15 Makeup Brands Created By Actual Makeup Artists

Patrick Ta is one of Hollywood's most sought-after makeup artists. He is self-taught, having honed his skills working at a M.A.C. Cosmetics store in Arizona before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in makeup. 

Actor Shay Mitchell reached out to Ta after seeing his work on Instagram and helped launch his career. "I am so grateful that she was one of my first celebrity clients because she allowed me to grow with her and then I met Gigi Hadid which took my work to the next level in the world of high fashion," Ta tells Forbes.

Ta has also worked with celebrities such as Camila Cabello, Emily Ratajkowski, Adriana Lima, Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Chrissy Teigen, and Katy Perry, just to name a few. In 2019 the makeup artist decided to launch his signature makeup line. Ta explains the motivation behind one of his first Patrick Ta Beauty collections: "I love monochromatic looks because that's what I do for my clients when they hire me for an everyday look. Simple browns and bronzes to give that natural glow."

In addition to his signature "sun-kissed glow" look, Ta tells People how he achieves a more dramatic effect. "I love a bold lip for so many reasons. It's a quick way to pull any look together in a pinch, it adds drama to any outfit ... and it gives women confidence."

You've probably heard of Charlotte Tilbury's products. Whether it's her cream bronzer that went viral on TikTok over the summer, her renowned Pillow Talk collection, her airbrush foundation, or her Magic Cream moisturizer, Tilbury has created some of the most in-demand beauty products on the market.

The makeup artist first discovered her love of cosmetics at a young age, while attending boarding school in London. "Makeup literally changed my life. I put on mascara and the whole world's reaction to me changed," she tells Into The Gloss.

Tilbury has worked with some of the biggest names in the beauty industry. Before launching her own line in 2013, she helped create and design product lines for brands like Helena Rubinstein, M.A.C. Cosmetics, Armani, Burberry, and Tom Ford. Tilbury boasts an impressive roster of celebrity fans including Lizzo, Kate Moss, Bella Hadid, and Amal Clooney.

She recently launched the Beautiful Skin Radiant Concealer, which "celebrities have been obsessed with it for a year before it launched," she explains to Newsweek. "It gives you an eyelift, a facelift, and a contour all in one," Tilbury adds. "It's like Spanx for the under eye. It's literally like shapewear for the eye where it's lifted and snatched. It's amazing." Despite selling the majority stake of her beauty brand to Spanish company Puig in 2020, Tilbury remains chairman, president, and chief creative officer of her eponymous brand.

Rea Ann Silva is the genius who created Beautyblender, a sponge that is said to have revolutionized the industry. Silva began her career as a makeup artist working with mainly musicians, creating looks for music videos. 

In the early 2000s she began working on the television show "Girlfriends." "I had a unique challenge," she reveals to Business Insider. "It was the first show shot in high-def, and, suddenly, in HD, you were able to see every pore, you were able to see every bump. You saw everything on the skin."

Knowing that carrying around an airbrush kit was simply impractical on a TV set, Silva began to cut her makeup sponges into a rounded shape to help give her an airbrush effect when applying foundation. This was the beginning of the now iconic Beautyblender tool, creating her own company in 2003. Silva's creation is so successful that stores like Sephora and Ulta Beauty sell one every 17 minutes (via Forbes).

The Beautyblender brand now sells a whole variety of makeup, skincare, brushes, and accessories. It was important for Silva to create a line that would work on everyone's skin. "I am Mexican, Portuguese, Spanish, and Irish. My children are Black. My career has been centered around women of color, and I became known in Hollywood, and really around the world, as one of the first makeup artists that really understood ethnic skins," she tells Business Insider.

Anastasia Soare studied art and architecture in Romania before attending beauty school and moving to the United States. Because she didn't speak English when she first arrived, she began working as an esthetician doing waxing and facials. Soon she was working with some of the most famous models in the industry, including Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell. Soare learned that most women were uninterested in their eyebrows, so using her background in art she began to shape her clients' brows at the end of their facial services.

She created the Golden Ration method which transformed how women shape their brows. "Brows should begin directly above the middle of your nostrils. The highest point of the arch should connect the tip of the nose with the middle of the iris. Brows should end where the corner of the nostril connects with the outer corner of the eye," Soare explains to Harper's Bazaar.

She started her flagship salon in Beverly Hills in 1997, telling Emirates Woman it was the "first-of-its-kind product line devoted to brows in 2000, which carved out an entirely new category in cosmetics." Despite questions about how a salon dedicated entirely to brows would be successful, Soare now has billionaire status and says she knew it was a worthy risk. Soare expanded her product line in 2014 to include cosmetics and Anastasia Beverly Hills is now sold around the world. 

Before his death in May 2002, Kevyn Aucoin was one of the most celebrated makeup artists of all time. He was the author of three best-selling books and was credited with introducing the concept of contouring and sculpting with makeup to the masses.

After dropping out of school at the age of 15, Aucoin attended beauty school. He was so passionate about makeup that he soon began teaching classes himself. Aucoin was named creative director at Revlon at the age of 21, where he would help create Revlon's Naked line, the first line to be based on different skin tones. 

Aucoin launched Kevyn Aucoin Beauty in 2001 after years of being one of the most in-demand celebrity makeup artists of the 1990s. His clientele included supermodels like Naomi Campbell, who once declared, "I was not going to go to any other person but Kevyn's chair. There was always a line but he was the only makeup artist in town who understood Black skin. I'm not going anywhere else." In addition to models, celebrities like Cher, Mary Tyler Moore, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Sarah Jessica Parker were all fans of his work. 

His sculpting powder earned cult status long before contouring went mainstream. Aucoin became a household name before he even launched his own product line. More than 20 years after its initial launch, Kevyn Aucoin Beauty is still creating modern products in an extensive variety of shades so everyone can enjoy using them.

If you're a fan of the hit show "Euphoria," you're probably a fan of makeup artist Donni Davy. The three-time Emmy nominee and two-time Emmy winner for Outstanding Contemporary Makeup recently launched her own Half Magic makeup line.

Many won't be surprised that Half Magic consists of bright colors and glitter, but there are also products for those who want to create an understated look. "I think the key audience is probably going to be fans of the makeup on the show who want to recreate these looks and everything," Davy explains to People. "The formulas are also really high-end, and I really want people that just love makeup to also be able to love the brand and use it. I think there's a little something for everyone. We're more than just what you would think of a 'Euphoria' makeup line, which is why we're not a 'Euphoria' makeup line. We are Half Magic."

Her signature product is Chromeaddiction, an eye paint that doubles as a liner in a matte or shimmer finish. You can also purchase face gems to recreate your favorite "Euphoria" looks. "There was something really specific that I wanted to touch on with Half Magic," she tells Women's Wear Daily. "The half part is sort of like the looks are fantastical and heightened, but also the part that makes it magical is the everyday-ness of the nature of wearing a fantastical, sparkly rhinestone wing to the grocery store or to work or school."

Manny Gutierrez, better known as Manny MUA, began his career in makeup working at Sephora before starting his own YouTube channel. Unlike many other male makeup artists before him, Gutierrez loved experimenting with cosmetics and wearing full glam himself. He describes his videos and work as a makeup artist as "consistently blurring the lines of gender in cosmetics," and he became so popular that Maybelline named him the first male face of their brand in 2017. 

A year later the beauty guru and influencer started his own cosmetics brand, Lunar Beauty, a line designed to be gender inclusive. Despite his blushes and glosses being so popular they would sell out quickly, they aren't his favorite. "I think my hero product was actually Life's a Drag, which was my first product," he explains to Byrdie. "And it was a half-neutral and half-bright palette. It was inspired by my makeup journey — I did drag a few times before. And I wanted to create a product that felt like an ode to my experience as a creator and an artist trying to come into the space. For me, Life's a Drag will always have a special place in my heart." In 2018 he was also named on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in the Art & Style category, and in 2021 he was named Adweek's Digital Creator of the Year.

Kim Baker started her career with Wilhelmina Models as a size 4. She later introduced the world to plus-size modeling in the early '90s. Moving from modeling to makeup artistry, Baker received life-changing advice from artist Bobbi Brown, who told her: "Don't fall into trends — just play up your best features!" Baker soon began working as a makeup artist for Brown's company.

Baker has since launched her own makeup product line Glamazon Beauty. "Glamazon Beauty encompasses the beauty of all women! My focus was on the lightest of porcelain to the deepest of ebony and all the shades in between them," says Baker. "The line was created to make you feel like you're not even wearing makeup with superior formulas that are clean, cruelty-free, lightweight, and buildable."

In honour of Juneteenth in 2022, Baker announced: "I am excited to align with ShopHQ and make history by becoming the very first Black-owned beauty brand to launch on its network. Together we are creating the change we wish to see in the world."