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Feb 01, 2022

The Top 20 Sustainable Beauty Influencers in 2021

Don’t mistake sustainable beauty for a trend; it’s the future of consumer goods. According to a poll by weDo/ Professional, 54% of consumers consider sustainability a key factor when buying beauty products. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that more and more beauty brands have ‘responsible retail’ high on their 2022 agendas. But their mission shouldn’t just be to clean up their new and existing product lines – they need to be conscious of their influencer choices, too.

The talent you partner with has a direct reflection on your brand’s own ethos, which means choosing an influencer who doesn’t live an eco-friendly lifestyle can negatively impact a sustainable beauty launch. In order to make the affinity feel natural and authentic, it's important to work with influencers who live by the eco-conscious values you’re promoting – and not just when they’re getting paid.

Find out how to transform how you identify and track the best influencers →

At mmi, we track mentions of key beauty trends and terms to identify the top influencers for each subject, so you can discover talent that truly aligns with your brand. Between 2020 and 2021 in the UK and Ireland, our data reveals that mentions related to sustainable beauty increased by 110%, with 58% of those mentions appearing on the Instagram grid.

The key messages we track include:

  • Organic
  • Vegan
  • Cruelty-free
  • Clean beauty
  • Paraben-free
  • Plant-based
  • Eco-friendly

Not only does this data help us pinpoint a sharp increase in eco-friendly messaging; it also enables us to spot which influencers are most vocal in the space.

 

In 2021, the top sustainable beauty social accounts by mention on Instagram and YouTube were:

 

  1. Nicole @veganbeautygirl - UK Instagram grid
  2. Vicky @kabukirine - UK Instagram grid
  3. Feelunique @feelunique - UK Instagram grid
  4. Justine @justinejenkins - UK Instagram grid
  5. The Ting Thing @the_ting_thing - UK Instagram grid
  6. Samio @samiorenelda - UK Instagram grid
  7. Sharon @backtoyoubeauty - UK Instagram grid
  8. Kate @kakemeup - IE Instagram grid
  9. Becky @beckyaddams - UK Instagram grid
  10. Gemma @makeup_muddle - UK Instagram grid
  11. Cinta @cintalondon - UK Instagram Stories
  12. Stephanie Toms - UK Youtube channel
  13. Daisie Smith - UK Youtube channel
  14. Vicky @kabukirine - UK Instagram Stories
  15. Justine @justinejenkins - UK Instagram Stories
  16. Cult Beauty @cultbeauty - UK Instagram grid
  17. Sally @irishbeautyfairy - IE Instagram grid
  18. Cinta @cintalondon - UK Instagram grid
  19. Nicole @veganbeautygirl - UK Instagram Stories
  20. Nadine Baggott - UK Youtube channel

 

Meanwhile, the top sustainable beauty social accounts by reach on Instagram and YouTube were:

 

  1. Cult Beauty @cultbeauty - UK Instagram grid
  2. Feelunique @feelunique - UK Instagram grid
  3. Holly @hollywilloughby - UK Instagram grid
  4. Laura @thewhitmore - UK Instagram grid
  5. Lucy @lucywatson - UK Instagram grid
  6. Danielle @daniellemarcan - UK Instagram grid
  7. Look Fantastic @lookfantastic - UK Instagram grid
  8. Lena @lenkalul - UK Instagram grid
  9. Boots @bootsuk - UK Instagram grid
  10. Kaushal @kaushal - UK Instagram grid
  11. Nikki @nikki_makeup - UK Instagram grid
  12. Niomi @niomismart - UK Instagram grid
  13. Space NK @spacenk - UK Instagram grid
  14. Rosanna @rosannadavison - IE Instagram grid
  15. Cher @cherwebbmakeup - UK Instagram grid
  16. Ling Tang @ling.kt - UK Instagram grid
  17. Alice @alxcext - UK Instagram grid
  18. Amy @amykatrianne - UK Instagram grid
  19. Hannah @hannahmartinmakeup - UK Instagram grid
  20. Nicole @veganbeautygirl - UK Instagram grid

 

Amongst eco-conscious Instagrammers and celebrities with soaring reach, etailers – including Cult Beauty and Feelunique – ranked high in terms of both mentions and visibility. It’s a reminder of how deeply media and etail have converged in recent months, with beauty stores proving to be as crucial a part of your PR strategy as press and influencers.

Picture of influencer

 

Beauty categories with the highest number of sustainable beauty mentions:

 

Our data doesn’t just show us who the top influencers are in the sustainable beauty space; it also reveals which categories are receiving the highest number of mentions. Cosmetics came in at the top spot, with 54% of overall coverage, followed by skincare, which received 28% of influencer posts. Haircare received 11% of sustainable beauty mentions, while toiletries and fragrance reached 4% and 3% respectively. But this isn’t necessarily an indicator that eco-friendly fragrances and toiletries are of less interest; it may be a sign of a gap in the sustainable market for brands to fill.

 

If you’re looking for advice on the right influencers to promote your next product launch or supercharge your PR strategy, reach out to us or arrange a callback here

February 1, 2022