younger audience of beauty addicts, as well as Mecca in Myer which has a shop-in-shop concept.
In 2017 alone, Jo opened 17 doors and launched her own brand within the business aptly named, Mecca Max. Launching in 1997 meant that Jo was established for when beauty-related content generated more than 55 billon views on Youtube, the launch of Facebook in 2004 and the double-tap sensation that is Instagram in 2010.
Jo Horgan firmly believes that luck plays an enormous role in any businesses success so when Mecca launched, she is adamant launching happened at the right place at the right time with taking her hat off to the digital platforms that have unlocked the appetite for all things beauty which assisted in the growth of her business due to the demand.
Jo moved to Australia with parents at the age of 14 before her university studies took her to the US and back again to London. When in London, she landed her first gig at L'Oreal taking her to the launch of M.A.C at Harvey Nichols which subsequently planted the seed for Mecca after seeing the excitement for such brands - it was then that she knew these brands had to come to Australia.
28. Jaimee Lupton - founder of Monday Haircare
Jaimee Lupton comes from a luxury PR background where she learnt what it takes to create a product line of shampoos and conditioners that Coles and other supermarkets can hardly keep in stock. MONDAY haircare is a cult-worthy brand with glowing reviews that will not break your bank, it is salon-quality products you can afford.
Amongst the MONDAY haircare brand, you will find four shampoos and conditioners duos called Smooth, Repair, Sensitive and Volume. Jaimee created a brand and a product made with a high-quality formula containing 11 amino acids, plant extracts whilst also being SLS and paraben-free that is wrapped in a minimalistic pink bottle made from recycled plastic - MONDAY haircare has been coined "Liquid Gold" in the media after selling out during the first six weeks of launching.
Come early 2021 and Lupton signed a deal with US Target worth $40 million and American beauty chain, Ulta making the final potential worth $55 million for the Australasian company.
29. Catherine Wong - Co-Founder of Black Swallow
Catherine Wong is your class-A example of a person who was dealt with the wrong card in life to only turn it all around with the sheer motivation and work ethic that would make any business owner want to step up their game and work harder.
Catherine grew up with a father who was consistently in and out of jail combined with the difficulties of her school years where she openly admits feeling like she was the slowest of her peers. However, this did not hold Catherine back when finishing high school because Wong went on to study nursing at university where she graduated at 21 with a nursing degree and worked full-time for five years in IUC after that.
It was during her years as a nurse that she met the love of her life (and now business partner) Alex Baro and launched their successful ecommerce website, Black Swallow. It was late 2015 when Black Swallow launched - a website built for Australian women between the ages of 18 and 25 to shop the latest in fashion & beauty.
What separates Black Swallow from other retailers in its field is the exclusive rights to distribute household international beauty brands such as Jeffree Star Cosmetics, Milani, L.A. Girl and more. During the first two years of opening for business, Black Swallow almost folded numerous times however come the end of the second-year, things took a massive turn around and Black Swallow turned over $10 million.
Catherine is a woman a mission, with a mission in sight and nothing can hold her back - not even her family!
Catherine worked tirelessly through both of her pregnancies where she could not be stopped, nor could she sit still for more than an hour before having to get up and get her hands dirty in the warehouse. But Wong's work ethic does not stop there. Come the time she was near giving birth to her second son, Catherine could be found in hospital on her laptop tending to emails and staff concerns around the big launch of Jeffree Star's latest collection. Her husband Alex had to pry the laptop from her just-given-birth fingertips to get her to relax.
Come the next day, Catherine is back in the warehouse packing orders for that very same launch after giving birth with an emergency c-section.
30. Jessica DeLuca & Alexia Inge - Founders of Cult Beauty
Jessica Deluca (Left) & Alexia Inge (Right)
In late November 2014, a beauty empire was born, Cult Beauty. CB came from the simple event of when two friends decided to go through their stash of beauty products and calculate the lump sum of the barely used products they owned.
Horrified knowing how much of their hard-earned money they wasted, they set out on a quest to provide women around the world with a platform that presents them with only the best in the business - those two friends are Jessica DeLuca and Alexia Inge.
Jess and Alexia are two beauty fanatics who grew frustrated from the empty promises made by global beauty brands having invested dollars into ineffective creams and more than disappointing serums. Cult Beauty prides their business on being a team of devoted beauty lovers forever on the hunt for the "coolest cult" products that the world has to offer.
What sets Cult Beauty apart from their competitors is their transparency - Cult Beauty shows the FULL ingredient lists and publishes every review whether it is good or bad and will only sell products that genuinely blow them away.
Jess and Alexia were inspired by the annual InStyle Best Beauty Buys which was a panel of hair and beauty experts that handpicked the best hero products available on the market to create a hall of fame concept that consumers could shop from, this is also where the name Cult Beauty was inspired by.
Jess comes from a background of impressive business acknowledgments and Alexia came from a Fashion background studying as a Fashion designer and working as a fashion journalist and it was during 2007 when Alexia was working in PR that she met her Co-Founder, Jessica DeLuca.
Jessica DeLuca is an advocate for women's rights and gender equality and in addition to the role she plays at Cult Beauty, Jess also serves as an advisor to non-profit foundations and social enterprises that are dedicated to helping women in developing countries to become financially independent through entrepreneurship - not to mention Jess is a distinguished speaker at USC's Marshall School of Business.
Jess and Alexia attribute their success to their authenticity after their personal qualms dealing with the manipulation of the negative sides of the beauty industry, the side where people saw the "beauty vertical" as the ultimate way to make money out female consumers and their insecurities. Alexis believes that luck was on their side when launching Cult Beauty, adamant that it was a matter of launching at the right place, at the right time.
They know that launching in this day and age Cult Beauty wouldn't have been such a success because of the competitors they have now who were born with substantial budgets online, simply put - they wouldn't have had enough money to make enough of an impact to knock down competitors such as Sephora or Ulta.
Cult Beauty was built on Jess and Alexia's combined savings which meant their growth depended heavily on word of mouth to lift to the business off the ground, but both girls believed it was the best way because it earned their customers trust which was vital for such a fickle market.
When launching the website for Cult Beauty, the team was dramatically behind schedule, so they launched a Cult Beauty blog to help start conversations about hero products that they felt cult worthy to build a loyal following before the site was launched.
31. Zoe Foster Blake - Go-To Founder
The founder of Australia's 10th most followed beauty brand. (at time of writing), Go-To is a tenacious woman who wears many hats - meet Zoe Foster Blake.
Zoe was first known as the beauty editor for Cosmopolitan Australia to then become the beauty director of Harper BAZAAR Australia which around the same time she launched her own beauty blog, Fruity Beauty.
In 2008, Zoe was the founding editor of Primped and wrote a best-selling beauty book, Amazing Face where you can find all her insider tips and tricks that she gathered over the years in the beauty industry.
Come 2014, 10 years after working as a beauty editor with all her hats, Zoe launched Go-To with only just five products - with one of them selling out in a day, her Pinkey-Nudey lips product which was only meant to be a filler product until the next product came out.
Go-To is a simple yet effective range of skincare essentials using the best botanical ingredients and do not contain any nasties, Go-To is a skincare brand you can count on to protect, nourish and strengthen even the most sensitive skin.
Zoe created Go-To after learning firsthand that the questions women were asking were how baffling they found products, its ingredient list and how to apply certain products so with a mutual agreeance to the common qualms of women facing the same issue with skincare, Zoe wanted to create a skincare brand that was simple, to the point and most importantly easy to use.
She wanted to make skincare fun!
With its distinct pastel peach packaging and delicate white font, you will find formula's that do not contain "faux science bullshit". The range of products found under Go-To all take years before hitting the shelf because Zoe wanted her products to be developed and perfected to perfection, Go-To are products that "won't piss off your skin" that is the quality Zoe strives for.
The big idea behind Go-To was that Zoe found gaps in the industry because she noticed she, herself would be packing more than one of the same product when travelling. That's because one product alone didn't bring her skin everything it needed. During her time as a beauty editor with all the products she was reviewing and trying she openly admits that she'd think those products could have been different and a bit better or what she personally wanted, wasn't available on the market yet.
Zoe knew what she was doing as all the beauty editors knew what they were talking about because they were all educated for the title, she knew which products were marketing scams and what was going to do something. Zoe was introduced to her brands formulator through a friend who already had an established beauty brand. That same friend was the one who asked Zoe "Why don't you start a business?".
Once her formulator was locked in, Zoe brought in her "digital guy" because she knew Go-To would be an e-commerce business (you can find Go-To in previously mentioned Jo Horgan's. She then went on to recruit a managing director to help with the business.
Zoe with her many hats went on to write more books with one of them being turned into a television series, The Wrong Girl. Zoe wrote a children's book called "No One Likes A Fart" which was named picture book of the year at the 2018 Australian Book Industry Awards - Zoe is a woman on the go and refuses to stop.
32. Emily Weiss - Glossier Founder
If you are familiar with the 2000's hit reality show "The Hills" you may recognise the founder of Glossier, Emily Weiss. Emily was introduced to America (and the rest of the world) in 2007 as she marched the marble lobby of Los Angeles Teen Vogue offices as "The Super Intern" who had an impressive resume at such a young age.
Emily was only 29 when she launched global phenomenon, Glossier in 2014 and come five years later Weiss's company is said to have an estimated worth of $1.2 billon having raised $186 million in venture capital in 2019.
Glossier is the home of 36 products so popular that both concept stores in LA and New York plus any temporary pop-up stores invite a queue that wraps around the street and sends Instagram into a frenzy of Glossier tags + mentions.
Emily has built a brand made for millennials and its minimalistic approach is the canny part of its identity with every product feeling like an essential. Glossier's values are built on being inclusive and aware of the power of millennials and gen z all staff are known as offline editors, sporting pink boiler suits and wearing their gender pronouns on badges.
Weiss is all about bringing people together and prides Glossier on that point with the goal in mind for people to leave her stores and go to lunch the next day to boast about being at Glossier the day before.
When Emily created Glossier, Weiss was running a cult-like blog aptly named, Into The Gloss which she started when she was working as an assistant to Elissa Santisi who is the style director at US Vogue.
It was on her blog where she would ask women to show her their beauty routines to gain insight on what women wanted instead of being told what they needed. For example, her Boy Brow product was made because women found brow gel to be crunchy, so Weiss created a formula for the perfect feathery brow - in year 2018 on Boy Brow sold every 32 seconds!
It was during her time at Vogue that Emily noticed at every make-up artists table, amongst their laid-out products she would see half a pile of make up and half a pile of skincare - it was not all makeup.
Passing this revelation onto her friends and blog readers, Emily wanted to spread the news that there was an earlier step before starting with your makeup. Emily grew up in Connecticut, her father was in business and her mother was a stay-at-home mum.
Emily always had a passion for fashion but found it inaccessible because she didn't grow up with money to go buy designer clothes. When she was 15, she babysat for her neighbour who worked for Ralph Lauren and just at the age of 15, asked if she could intern for the company. Later Weiss went to study art at New York University, interned at Chanel then went onto Teen Vogue in New York.
When Emily graduated university she became a fashion assistant for W Magazine, from there she landed her role at Vogue. When working at Vogue, she was running Into The Gloss between 4am-8am and she knew she had a choice to make because doing both wasn't plausible - so she took the leap of faith without any fear of failure.
In 2018, Weiss was named as one of the Time Magazine's Next 100 where they called her "one of her generations great disruptors".
33. Raelene Mara - Founder of MODELROCK LASHES
Upon leaving a management role after 20 long years, Raelene Mara launched arguably Australia's #1 worldwide eyelash distributor, Modelrock Cosmetics in April 2012.
Raelene set out on a mission to first provide Australia then the world a product that was special and unlike anything else on the market. First and foremost, the values behind the brand are no doubt its quality and true-to-type customer service, but Raelene also prides Modelrock Cosmetics being a brand that produces vegan and cruelty-free products due to being a dedicated animal lover and never wanting to use animals to produce her lashes or cosmetics.
Come 2019, Raelene is ready and set to launch their official expansion into the US market, focusing on vegan & cruelty-free colour cosmetics. Launching The Rock Chic Collection meant the inclusion of a 20-pan eyeshadow palette, 25 shades of matte lipsticks, waterproof liquid eyeliners and a customisable 5-layered magnetic makeup palette.
Male Celebrity Makeup Artists To Follow
Some of the best make up artists are men. A common factor with the leading men in the makeup industry is their dedication to their work. As you will see, hard work does pay off and a little bit of luck helps as well.
34. I Am Sam Fine
Many may not know of him or have heard of him, but Sam Fine has been in the fashion industry for over 20 years and has made a name for himself in his own right. He is known to be the makeup master for women of colour.
Mr Fine's story starts with his love for the arts and always had a passion for all things artistic. By this, he attended the art institute of Chicago and from there while studying and making ends meet worked at the cosmetic counter. By doing this he discovered he actually had a true talent for makeup artistry, and with that, he worked alongside and assisted Fran Cooper and the legendary Kevin Aucoin.
With the social networking back then (way before social media), if those big names were unavailable for their clients they would pass his details to big-name celebs.
His first ever famous clientele was the Naomi Campbell and Pati Labelle after they came in then he would have Vanessa Williams, Queen Latifah and Iman Bowie added to his list.
Mr Fine is also a published author of his book, "Fine Beauty: Beauty Basics and Beyond for African-American Women" and also when not beautifying his famous clientele teaches a Masterclass, too.
There resonates a peaceful and wise aura about him where you can not help but fall in love with this man's personality. His looks are always classic and timeless with a hint of the latest trend in there somewhere. He has a philosophy where makeup is a personality, everyone's personality is different.
Starting off with humble beginnings with perseverance, being patient, practising his craft, his advice to up and coming makeup artist is, "There's a lot of competition in whatever you do, but that's not my focal point. I focus on what I can bring to it and that's the only thing that I can control".
Instagram - Sam Fine with Queen Latifah @iamsamfine
35. Makeup by Mario
We must all know who Makeup by Mario is by now, but if not, he is the one and the only Mario Dedivanovic who made up Kim Kardashian's famous face since 2008. And if you are contouring and highlighting, it is probably because of them.
Experimenting with dark and light contouring and highlighting stripes has probably become the norm to do so now to snatch your face to look like a chiselled and flawless sculpture. Now making things clear, Makeup by Mario as his Instagram page is known did not invent contouring, more so he and Kimmy K made the idea of contouring more mainstream and achievable and letting the biggest well-kept beauty secret out to the public.
Mario's journey started off as a perfume consultant in Sephora which then he found his way to helping out a customer with a lipstick shade at the makeup aisles. And with hook, line and sinker, the makeup world reeled him in. From then, he started freelancing and eventually ended up working for Fox News in 2008. At first female news reporters were apprehensive to think what could he do as he was the only male makeup artist there, but boy were they in for a shock!
He always dished out his signature 'pretty elegant looks' and thus was given the chance of making up Kim Kardashian for the first time ever. Her reputation didn't bother Mario as he honestly didn't know who she was. Only that she was a TV star and was on some kind of reality show.
Nine years on, Mario Dedivanovic is a household name and a force to be reckoned with being Kim Kardashian's go-to guy. He was her best-kept secret for making her up before ascending the many red-carpet events. Although his job is a celebrity makeup artist, being the winner of the 2017 Celebrity Makeup Artist of the Year Award at the American Influencer Awards last year.
His true passion is teaching his Masterclass. Starting off with an intimate class of 20, his classes have now boomed to a massive attendance in the thousands, but this doesn't faze him as he loves collaborating all three of his passions; art, beauty and teaching.
Instagram - Mario Dedivanovic and Kim Kardashian
36. Patrick Ta
Patrick Ta is the ultimate self-taught celebrity makeup artist with his runway and red carpet looks. Originally wanting to move to Arizona to open up a tanning salon, fate stirred him the other direction when he took the plunge to move to Los Angeles instead and worked as a freelance makeup artist for MAC Cosmetics. With that, he learned so much about makeup and grew in the ranks and so did his following.
Virtually unknown but through hard work and dedication with his Instagram page titled Patrick Ta, international leggy model Joan Smalls direct messaged him on Insta and with her he has learnt that is best to go in lighter and with a lighter hand at that.
Now with millions of followers on his Instagram page, Mr Ta does admit that before having an extensive resume with big headlining names of the fashion and movie world like the Hadid sisters, Olivia Munn, Jenna Dewan, Hailey Baldwin and whoever you can name, he was quite heavy handed with some of the looks he has served up.
With the guide of Joan and her model friends, they preferred a lighter look which is what he serves up to this day. Fresh and clean makeup looks that either accentuate or focus the eyes or the lips.
He believes that perfect makeup should start with a perfect base to work with, so when luxurious skin care brand La Mer approached him to be an ambassador for them he jumped on board for that great opportunity. So for Patrick, being at the right place at the right time and with hard work all pays off immensely.
Instagram - Patrick Ta with Joan Smalls
37. Makeup by Ariel
Ariel Tejada may not be a household name just yet, but he is certainly making a name for himself in Hollywood. Being straight up bffls (best friend for life) with Kylie Jenner which they met in a very unconventional way.
Kylie Jenner stumbled upon his Instagram page by accident and loved his flair on makeup artistry so much that she direct messaged him via Instagram in 2015, yup you heard that right, she texted him. And since then he has had her, as well as her family and inner circle of friends, as a part of his clientele.
Other celebrities added to this lineup are Pretty Little Liars star Shay Mitchell where they would shop and play with makeup together on her YouTube channel. Another celebrity he has met through Instagram is, of course, the Iranian darling of them all Lilly Ghalichi.
He delivers very sultry and seductive looks that define the eyes and serve up kissable pouty lips. In an interview with Yahoo Beauty, he has said, “If there is one thing that has helped me the most, it's Instagram. Posting your work and being consistent with your work is important!
Despite being softly spoken and being only young, he is taking the world by storm and it is only up and up for him. And lucky for us Sydneysiders, he has run his own Makeup Masterclasses in Sydney.
Ariel Tejada with Shay Mitchell and celeb hair stylist Andrew Fitzsimmons
38. Alex Faction
I can't help but have a little crush on YouTuber and Chicago based Makeup Artist to the stars, Alex Faction. I think it has something to do with his chiselled bone structure and smouldering looks. With his sexalicious looks comes his infectious, giggly and goofy personality.
A-list celebs he has painted include Lilly Ghalichi, Eden Sassoon, Chris Brown and the one and only Jennifer Lopez. Alex has made a name for himself and is known as a beautiful and modest beauty guru within the YouTube beauty community making guests appearances at Beautycon, Imats, the NYX Awards show and other beauty conventions.
When he isn't jet-setting across the globe, he is uploading creepy (but not gory) Halloween looks on his YouTube channel to which he also adds in collaborations with fellow YouTuber Jordan Hanz, makeup hauls, tips and tricks on how to get flawless skin with makeup.
He has also created his own line of false eyelashes title Alex Faction Lashes. His following is at 200k+.
Image Source - Instagram
Thanks for reading everyone. We will release updated lists of influencers, salons, and inspirational business people to follow soon.
If you have a suggestion of who should be on our next list please make a suggestion in the comments below.
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