How Much Money Does Jackie Aina Make From YouTube?
Jackie Aina tells it like it is. The U.S. Army veteran and beauty vlogger has always been vocal about her opinions on everything from inclusivity in the beauty industry to beauty influencer drama (via Refinery29). She's consistently been real with her over 3 million YouTube subscribers, and it's exactly why her fans keep coming back to her.
That also means that when Aina doesn't want to go into detail about how much money she makes from YouTube, she doesn't have to. So while Naibuzz estimates her net worth to be around $600,000, she told BuzzFeed that she would not reveal how much she actually makes.
Here's why Jackie Aina won't talk about how much she's worth
In the February 2019 BuzzFeed interview, the journalist asked about how much money she had made from YouTube, sponsored social media content, collaborations and more. However, Aina declined to answer the question. "There's already so much vanity and glamour associated with what we do — I feel like the moment people found out what they thought we all make, they started doing the absolute most," Aina told BuzzFeed. "It's created a really green-eyed climate."
She's landed partnerships with huge brands like Anastasia Beverly Hills, Too Faced, e.l.f Cosmetics, Sigma Beauty, and many, many more. Regardless of how much she gets paid, Aina is definitely killing the beauty game.
How has Jackie Aina stayed so successful?
With the news that Instagram is hiding likes, that social media engagement rates are nearing all-time lows, and the alarming number of influencer-related lawsuits, it feels like the reign of influencers might be coming to an end (via Business of Fashion, Dazed). But that isn't the case for Aina.
The beauty guru doesn't tend to hop on trends or enter into conversations that don't involve her. Everything she says is intentional, and that's what makes her stand out from other influencers — and it's why she's been able to make actual change in the beauty industry. "I truly mean this wholeheartedly, whenever I talk about brands, I want them to actually implement that feedback and use it to their benefit," she told Glamour.
Her success is even award-winning. In 2018, Aina was named WWD's Influencer of the Year for her commitment to championing inclusivity in the beauty space, and for her ability to actually enact change. "There's still a bit of a glass ceiling on certain [YouTube] creators based on your complexion," she told WWD. "That's something that I'm always going to be very vocal about."
Jackie Aina's influence has caused brands to completely relaunch collections
When a huge brand like Tarte decides to completely relaunch one of their most highly-anticipated collections ever in part because of one review, then you've got power. When Aina did an honest review of the brand's new Shape Tape foundations in 2018, she was incredibly disappointed with the lack of shades for darker-skinned people. Out of the 15 shades they launched, only three were even close to being dark enough for Aina to match. "I don't appreciate the blatant erasure of a whole spectrum of people. It doesn't even look like they tried," she said in her review. The brand ended up completely relaunching the foundations with over 50 shades for customers to use.
Other brands took note. Too Faced decided that instead of having to deal with that kind of backlash, they were going to be proactive about their inclusion of other shades right from the start, and they invited Aina to partner with them. "It's about doing the right thing," Jerrod Blandino, Too Faced's cofounder told Glamour. "Jackie's at the forefront of changing that for us — for the world."
Are other YouTubers open about how much they make?
Becoming a YouTuber is a legitimate way to make money, but only a handful make it even somewhat close to Jackie Aina-level fame. Other top YouTubers include Jeffree Star, Jenna Marbles, and Lilly Singh, and all of them are worth literal millions (via Millennial Money).
Star has been open about how rich he is, even going as far as to shade Kylie Jenner on Twitter by claiming that he passed on the opportunity to be on the cover of Forbes, so the magazine had to feature Kylie instead (via Seventeen). He's spoken about how many businesses and investment properties he owns, and he's even revealed to audiences that a brand once offered him $165,000 to use their product (via Cosmopolitan). What?!
Needless to say, if any Jackie, Jeffree, or any other YouTubers decide that they need to take a few days off from being an influencer of this status, we're here with open wallets. Oops! We mean arms — we're here with open arms.