As we all know now, the internet has opened up professions previously difficult to get into.

YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter all offer platforms for musicians, artists, and models to get noticed, build up a fanbase, and make some money. All without the backing of a label or a studio.

MUAs, or makeup artists, have been part of this change. You’ve no doubt seen makeup videos on your feeds, be they basic tutorials or full-on drastic makeovers like this one:

A search for “makuep tutorial” on YouTube returns over 31 million results. There’s a huge demand for this content, and in turn, huge opportunities for brands to get involved with influencers. MAC, for example, created a whole range with MUA influencers. So we thought it would be interesting to see who is the most influential MUA on Twitter.

Methodology

We used our Brandwatch Audiences tool, which can build audiences around topics, locations, and many other areas, to find our MUAs. We looked for anyone who had terms related to ‘MUA’ and ‘makeup artist’ in their bios. Then our Audiences tool works its magic, analysing their tweets and engagement to see who is the most influential on Twitter.

This returned over 80k different accounts from all over the world. Within that group we got to see their demographics.

The vast majority of MUAs on Twitter are women, taking up 86% of the group. Their interests are also, unsurprisingly, heavily weighted towards beauty, health, and fitness. Meanwhile, their bios often act as promotions for their channels elsewhere, like YouTube and Instagram.

Right. Let’s get to the list.

10. Maria Fowler (@MariaFowler)

Our first of two UK TV show ‘The Only Way is Essex’ stars on our list, Maria Fowler starts us off. She’s managed to build up a following of 459k Twitter followers, with another 158k on Instagram and over 2.7k subscribers on YouTube.

Since appearing on TOWIE, Fowler started her own company selling cosmetic brushes. One of a number of reality stars on this list, it shows how many of them are using social platforms to build careers after their shows finish airing.

My trick to cover dark circles is here! Using these 2 products £5.95 each 25% off code “Maria” https://t.co/IVLwEJhTDA ? pic.twitter.com/67zQJKw16S — Maria Fowler (@MariaFowler) May 18, 2017

9. Kady McDermott (@kadymcdermottx)

At number nine we have another TV star, Love Island’s very own Kady McDermott. Since being on the show back in 2016, McDermott has built a huge following. 328k followers on Twitter, near a million on Instagram, and over 90k subscribers on YouTube.

Moving beyond her own personal brand, McDermott creating her own company, By Kady, which sells beauty products. The company’s channels have built their own strong followings too.

mikalawalker) 8. Mikala Walker (@

At number eight is Mikala Walker, an “aspiring makeup artist” according to her YouTube profile. She’s managed to rack up a following of over 118k on Twitter, while she’s got 14k subscribers on YouTube.

At the moment she just has a single makeup video on her channel, which you can check out below:

7. Patrick Simondac (@patrickstarrr)

Next is Patrick, who goes by PATRICKSTARRR. Patrick has amassed over 494k followers on Twitter, another 2.9m on YouTube, and 3.6m on Instagram. On top of that, he has one of the best pinned tweets we’ve ever seen.

With such a huge following, it’s no surprise he’s on this list. Of course it doesn’t hurt to have people like Kim Kardashian and Katy Perry appear on your channel too.

6. Charlotte Tilbury (@CTilburyMakeup)

From there we go to Charlotte Tilbury. 162k Twitter followers, 1.5m Instagram followers, and a hundreds of thousands more across Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube, Tilbury is a big hitter in the MUA world.

Tilbury was a succesful makeup artist before she got involved in any social media. But after launching her blog and YouTube channel, she’s gone on to launch her own make up range. Goes to show social isn’t just a place to start a MUA career, but can bolster an already huge profile.