LOS ANGELES, Dec 1 — Despite enduring criticism and controversy, model and entrepreneur Hailey Bieber is the year’s ultimate beauty icon, a new study reveals. At the origin of several makeup trends in 2022, including the now-famous ‘glazed donut nails’, the American star can boast of being an endless source of inspiration for billions of users on social networks.
Every year at the same time, it’s the same old story. Rankings, retrospectives and trends cascade across the web throughout the last days of the year outline who and what has defined the trends and phenomena in various realms. And the world of influence is no exception, on the contrary, the battle is fierce to determine who will be most appealing to the public — and brands — the following year. And in this competition, follower numbers of followers aren’t enough. You have to be a trendsetter, generate unprecedented search interest on Google, and — obviously — get a lot of views on TikTok.
Something that American entrepreneur Hailey Bieber seems to have mastered to perfection throughout the year. Not content with being followed by tens of millions of people on social networks, including nearly 50 million on Instagram, the young businesswoman is also at the origin of a host of beauty trends that have stormed the charts on TikTik this year, including ‘glazed donut nails,’ ‘glazed donut skin’, and ‘brownie glazed lips’ — trends that have made her the subject of much criticism and controversy. But no matter, the star has generated so much buzz that she has reached the status of ultimate beauty icon. And her presence in the recent Forbes’ 30 Under 30 ranking seems to further confirm her reign.
As the head of the Rhode Skin skincare brand, Hailey Bieber has also been blowing up the social media traffic meters, according to the latest report from SpaSeekers,* which has named her the most popular beauty icon. The spa booking service reports a 421 per cent increase in searches for her makeup looks over last year, while videos associated with the hashtag “Hayley Bieber makeup” have been viewed 167 million times on TikTok.
Matilda Djerf in the top three
If most of the influencers present in the ranking belong to the circle of world-famous stars, whether they’re models, actresses or singers, one celebrity seems to stand out from the rest: Swedish TikTok star Matilda Djerf, who also heads up a brand that has been showcasing Scandinavian cool in the area of fashion and beauty to the forefront for several years. With an increase of 133 per cent of views of her beauty looks, and some 6.5 million views on the Chinese social network, the young businesswoman takes third position in this ranking, behind Bella Hadid.
The searches associated with the beauty looks of the American model didn’t show a major increase from one year to another, on the level of about 52 per cent, but this can be explained by the fact that she’s had a ubiquitous presence on the fashion and cosmetic scenes for several years now already. If further proof is required, one need look no further than the 61 million views that have been generated by her makeup looks.
The rest of the ranking includes, in descending order, Lily Rose Depp, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Khloe Kardashian, Blake Lively, and Lizzo. A list that points to the persistence of a lack of diversity in the world of beauty, but which indicates the absence of two behemoths in the sector, Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian, who seem this year to have been eclipsed by their sister Khloe. — ETX Studio
*This ranking was made on the basis of a list of 100 celebrities. The keywords ‘(celebrity name) + makeup’ were analysed via Google Adwords to find out the percentage increase in searches from one year to the next. The hashtag #(celebrity name)makeup was analysed via TikTok to see how many views it had. These two numbers were then cross-referenced to create the top list. All data is correct as of November 2022.
