27 beauty creatives to follow for bold, boundary-pushing inspiration

Refusing to be confined to strictly styling hair, Malcolm Marquez’s work extends beyond heads to wearable and sculptural pieces. Working primarily in music and fashion, Marquez has created looks for album covers and magazines alike, and recently took part in the hair show Black Hair Reimagined.

Alexandra French is the Emmy Award-winning make-up artist behind the viral looks of HBO’s Euphoria. Her artistry helped define the show’s aesthetic, crafting looks that became cultural phenomena in their own right. Since leaving the film industry, she has become a go-to artist for celebrities and brands.

Read an interview with Alexandra French here.

Jewel Yang is a Beijing-born make-up artist and face-ware designer of Kam heritage, who draws on mythology to create her futuristic looks. Influenced by Chinese traditional art, Yang created Amelia Gray’s make-up for the cover of Dazed’s New Gen issue.

Read an interview with Jewel Yang here.

Maame Efuwa Aikins is a nail artist and multi-disciplinary creative who is based between London, Tokyo and New York. Considering nail art more a means of body modification, her work is informed by her background in a Japanese-Ghanaian household, and her later time in London.

Haisam Mohammed is a perfumier who founded the perfume house Unifrom™ in 2020. A move away from euro-centric fragrances, the scents of Unifrom™ are inspired by the smells – incense burning, spices cooking – of the high-rises of Sweden’s more diverse neighbourhoods.

Hugo Trix is a make-up artist and body painter whose looks merge grunge with glamour. Recent collaborations include work for Adela Jergova, Yves Tumor, Ralphie Choo, Sita Abellán and Toccororo, and with brands such as Dsquared2, Evade House and Sia Arnika, among others.

Brooklyn-born Nadia Tayeh is the celebrity make-up artist behind the looks of stars such as Bella Hadid (including for the cover of Dazed MENA), Imaan Hammam and Jodie Turner-Smith. Tayeh approaches beauty through a cinematic and story-driven lens, blending art, culture and narrative to create looks that transcend trends.

Nikki Panic is a self-taught nail artist from Switzerland who began her career while completing her nursing degree. With a versatile, playful approach, she uses techniques and effects including hand painting, 3D sculpting, crystals, and chrome finishes to bring her creations to life.

Saint Laurahs is a 24-year-old self-taught make-up artist who has worked with artists like Doechii, JT and Lil Uzi. With a background in painting, creative direction and prop design, Laurah’s style is a mix of surrealism, industrial and “vixen”, specialising in SFX, editorial and soft glam.

Read an interview with Saint Laurahs here.

Originally from New Zealand, Matt Benns is the hairstylist helping define pop culture. As well as styling Charli xcx’s hair for the Brat tour and film The Moment, Benns has collaborated with Nadia Lee Cohen, given Kim Kardashian a buzzcut, and worked with Kelela for her 2023 album rollout.

Read an interview with Matt Benns here.

Kayra Theodore is a Haitian-American hair artist known for her sculptural looks. Marrying cultural traditions with avant-garde design, her work tells stories through shape and structure, using hair as a language and treating each strand, curve and coil as a meditation on heritage and rebellion.

Rachel Sun of ALL HAIL THY NAIL is a 24-year-old nail artist who has collaborated with Doechii on a series of experimental designs. Drawing inspiration from the natural world (fish scales, soil, hair and bones), Sun transforms the conventional manicure into work that's sculptural and surreal.

Peterson Oliveira de Santos, who is also known locally as Maquininha du Corte, runs a barbershop in Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro's largest favela. Drawing people from all over the neighbourhood for du Corte’s distinctive carioca cuts, the shop is a space of community.

Read more about Maquininha du Corte here.

Catscratch Studio is a Brooklyn-based tattoo co-op led by artists Elena Zhang, Emily Jung, Fiona Lu and Leigh Eleanor. With an ethos that art belongs on all bodies, Catscratch aims to create an inclusive space for all, dismantling the heteropatriarchal norms set by parlours of the past.

John Novotny is a hair artist and wig designer known for their bold use of colour and sculpture. Novotny’s work treats hair as a metaphor for identity, exploring surreal forms and hair that seems impossible. Novotny has transformed the tresses of Chappell Roan, Cole Escola, Alex Consani and more.

Read an interview with John Novotny here.

Also known as Lolox, Loïse Hulin is a self-taught SFX artist who experiments with prosthetic skin and playful trompe-l'oeil creations. Valuing collaboration, her work with the designer Rohan Mirza – including her silicone ‘Big Foot Pants’ – has helped define her practice.

Read an interview with Loïse Hulin here.

Tahvya Krok, or “Tav”, is a seamstress turned celebrity nail artist. Krok discovered nails accidentally after moving to LA to pursue her dream in garment architecture. She now uses her mastery of art and technique to create expressive, hyper-detailed work.

Originally from Reading, Ruby Howes is a hairstylist whose work spans editorial, commercial and film. With creations that tend to have a sculptural quality, Howe considers hair a means of creating a character, and telling a wider story.

Jeannette Williams is a rising multidisciplinary artist whose bold style spans make-up, photography and creative direction. She’s crafting a visual language that is distinctly her own – loud, layered and unapologetically Black. Most recently, she was behind Rico Nasty’s viral LETHAL tour glam.

To Mab, a multidisciplinary airbrush artist from Connecticut, everything from denim to skin is a canvas. Her deeply personal practice is rooted in transformation. Mab’s first solo exhibition, Aerosol Couture, fused art, Blackness and bold self-expression.

Read an interview with Mab here.

Hamdi Osman paints what scares her, recreating scenes from horror films onto wigs that look ready for both a runway and a resurrection. Her work fuses pop culture and the macabre, beauty and terror, the everyday and the uncanny. At 25 years old, the Dallas-based Somali hair artist has carved out a singular space for her work, one where internet virality, horror fandom, and beauty come together.

Read an interview with Hamdi Osman here.

Mayben is the creative director of DAYSINSHELL, a ‘bio-punk’ jewelry brand that combines organic forms and metallics. Inspired by unique biomorphic forms, she combines natural yet fantastical sculptural beauty with metal crafts to create a unique aesthetic.

Yuka Kimura is deeply interested in the contradictions and diversity of human nature. This explains why her feed defies a single style. Having grown up in Japan and China, she graduated from Bunka Fashion College and worked as a designer for Yohji Yamamoto. Launching her own brand, "mukcyen," she won the 2025 JFW NEXT BRAND AWARD Grand Prix for her designs, which draw on Japanese craftsmanship and vintage style.

Embracing her uniqueness, including her dark skin tone, model Subiksha Shivakumar challenges the stereotypical standards of the Indian beauty industry and is leading the way in expanding the spectrum of beauty and individuality.

With over 5.5 million followers, Mrunal Panchal Sharma is one of India's leading beauty influencers. Born in 1999, she has established herself as a leading figure in Gen Z beauty creators, showcasing bold make-up and experimental glamour on Instagram and TikTok and co-founding the beauty brand Mrucha Beauty.

Aliya Hamidi is a Dubai-based model, make-up artist, and digital content creator. Her diverse Reels content, focusing on beauty and fashion, has garnered significant local views. In addition to her influencer work, she has appeared in over a dozen music videos, demonstrating her influence both online and offline.