In this article, we’ll be looking into three of the most high-profile and high-value players in the beauty industry that even Kylie herself looks up to.

Glossier, Emily Weiss

What started off as a blog quickly became one of the biggest unicorn start-ups in beauty when Emily Weiss, the founder of Glossier.com, was able to convince people that she was actually onto something. Into The Gloss was merely a blog that focused on featuring the beauty regimes of A-list fashion celebrities. But Weiss soon realised its potential, gathered about 1.7 million followers and blew up.

Note: (unicorn – a start-up company founded after 2003 which has a current valuation of more than $1 billion)

Glossier initially came out with four products, which included a facial mist, a face wash, a concealer and a moisturizer. These products were readily available to the millions of readers who followed Emily’s blog and Glossier’s Instagram account, as well as on e-commerce channels and occasional pop-up shops. Glossier soon became a hit with millennials with its minimalistic packaging, strong message of self-expression and products heavily catered to the needs of its followers.

The company is currently valued at 1.2 Billion dollars within just 5 years of its first launch, and is expanding to a variety of products including eyeliners and pigments. The brand is now headed in a new direction with its vision to capture larger markets beyond their followers, making it a phenomenon to look out for.

Valuation – 1.2 Billion
Followers – 2 Million

Huda beauty, Huda Kattan

Who would have thought that a few pairs of eyelashes take you to the top? Huda Kattan, who began her journey as a makeup artist turned YouTube guru turned Instagram star leveraged her position as an influencer and, with the help of her blog, “Huda Beauty”, created a 1 billion dollar beauty brand.

Huda is known as the “Kim Kardashian” of the beauty influencer realm. Some believe that the fact that Kim K adored her very first product (the false lashes) played a huge part in her success. Others believe that it’s because of her uncanny resemblance with Kardashian herself. Whatever the reason may be, we love Huda for providing the sort of content and products her target audience needs across all forms of social media.

As of now, Huda beauty has sold lipsticks, liners, foundation, powder, eye glitter and plans on moving to skincare soon. To give you an idea about just how big of a beauty sensation she is, we would need to take a look back at the launch of her eyeshadow palette “The New Nudes”, which alone was sold in a million units at 65$ per unit, grossing 65 million dollars in revenue within weeks. This success is rooted in her approach towards makeup as a passion-product. (Something she herself heavily indulges in and thrives to understand better) In which regard, she earnestly listens to her customers’ feedback in creating every item.

Pat McGrath Labs, Pat McGrath

Ask any celebrity, any beauty or fashion brand or beauty influencer who the most influential makeup artist in the world is, and they will confirm that it is undoubtedly Pat McGrath. This British makeup artist turned entrepreneur singlehandedly changed the role make-up plays in our lives forever.

McGrath first made her way to the top of the industry working as a makeup artist for fashion shows and made a name for herself as the “backstage pro”. With her talent in reinventing makeup and experimenting with bold colours and materials, McGrath created statements on every face she touched at every big fashion show she ever worked; she put the “art” back in makeup artist. She then bootstrapped her way into the beauty industry by launching a limited edition pigment called “Gold 001”, a product that sold out in just 6 minutes.

She has been unstoppable ever since, building a company, known as Pat McGrath labs, worth 1 Billion dollars with numerous products made with the passion and integrity that McGrath is well known for. She strives to make makeup inclusive to everyone and her contribution to the beauty world thus far speaks for itself.

It’s not hard to miss that what all three of these beauty sensations have in common is the success they built through their love for makeup and their drive to connect to audience who enjoy makeup as much as they do. So, passion for a cause as simple as pigments used to feel prettier can create bring in millions with the right vision and the right amount of allure.