If your Instagram feed is filled with people who look just like you, you’re doing it wrong. Instagram is the perfect place to find people who are different to you and this should be something we celebrate about the app — the ability to connect with people from different backgrounds, who have different opinions and who look different to you.
The beauty community on Instagram is filled with inspiring influencers, experts and creators who have spent years honing their beauty skills. While there are so many wonderful BIPOC influencers to follow, here are a few to start off with in order to diversify your feed.
If we’ve missed a beauty influencer or creator who you love, please DM them to us on Instagram @thelatch.com.au and we’ll add them.
Nawal Sari
Nawal Sari is known for her work as a modest fashion influencer who uses creative outfits to redefine modest fashion as modern and fun. But, Sari’s beauty skills are just as good. On social media, Sari shares her skincare secrets and upload playful makeup tutorials for inspiration.
Sari is super passionate about showing how she can still respect her faith and represent her community while still having fun.
“When I decided to wear the hijab at 16, I thought there was no place for me in the fashion world anymore. I never saw hijabi models or Muslim women generally represented in mainstream media,” Sari told TheLatch—.
“But I always knew I was creative, and I quickly realised when I graduated high school that I had a chance to make a change. I wanted young Muslim Aussie girls never to feel that way I did when I was 16.”
Sean Garrette
Based in New York City, Sean Garrette is an aesthetician and skincare blogger. Using experience and knowledge gained from working in the beauty industry, Garrette offers informed and helpful product recommendations via his Instagram page.
“I see clients every day, helping them resolve skin issues like acne, hyperpigmentation, and loss of tone and radiance,” Garrette told Into The Gloss. “You don’t often see many Black male aestheticians—or black men in general—included within the beauty space. I’ve been very fortunate to work with brands closely and to have my voice and face amplified.”
Michelle Wong
Michelle Wong is a Sydney-based science educator with a PhD in chemistry and the talent behind Lab Muffin — a blog that provides easy-to-understand explanations of the science behind beauty products. If you’re a beauty enthusiast, Wong’s social media, YouTube channel and blog are a must follow.
If there’s anything you’d like to know about how products work, Wong has most likely covered it.
Rowi Singh
The Instagram grid of Australian-born Indian Rowi Singh is pretty damn mesmerising thanks to the colourful and intricate makeup looks she creates. Taking inspiration from her Indian culture as well as the world around her — she did a fruit-inspired makeup series last year — Singh is an inspiring follow.
Gary Thompson
Known as The Plastic Boy online, Gary Thompson is a beauty blogger known for his sass and the flair he brings to makeup. While the number of men in the beauty influencer industry is growing, Thompson brings an alternative perspective to what is largely a woman-dominated world.
“I wanted to showcase me being a black boy, doing skincare and beauty reviews for deep skin tones”, he told Glamour in 2019. “I love being unique, standing for something and being a black boy in the beauty industry.”
Kaycee Hayden
Kaycee Hayden is an Indigenous Australian makeup blogger who is also studying mental health. The Perth-based blogger regularly posts makeup looks as well as costume makeup creations and is also a body positivity advocate.
Esther Joseph
Nigeria-Australian Esther Joseph is a Melbourne-based content creator who regularly posts her makeup looks on Instagram. Joseph is also vocal about the beauty industry’s lack of representation, especially when it comes to the shade ranges in makeup brands.
“I spend a lot of money on things and I would just like to go into stores and pick up a foundation, concealer or powder that was made for me,” Joseph told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2017.
Natasha Ndlovu
Natasha Ndlovu is a content creator and model based in the United Kingdom who runs a beauty blog and Instagram page called Bisous Natasha. Filled with dreamy images and some of Ndlovu’s favourite beauty products, it’s definitely worth of follow. Ndlovu also runs another Instagram account (simply called Natasha Ndlovu) where she posts fashion content that you should also add to your follow list.
Tavaris Jefferson
Tavaris Jefferson is a beauty content creator who creates fun and colourful makeup looks that he shares via Instagram. According to Jefferson, “makeup is therapeutic”, which you’ll agree with when you see the perfectly executed makeup looks.
Flex Mami
Flex Mami is a Sydney-based DJ, MTV host, author and “fairy nut mother”. Flex posts a mix of beauty and fashion content but is also vocal when it comes to sexual health and masturbation. She also regularly poses thought-provoking questions for her followers to think about and discuss via her critical thinking card game, ReFlex.
Wendy Asumadu
Wendy Asumadu is a London-based makeup artist who displays her colourful artistry on Instagram. Asumadu is also passionate about creating opportunities for Black people within the beauty industry, telling Rowi Singh in a recent interview that she aims “to encourage more black people with deeper skin tones to produce editorial and avant-garde makeup.”
“My goal is to produce so much more creative makeup on black skin because that we can finally see people who look like us when we’re searching for inspiration,” Asumadu said. “I want to show my unique take on makeup and show the endless possibilities of it all.”