Nikkie de Jager, the makeup artist behind NikkieTutorials, has been shaking up the beauty
world since 2008.
The Netherlands-based YouTube star was only in her teens when she first started becoming
famous, and since then has become a major beauty influencer.
Here's what you don't know about her.
There are a lot of advantages to being a YouTube star.
You get to set your own hours, not to mention do something that you are truly passionate
about.
Nikkie de Jager loves being her own boss and having creative control over her work, but
there are also some drawbacks to being self-employed.
De Jager told Teen Vogue:
"It's lovely to decide on your own when you're going to work on something for your website,
but at the same time there is nobody to push you.
You have to be independent, and you have to be driven to keep working on the blog."
It looks like de Jager has gotten the swing of things, though, because she's been going
strong for a decade.
Nikkie de Jager has stated that she got her start in beauty from watching The Hills, but
surprise surprise, Lauren Conrad isn't her beauty idol.
The person she most looks up to in the industry is British makeup artist Pat McGrath whose
company is valued at more than $1 billion.
The self-made entrepreneur has been a huge role model for de Jager.
She told HelloGiggles:
"Pat McGrath is my goddess.
I had the honor of meeting her once and it literally felt like meeting God.
I was like, 'Oh my god.
I'm in the presence of a legend.'"
McGrath is an icon in the beauty industry and has been on the scene for decades.
Her influence in the world of beauty is undeniable, and her reputation is well deserved.
Nikkie explained:
"She has come up with all the trends, all the techniques.
She knows what's popping or not and then she started doing her own line, and she knows
exactly how to kill it.
Pat McGrath is EVERYTHING!"
Everyone has their own reasons for liking makeup.
Some people want to cover up blemishes.
Others want to create a dramatic look, or transform their face for a costume.
Gone are the days when makeup was simply a means of enhancing beauty.
For Nikkie de Jager, makeup is a wonderful tool for self-expression that allows people
to play around with their look and express their individuality.
The star told HelloGiggles:
"The most beautiful part about makeup is that it's so personal.
You can go heavy, you can go light, you can go in-between, you can go full-on drag.
I think that is the power of what makes makeup so beautiful, it's because it's personal."
Family is clearly one of the most important things in the world to Nikkie de Jager.
While she tragically lost her younger brother, she still has her mom around to lead her cheering
section.
In fact, she told Glamour that her mom is her number one fan and that she has been a
remarkable influence on her life.
She said:
"My mother is fantastic.
She speaks zero English, but she understands everything.
I have never experienced anyone in my life who is as supportive as she is.
She keeps an eye on everything, reads everything, sees everything, and I tell her everything."
The special bond between de Jager and her mother may be in part due to their striking
physical resemblance.
According to the NikkieTutorials star, she and her mom are pretty much twins.
"I also look a lot like her physically: I am my mother, but with long hair."
In January 2020, Nikkie de Jager came out as transgender in a heartfelt NikkieTutorials
video titled "I'm Coming Out."
The YouTube star said that she's known ever since she was little that she is a girl.
"When I was younger I was born in the wrong body, which means that I am transgender."
While de Jager had always planned on coming out to her audience when she was ready, she
revealed that she was being blackmailed.
Instead of complying with her blackmailer, she came out, and hopes that her message will
be an inspiration to others.
"We need to accept each other.
We need to respect each other.
But most of all, we need to hear each other and understand."
When Nikkie de Jager first started making her NikkieTutorials videos, she was hiding
a bit behind her alter ego, as many celebs have done.
The person viewers saw on YouTube wasn't exactly the same as the person de Jager was in real
life.
She told Glamour:
"When I was younger and starting out, I definitely had an alter ego."
De Jager projected a confidence in her NikkieTutorials videos that she didn't necessarily exude in
real life.
As the years passed and as de Jager has grown more confident in herself, things began to
transition.
Now de Jager says that the person you see on YouTube is 100 percent Nikkie de Jager.
De Jager explained that she, quote "started to become what I showed people and started
to believe in the vision I created."
It's incredibly impressive that Nikkie de Jager gained fame through her YouTube channel,
NikkieTutorials, especially at such a young age.
The makeup maven has expanded far beyond social media, too.
In 2019, Marc Jacobs named de Jager its first-ever global artistry advisor.
In a press release, the brand said that de Jager, quote, "will be integrated into the
brand's product development process, as well as share her incredible talent and expertise
to expand unique content and artistry around the world on both Marc Jacobs beauty and her
own channels."
Speaking about being appointed as the brand's global artistry advisor, de Jager said:
"I've always believed that makeup is a form of self expression and there is no shame in
experimenting with it.
Marc Jacobs shares a similar 'shameless' approach to beauty, which I so admire, and I quickly
fell in love with his beauty products when I was first sent the re(marc)able full cover
foundation concentrate a few years ago."
"Today I'm playing with some brand new Marc Jacobs beauty product."
Since Nikkie de Jager is known for her makeup tutorials on NikkieTutorials, you'd expect
her personal look to revolve around, well, makeup.
Most makeup wearers have a quick makeup look they can throw together on a busy day, whether
it's a quick dash of mascara or a swipe of lipstick.
Surprisingly, de Jager's must-do beauty move skips makeup altogether.
In an interview with HerWorld, de Jager said that if she had time for absolutely nothing
else, she'd focus on her lashes.
She explained:
"I have super straight lashes that point down and it makes me look tired.
So what I like to do is get my lighter and warm up the metal part of my eyelash curler.
Then, I let it cool down because you don't want to burn your eyelids.
It's like an actual curling iron for your lashes.
I do that every single day, I just cannot live without it.
That takes me about 45 seconds which leaves me 15 seconds to pop my lip gloss on."
Over the years, Nikkie de Jager has had the opportunity to do a lot of celeb makeovers
for NikkieTutorials.
She has transformed some of the biggest stars in the world, including Lady Gaga and Kat
Von D, who all made appearances in NikkieTutorials videos.
In another celeb collaboration, one of her NikkieTutorials videos was even narrated by
Snoop Dogg, who walked the audience through de Jager's makeup routine.
"And I know what you doing.
You grooving it up.
Moving it up.
Dipping in, flipping it, making it look dynamic.
Gimme some love.
Bang bang."
Out of all the celebrity collaborations she has done over the years, one in particular
stands out for de Jager, although she has loved them all.
She told Buro:
"The most fun I've had was with Jessie J - she's an incredible girl and we laughed so much
that at one point we had to stop filming for 20 minutes because I was crying my makeup
off as I was laughing."
In August 2019, Nikkie de Jager got engaged to her boyfriend, Dylan, while the couple
were on vacation in Italy.
According to Nikkie's Instagram page, he proposed with a stunning band made of heart-shaped
diamonds.
The couple have had a relatively low-key courtship, and de Jager hasn't posted many details about
Dylan or talked about him much, so it seems like he wants to stay out of the limelight.
The two have been together since 2018, but de Jager kept the relationship private for
a while.
She finally made things Instagram official in January 2019, introducing Dylan on Instagram
as, quote, "the guy that has changed my life."
While de Jager has kept quiet about her fiancé on social media, it's clear that the two are
very much in love.
When Nikkie de Jager started NikkieTutorials, she was self-taught.
After a couple years of uploading videos, though, she decided to get some professional
training.
She explained to The Gloss:
"When I was 17 I decided to go to makeup school to learn some of the technical, basic knowledge
that sometimes you step over."
According to the Evening Standard, de Jager then joined Pascale Tesser's Agency in 2011.
In 2013, she became the head makeup artist for the show I Can Make You a Supermodel.
In 2014, she went completely freelance.
It's not exactly a traditional career path, but it's one that has brought de Jager success.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, the YouTube celebrity has a net worth of $6 million.
In January 2020, Variety reported that de Jager had moved into a stunning 3,153 square
foot home about two hours southeast of Amsterdam.
De Jager also reportedly drives a Ferrari.
People all over the world admire Nikkie de Jager and the way she transformed NikkieTutorials
from a humble YouTube channel into a personal brand worth millions.
It's evident that de Jager has put a lot of work into NikkieTutorials, and many of her
fans would love to know how to replicate her success.
While there is, of course, no guaranteed path to success, de Jager has some words of wisdom
for those who would like to start their own vlogs and begin their own journeys to stardom.
De Jager believes that hard work is important, but sincerity is vital.
"Don't think that you have to come up with like, a persona to be someone that you're
not.
No!
Just be yourself."
NikkieTutorials became a household name in 2015, when Nikkie de Jager posted "The Power
of Makeup" on YouTube.
The video has brought in tens of millions of views, and it is the video that catapulted
de Jager to fame.
But things almost went very differently.
De Jager nearly didn't post the video that made her YouTube channel famous.
She told News.com.au:
"I filmed it and I almost never uploaded it because I hated it.
It just didn't feel right.
I thought, 'Nobody is going to get this.'"
Her then-boyfriend convinced her to upload the video, in which she showed how makeup
can enhance your looks by applying makeup only to one side of her face.
At first, nothing happened, but after a couple of weeks it went viral.
De Jager woke up one morning to find her views and follower count had gone through the roof.
She said:
"I thought I must be dreaming, this can't be real.
It was such a whirlwind, but I'm really proud that it happened, especially with that video."
NikkieTutorials became so successful that it gave Nikkie de Jager the opportunity to
collaborate with some of the biggest names in the beauty business.
In 2017, she partnered with Maybelline for a YouTube series.
The following year, Maybelline and NikkieTutorials dropped a highlighter together.
"I am more than honored to introduce to you the NikkieTutorials diamond shade."
There has also been an OFRA x NikkieTutorials line and a project with Too Faced called "The
Too Faced Power of Makeup by Nikkie Tutorials Collaboration."
While teaming up with a beauty brand is pretty much par for the course these days for any
established YouTube makeup superstar, the fact that de Jager has successfully collaborated
with so many brands is proof of her enduring popularity - not to mention her impressive
talent.
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