Top 10 Influencer-Founded Beauty Brands

The Surge of Influencer Entrepreneurship in the Beauty Industry

Top 10 Influencer-Founded Beauty Brands

With the remarkable expansion of influencer marketing, many influencers have entered the entrepreneurial realm, establishing their own brands. A significant number of them have achieved notable success because few other brands understand their audience as intimately as they do. These entrepreneurs comprehend the expectations and preferences of their followers, a factor that has contributed to their becoming prominent figures in the business world.

@influencermarketingIf you’re a beauty lover, you need to know about these influencer-founded brands 👀💄✨ Check out our blog for the exclusive scoop 💻✅♬ original sound – Influencer Marketing Factory

Without delay, let’s explore The Influencer Marketing Factory’s Top 10 Influencer-Founded Beauty Brands which are making a significant impact in the business landscape!

Top 10 Influencer-Founded Beauty Brands:

1. Summer Fridays by Marianna Hewitt x Lauren Ireland

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As a beauty influencer, one may sift through hundreds of PR packages a year only to find products that don’t tick all their boxes. Influencers Marianna Hewitt and Lauren Ireland were on a mission to find the best makeup and skincare products with beautiful packaging, clean ingredients, and satisfyingly effortless use, which led them to found Summer Fridays. The iconic Jet Lag Mask took the beauty world by storm as the brand’s first product in March 2018, winning countless awards and the attention of top beauty publications like Allure and Vogue. Since then, Summer Fridays has been releasing revolutionary clean, vegan products and building its aesthetic presence on social media.

Summer Fridays positions itself as a trustworthy and ethical brand by providing educational content for skincare lovers, thorough information regarding beauty product ingredients, and passionate messaging about eco-conscious packaging initiatives. On the official Summer Fridays website, blog posts are regularly shared exploring beauty topics from product recommendations to niche skincare routines. On TikTok and Instagram, Summer Fridays frequently shares behind-the-scenes content from its lab, more educational content, and engaging influencer collaborations featuring top-selling products.

2023 was a star-studded year for Summer Fridays. Founder Marianna Hewitt was invited to share a masterclass on beauty and skincare at this year’s SEPHORiA: House of Beauty event in New York City. Summer Fridays also celebrated its 5th Anniversary with a weekend-long pop-up event at Upside Pizza in Soho.

Here are some of Summer Fridays’ best-selling and award-winning products of 2023:

• Lip Butter Balm: Awarded Best Tinted Lip Balm by Allure, Best Lip Product at CEW 2023 Beauty Awards
• Rich Cushion Cream: Awarded Best Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin by People, received the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance™
• Silk Nourishing Body Lotion: Awarded best Body Booster by Vogue

2. Beachwaver by Sarah Potempa

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Were you really on #HairTok this year if you didn’t come across influencer and celebrity hairstylist Sarah Potempa? Before Sarah founded her haircare brand, she was perfecting her iconic beach wave hairstyle on celebrities including Lea Michele, Emily Blunt, Camila Cabello, Reese Witherspoon, Busy Phillips, and many more. After sitting down with countless beauty editors to break down her hairstyling techniques, Sarah Potempa took it upon herself to design and develop the first-ever rotating hair tool on the market: The Beachwaver.

Beachwaver became a top-selling product on TikTok Shop in 2023 with more than 260.7K units of the Beachwaver B1 Rotating Curling Iron in Midnight Rose sold, totaling $13.5M in gross merchandise value according to data collected by EchoTik. The hashtag #beachwaver has garnered over 1.6B views to date on TikTok. In the last 30 days, 5K videos were posted with the hashtag totaling 149M views. Beachwaver’s social commerce strategy is heavily focused on showcasing product performance from new users, communicating the simplicity and effortlessness of curling your hair with the Beachwaver. Additionally, the Beachwaver brand strategically leverages discount subsidizations from TikTok Shop to offer unbeatable prices of up to 60% off, encouraging users to purchase the must-have hair tools in-app rather than in-person or online retailers.

Sarah goes the extra mile with content creation on her personal social channels by sharing amazing hairstyling tutorials featuring various Beachwaver tools and haircare products per the request of her engaged audience. Haircare experts and notorious TikTok Shop influencers such as @jeremystoomuch share simple tutorials for users as well, tagging their Beachwaver products in their videos for streamlined purchasing.

2023 was a year of momentous partnerships and gorgeous hairstyling for Sarah’s brand. Beachwaver kicked off 2023 with a collaboration with Baked By Melissa. This February, Beachwaver was the official sponsor at NYFW where Sarah and her team worked with more than 500 models. Beachwaver also partnered with @themoderndaywife to host a hairstyling touch-up bar at the 2023 Women’s Month event at The Godfrey Hotel Hollywood.

Here are some of Beachwaver’s best-selling and award-winning products of 2023:

• The Beachwaver Co. S1 Dual Voltage Rotating Curling Iron: Awarded Best Curling Iron by TODAY
• Beachwaver PRO Curling Iron: Awarded Best Curling Iron for Beach Waves by Good Housekeeping
• Beachwaver Co. Multi Barrel: Her Campus 2023 College Beauty Award Winner
• The Beachwaver Co. Beachwaver Pro 1: Awarded Best for Waves by Allure

3. SACHEU Beauty by Sarah Cheung

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SACHEU Beauty is another influencer-founded beauty brand that made waves in social commerce. Skinfluencer Sarah Cheung first founded SACHEU Beauty in 2020 alongside Gloss Ventures to provide a line of protective, non-irritating skincare products that enhance the skin barrier. SACHEU Beauty debuted with skincare tool essentials, a Gua Sha tool and a facial roller.

As Sarah expanded upon her beauty experience, her brand developed to include cosmetics as well, most notably the Lip Liner Stay-N. Sarah posted a viral TikTok in June 2022 utilizing a Maybelline brow tint product as a lipliner which immediately sparked the idea to create her own long-wear lip liner tattoo stain. Fast-forward to 2023, and the groundbreaking Lip Liner Stay-N is continuing to make waves on social commerce platforms, primarily TikTok Shop. More than 128K units of the peel-off liner have been sold on TikTok Shop, approximately 95% of purchases being via creators’ affiliate links according to Quinn Roukema, founder of Gloss Ventures.

Founder Sarah Cheung was selected to serve as a mentor for Ulta Beauty’s 2023 MUSE Accelerator Program. As a MUSE mentor, Sarah Cheung worked alongside other decorated beauty brand founders to uplift and educate a cohort of eight-stage BIPOC beauty brands. SACHEU Beauty also celebrated expanding its products to 1,346 Ulta Beauty locations in 2023 according to a report from BeautyMatter.

Here are some of SACHEU Beauty’s best-selling and award-winning products of 2023:

• Lip Liner Stay-N
• Slick Skin Gua Sha Oil
• We Intense Overnight Moisturizer
• Lactic Tonic AHA Resurfacing Essence
• Breakup Balm Gentle Cleansing Makeup Balm

4. Rhode Beauty by Hailey Bieber

@influencermarketing🌟 Embrace the radiance with Rhode Beauty, curated by the trendsetting Hailey Bieber! For an in-depth look at their journey, check out our blog! 💋✨♬ original sound – Influencer Marketing Factory

Hailey Bieber is a trendsetter through and through from “Glazed Donut” nails to “Sugar Plum Fairy” makeup. On YouTube and TikTok, Hailey loves to share her go-to beauty routines and recent skincare favorites with her followers. Hailey, inspired by her love for skincare, debuted her beauty brand Rhode Beauty back in 2022 with a line of skincare products for ultra-glowy skin. Rhode Beauty’s OG Lip Peptide Treatment went viral on social media as a must-have lip product for clean beauty enthusiasts among other best-sellers. Rhode Beauty caught the attention of influencers and celebrities alike, with a viral Rhode unboxing on TikTok from Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo. With so much hype around the brand, Hailey was determined to conquer 2023 with iconic beauty releases and collaborations.

Rhode Beauty kicked off 2023 with a bang, announcing a global expansion to the UK and Canada. Rhode Beauty released the Strawberry Glazed Donut shade of her Lip Peptide Treatment in partnership with Krispy Kreme Donuts as a nod to her numerous food-inspired beauty trends. Hailey Beiber also took Rhode Beauty to new heights this year by expanding into cosmetics, releasing the Peptide Lip Tint inspired by her viral lip treatment. Hailey shared in an interview with Yahoo! Life that she hinted at the strawberry-inspired collaboration on social media by declaring summer 2023 as “Strawberry Girl Summer” which sparked a widespread beauty trend. “I said to myself, let me just hint at this and kind of see where it goes, and then I started to see all these amazing TikTok creators do their own version of this makeup and call it ‘strawberry girl makeup,’ and I felt it was a really fun way to connect with other creators in the beauty community.” Rhode Beauty’s social media strategy is noteworthy for its creative and aesthetically pleasing approach to engaging Gen-Z beauty lovers such as this.

Here are some of Rhode Beauty’s best-selling and award-winning products of 2023:

• Strawberry Glazed Donut Peptide Lip Treatment: Awarded Best Collaboration by Los Angeles Magazine
• Rhode Peptide Glazing Fluid: Awarded Best Everyday Moisturizer by Harper’s Bazaar
• Rhode Glazing Milk: Skin category winner for ELLE’s 2023 Future of Beauty Awards

5. One/Size by Patrick Starrr

@influencermarketing💄 Elevate your beauty game with One/Size, the brainchild of the iconic Patrick Starr! Dive into the world of One/Size by checking out our blog!🌟♬ original sound – Influencer Marketing Factory

You may know Patrick Starrr for his gorgeous makeup tutorials on YouTube and iconic turban looks. Beyond being an experienced beauty influencer, Patrick has focused his creative vision on developing his beauty brand One/Size. One/Size is a brand dedicated to fostering kindness, individuality, and radical creative expression through makeup. Patrick Starrr embraces beauty creators and enthusiasts of all backgrounds, identities, and levels of experience by declaring makeup as a one-size-fits-all experience. One/Size has been recognized as a top AAPI-founded beauty brand by Glamour, a must-try queer-owned beauty brand by Pure Wow, and a top 20 gender-neutral beauty brand by ELLE this year alone.

One/Size’s unmatched makeup quality and production have caught the attention of big names in the entertainment industry and their beloved glam teams. Bay-area rapper Saweetie shared in an interview with Ebony Entertainment that the One/Size On ‘Til Dawn Mattifying Waterproof Setting Spray is her “ride or die” product when sealing in her makeup. “This spray keeps my glam intact all day long and gives me that glowy, goddess-like finish.” Rain or shine, music superstar Beyoncé looked flawless on stage during her Renaissance World Tour thanks to the On ‘Til Dawn spray as well. Beyoncé’s makeup artist Rokael Lizama tagged One/Size in an Instagram post this summer, sharing, “The elements, rain or shine did her thing…@patrickstarrr I Love You!! Your spray helped us through the show!!! @onesize.” With so much praise from celebrity MUAs, One/Size is a must-try beauty brand for makeup lovers looking for long-lasting, inclusive products.

Here are some of One/Size’s best-selling and award-winning products of 2023:

• One/Size Ultimate Blurring Setting Powder: Awarded Best for Baking by Allure, awarded Best Blurring Setting Powder by People
• Turn Up the Base Blurring Foundation: Awarded Best for Blurring by ELLE
• Ultimate Blurring Setting Powder Sweet Honey: Awarded Best Under-eye Setting Powder by ELLE
• On ‘Til Dawn Mattifying Waterproof Setting Spray: Awarded Best Water-resistant Setting Spray by People
• One/Size Point Made Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner Pen: Awarded Best Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner by Cosmopolitan
• Turn Up The Base Versatile Powder Foundation: Awarded Best All-Arounder Powder Foundation for Mature Skin by Allure

6. Huda Beauty by Huda Kattan

Huda Beauty – Influencer-Founded Beauty Brands

Huda Kattan’s glamorous work as a beauty influencer began in the 2010s with her beauty hacks and makeup tutorials on her Huda Beauty blog which she later extended to YouTube and Instagram. Huda shared her beauty expertise online with her loyal followers and became well-known for her Arabic beauty series on YouTube which helped to grow her international audience. In 2013, Huda was inspired to launch her brand Huda Beauty alongside her sisters Mona and Alya after struggling to find eyelashes that fit the diverse eye shapes of their makeup clients. Huda Beauty’s first launch consisted of a line of beautiful false eyelashes which has since expanded to include base products, iconic lip kits, and must-have eyeshadows.

This year, Huda Kattan was invited to speak at the Forbes 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi for International Women’s Day. Huda shared with Forbes how she was able to identify gaps in the beauty industry and leverage her social media influence to build a billion-dollar brand. On social media, Huda continues to share her beauty expertise in engaging bite-sized tutorials and videos testing viral products and trends. Huda’s iconic baking and makeup setting routines have launched the Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder back into the spotlight on TikTok. As beauty trends online continue to evolve, Huda Kattan dominates the makeup scene and showcases how her versatile cosmetics line is fit to create any and every glam look imaginable.

Here are some of Huda Beauty’s best-selling and award-winning products of 2023:

• The New Nude Eye Shadow Palette: Named as an Eye Makeup Essential for Prestige’s Best of Beauty 2023
• Creamy Kohl Longwear Eye Pencil: Named one of the Top 10 Best Beauty Launches of the year by USA Today
• Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder Cherry Blossom: Named Best Setting Powder to Buy From the Sephora Savings Event by ELLE

7. Glossier by Emily Weiss

Glossier by Emily Weiss – Influencer-Founded Beauty Brands

What started as a pillar in the beauty blog community turned into a billion-dollar beauty and fragrance brand. Emily Weiss grew her following online as the founder of the beauty blog Into the Gloss in 2010. Into the Gloss’s claim to fame were its profiles The Top Shelf and Top Shelf After Dark. After developing a close-knit community of beauty lovers online, Emily Weiss and her team of editors concluded that the development of beauty products should be inspired by consumers. Emily Weiss and her team founded Glossier in 2014 dedicated to cultivating conversations and thoughtful design in the beauty industry. Since launching its debut line of simple skincare and effortless cosmetic products, Glossier has become a must-have brand for beauty enthusiasts involved in the digital beauty community and will soon be covered in an Amazon adaption of Glossy by Marisa Meltzer.

What sets Glossier apart from other beauty brands is its dedication to sparking authentic conversations on social media, an approach stemming from the big-sister-like beauty perspectives shared on Into the Gloss. Glossier’s social media content is comforting, fresh, and trendy with ample influencer marketing campaigns and ultra-satisfying swatch videos. Social listening with Glossier, and the brand’s social team doesn’t shy away from connecting with consumers online and listening in on product feedback. To deepen the brand’s connection with its engaged audience, Glossier kickstarted the You Look Good Tour, its first-ever traveling activation, which visited three college campuses across the United States. Other noteworthy activations during 2023 included Glossier’s Westfield pop-up to celebrate the brand’s UK Sephora launch and an immersive Glossier You pop-up in London.

2023 was a big year for brand partnerships at Glossier. Glossier’s greatest announcement of 2023 was its official partnership with the WNBA to redefine how consumers view beauty and encourage female empowerment through cosmetics. Beyond beauty initiatives, Glossier’s partnership with the WNBA also involved supporting voter registration among young Glossier fans. Glossier also collaborated with Starface to release limited-edition pimple patches in Glossier’s signature simple youthful art style. Not only does the collaboration lean into Glossier’s roots in innovating skincare but it also provides users with the perfect Instagram-able beauty product to fit the viral Clean Girl aesthetic.

Here are some of Glossier’s best-selling and award-winning products of 2023:

• Balm Dotcom: Awarded Best Daytime Lip Balm by Business Insider
• Glossier Stretch Face Brush: Allure 2023 Breakthrough Beauty Award Winner, Awarded Best Make-up Brush by Stylist
• G Suit: Her Campus 2023 College Beauty Award Winner, People x TODAY Beauty Awards

8. PHLUR by Chriselle Lim

PHLUR by Chriselle Lim – Influencer-Founded Beauty Brands

You may know Chriselle Lim for her iconic fashion review and styling content on TikTok, but did you know about her rising fragrance brand PHLUR? Chriselle re-launched PHLUR in 2022 as Owner and Creative Director of the brand with a mission to reinvent the brand and direct product development to fulfill younger consumers. Chriselle Lim explained in an interview with Glossy how being an early adopter of TikTok as a brand during the COVID-19 pandemic launched PHLUR to new heights, connecting a new generation of beauty lovers to luxury fragrances. By communicating fragrance as an extension of style, Chriselle seamlessly blended her business with her branding as an influencer and developed an effective social strategy.

PHLUR’s fragrance line takes inspiration from universal life experiences, as noted by The Standard, which perfectly pairs scents with the shifting interests of young consumers. Chriselle Lim shared during her panel at Glossy’s Beauty x Wellness Summit about how Missing Person was PHLUR’s breakout fragrance and became an online sensation, selling out across retailers and amassing a 250K person waitlist. Father Figure is PHLUR’s latest best-selling fragrance inspired by Chriselle’s evolution following her experience with divorce which she frequently shares about on social media. As a fashion creator, expanding into fragrance was a jarring but rewarding experience for Chriselle. Building confidence through self-expression via fragrance and authentic storytelling has become both Chriselle and PHLUR’s social strategy. PHLUR’s modern and intentional approach to fragrance development also translates into the brand’s social media presence with a beautiful Instagram feed inspired by the mood and story associated with each scent.

Here are some of Glossier’s best-selling and award-winning products of 2023:

• Fine Fragrance Body Mist: Featured in Forbes’ 2023 Holiday Gift Guide
• Solar Power Eau de Parfum: Awarded Best Solar Fragrance by Allure, Allure Best of Beauty 2023 Winner
• Missing Person Eau de Parfum: 2023 Fragrance Foundation Awards Nominee, Shortlisted for Best Skin Scent by Glamour

9. Patrick Ta Beauty by Patrick Ta

Patrick Ta Beauty by Patrick Ta – Influencer-Founded Beauty Brands

Celebrity makeup artist Patrick Ta has worked with the biggest names in Hollywood and music from the Kardashians to Karol G. Patrick Ta took inspiration from his experience as a full-time makeup artist to found his namesake beauty brand in 2019, his debut release being a glistening body oil, lip gloss, face mist, and makeup fan. Since the launch of his brand, Patrick Ta Beauty has been named a top Asian LGBTQ+ founded brand by Tatler, a praiseworthy LGBTQ-owned beauty brand by CNN Underscored, and a must-try AAPI beauty brand by Billboard. Sephora invited Patrick Ta to host a beauty masterclass at the 2023 SEPHORiA: House of Beauty event to share his trendsetting experience and techniques as a makeup artist. Patrick Ta’s work as a makeup artist today involves collaborating with social media influencers such as Alix Earle and Bretman Rock, ultimately motivating Patrick to pursue a more active social media strategy.

On TikTok, Patrick Ta loves to share vlogs of his experience touring around the world to create gorgeous looks with celebrities and influencers from around the world. Patrick Ta told Newsweek that social media is an essential component of marketing for his brand as it allows him to showcase the diverse color range of available products, user and client testimonials, and professional makeup application techniques. For instance, Patrick Ta created content detailing his experience and glam process at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival featuring Adriana Lima, Gigi Hadid, and Jasmine Tookes. With TikTok, Patrick Ta has the power to get up close and personal with his followers to share his authentic craft and creativity as he does with his star-studded clientele. Anyone can feel like a celebrity MUA with Patrick Ta’s stellar beauty line.

Here are some of Patrick Ta Beauty’s best-selling and award-winning products of 2023:

• Major Sculpt Contour Brush: Named one of the Top Contour Brushes by Allure
• Major Volume Lip Gloss: Awarded Best Hydrating Lip Plumper by People
• Major Beauty Headlines Double-Take Crème & Powder Blush: Named one of the Best Cream Blushes by Allure
• Dual-Ended Complexion Brush: Awarded Best Dual-Ended Brush by Allure
• Major Sculpt Crème Contour & Powder Bronzer Duo: Named one of the Best Bronzers by Allure

10. OUAI by Jen Atkin

OUAI by Jen Atkin – Influencer-Founded Beauty Brands

Before the likes of Instagram and non-stop celebrity clientele, Jen Atkin passionately pursued her craft as a hairstylist and dreamed of beginning her own haircare line. Social media played an integral role in developing herself as a trendsetter and leader in the haircare industry, but, most importantly, Jen’s relationship with her followers sparked the idea for her brand OUAI. The ask from her followers was simple: effortless haircare for people with little experience and little time. Jen Atkins launched OUAI in 2016 with a line of simple salon-quality haircare products and dove into social media strategy headfirst, continuing to engage with her vocal fans and beauty aficionados from around the world. Jen eventually released OUAI de Parfums in 2018 due to popular demand from consumers to create fragrances that emulated those of the high-quality haircare products initially released. In 2019, OUAI expanded once again due to consumer demand to include bodycare products.

This year, OUAI partnered up with vegan fragrance brand DedCool to release the limited-edition Laundry DedTergent in OUAI’s signature scent, Melrose Place. OUAI’s partnership with DedCool was praised by lifestyle influencers and all across beauty publications. OUAI’s genuine relationship with its consumers led to a re-release of the Laundry DedTergent after it sold out which left consumers and beauty editors alike eager to stock up as soon as possible. Another noteworthy collaboration of the year was OUAI’s out-of-home advertising campaign with Jet Blue. OUAI’s “Wanna Get A-OUAI” marketing campaign ran for a month as a pre-roll video before Jet Blue’s routine safety video. The St. Barts-scented body products and sunkissed beaches immersed travelers in the effortless and satisfying experience associated with using OUAI products on the go.

Jen Atkin continues to educate her fans and followers on the best hair styling techniques on her social platforms in a true influencer fashion. Jen shared a MasterClass on her latest hair styling approaches and favorite haircare products, including best-selling goods from OUAI. Through building a close-knit online community with social media, Jen Atkin has developed one of the best-selling beauty brands in the world.

Here are some of OUAI’s best-selling and award-winning products of 2023:

• Detox Shampoo: Named one of the Best Clarifying Shampoos by Allure, awarded Best Dandruff Shampoo For Color-Treated Hair by Popsugar, awarded Best
• Clarifying Shampoo for All Hair Tyles by ELLE
• Leave-in Conditioner: Named one of the Best Leave-In Conditioners by The Strategist
• Anti-Dandruff Shampoo: Awarded Best Dandruff Shampoo For Sensitive Scalps by Popsugar
• Hair Oil: Best-Selling Hair Oil on Amazon, awarded Best Hair Oil for Color-Treated Hair by The Hollywood Reporter