NikkieTutorials

Who Is NikkieTutorials?

NikkieTutorials -- Nikkie de Jager -- is the Dutch makeup artist and YouTuber from Wageningen who built 19 million YouTube subscribers through tutorial content that spans from technically demanding editorial makeup to accessible everyday looks, and who holds the distinction of having produced the most-viewed makeup tutorial in YouTube history: "The Power of Makeup" (2015), a video in which she applies full-face makeup to only half of her face to demonstrate makeup's transformative capacity, which generated a cultural conversation about makeup shame and self-expression that was reproduced by thousands of other creators in the following years and that established her as the reference point for the "half-face makeup" format globally. Her January 2020 public disclosure that she is a transgender woman -- a coming out she made because she was being blackmailed, delivered with composure and directness in a video watched over 35 million times -- made her one of the most visible transgender public figures in the Netherlands and significantly expanded her non-beauty audience.^[1]

Her career trajectory -- beginning YouTube in 2008 at age 14, reaching commercial peak in 2015-2020, and maintaining 19 million subscribers through her transition disclosure's audience expansion -- demonstrates the specific durability of skill-first beauty content: her tutorials' technical quality was the primary audience-retention mechanism before her biographical disclosures, and her biographical authenticity added an emotional layer to the viewer relationship that pure technique cannot generate. The combination of technical excellence and genuine personal narrative is the formula that her subscriber count represents.

Early Life: Wageningen, Netherlands & Starting YouTube at 14

Nikkie de Jager was born on March 2, 1994, in Wageningen -- a small city of approximately 38,000 in Gelderland province in the central Netherlands, known primarily for Wageningen University, one of the world's leading agricultural and food science institutions. Wageningen's modest size and distance from the Netherlands' media cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam) meant her early beauty content was produced from a bedroom rather than a studio, without industry mentorship or production support -- the conditions that authentically train a creator to connect directly with an audience rather than through institutional polish. She launched her YouTube channel in 2008 at age 14, becoming one of the first Dutch beauty creators on YouTube when the category was small enough that quality guaranteed visibility, and building technical skill through years of self-teaching and tutorial production before the category became competitive.^[2]

Her technical development as a makeup artist is visible in the channel's archive: the 2008-2011 videos' competent but conventionally produced tutorials versus the 2015-2020 videos' editorial-quality transformations demonstrate a skill arc that justifies the subscriber count as an earned achievement rather than an algorithmic accident. Her Lady Gaga makeup transformation video, her "Mrs. Doubtfire" recreation, and her celebrity transformation series established her in the editorial makeup category that beauty brands use to distinguish between tutorial channels and entertainment channels -- she was both simultaneously.

"The Power of Makeup," Coming Out & Commercial Evolution

"The Power of Makeup" (2015) -- the half-face tutorial video that became both the most-watched makeup tutorial on YouTube and the catalyst for a global conversation about makeup shame, self-expression, and the social pressure women face for wearing too much or too little makeup -- generated the kind of cultural conversation that cosmetic brand partnerships specifically value: it associated NikkieTutorials with an emotionally charged statement about makeup that made her channel a cultural reference point rather than merely a beauty tutorial resource. Her brand deals with Too Faced, NYX Cosmetics, and L'Oréal were structured around this cultural position -- she was not just reaching makeup enthusiasts but representing makeup's value to a broader cultural audience. Her January 2020 transgender disclosure, delivered directly to her YouTube audience in a video that has been watched over 35 million times, expanded her LGBTQ+ audience globally while her existing beauty audience remained intact -- the audience retention was a testament to the parasocial investment her years of content had created.^[3]

Brand Deals & European Beauty Creator Economics

NikkieTutorials' estimated YouTube integration rate is $50,000--$150,000 per placement, reflecting 19 million subscribers in the global beauty audience with the European premium: her Netherlands base and English-language delivery give her Dutch, German, Belgian, and UK audiences alongside her global viewership, making her the primary European beauty YouTube creator for international brands entering the European market. Too Faced, NYX, and L'Oréal access her for both technical credibility (her tutorials' quality demonstrates the products) and cultural significance (her coming out video's 35M views established her as a cultural figure beyond beauty). For European beauty creator and makeup tutorial channel rate benchmarks, see our influencer pricing guide and celebrity pricing breakdown.

Related Creators

Bianca Andrade's Portuguese-language Brazilian beauty brand empire and NikkieTutorials' English-language European beauty tutorial legacy both demonstrate the creator-to-beauty-brand trajectory at different scales and in different markets: Andrade converted her Brazilian beauty following into a $100M cosmetics brand through mass-market accessibility pricing, while NikkieTutorials converted her global editorial-makeup following into luxury brand ambassadorships through premium positioning. Shruti Arjun Anand's 28 million Hindi-language Indian beauty YouTube and NikkieTutorials' 19 million English/Dutch European beauty YouTube demonstrate the same pattern in different language markets: the highest-quality beauty creator in a specific language market captures the dominant share of that language's YouTube beauty audience because the quality differential justifies the loyalty differential, regardless of whether the market is Indian-Hindi or European-Dutch.

For rates and benchmarks in this creator category, see our beauty influencer rates.

Sources

1. 1 The New York Times -- NikkieTutorials Comes Out as Transgender: The YouTube Video That Changed Beauty Media (2020)
2. 2 Vogue Netherlands -- Nikkie de Jager: From Wageningen Bedroom to Global Beauty YouTube Icon (2018)
3. 3 Allure -- "The Power of Makeup": Why NikkieTutorials' 2015 Video Became Beauty YouTube's Defining Cultural Moment (2020)

Frequently Asked Questions

NikkieTutorials — Official Social Media & Links

All accounts below are the verified official profiles for NikkieTutorials. Follower counts are approximate and updated periodically.