5 Queer Makeup Artists You Should Follow During Pride Month

Pride month has arrived, and it's time to go full throttle and do what you should be doing all year round: celebrating all the queerness vibes. It's a month to reflect and appreciate all of the love, vibrancy, and creativity the LGBTQ+ community brings to a dull world. 

Above all else, it's an excuse to bask in queer excellence and watch a few LGBTQ+ TV shows or have your favorite LGBTQ+ songs on repeat. But where it really counts is showing some love and appreciation for queer creatives that share their talent with the world for a living. Support creators any way you can, whether that's via donating or supporting their endeavors with a quick follow and a few likes.

One of the most fun corners of the LGBTQ+ community is that of makeup artists. No one pulls together a magical look quite like them. Especially during Pride, it's all about the bold rainbow looks or special messages painted across faces, per Glamour. Here are just a few of the queer makeup artists you're guaranteed to be wowed by. Click the follow button — trust us, you'll want this pure art to fill your feed! 

If you're keen on the beauty influencer scene, you'll already be very familiar with our first star Angel Merino, known as Mac Daddyy. Not only is Merino unbelievably stunning, but his talent is crazy. Having been a professional celebrity makeup artist for most of his career, Merino blossomed through becoming a beauty influencer. Garnering 1.3 million Instagram followers, as of publication, his success has exploded into so much more than just sharing his truly flawless makeup tutorials, per Instagram. 

While Merino has left us all wishing we had a sleek and sharp beard to complete every makeup look, his success skyrocketed when he launched his own makeup brand Artist Couture. Artist Couture started out as just a few Diamond Glow Powders that had a unique glittery formula that constantly sold out, but it has since grown into an entire range of face, lip, and eyeshadow products. 

Merino's raw talent speaks for itself, but by following him you get a lot more than just makeup tips. His hilarious Instagram stories will leave you in stitches, while his ability to candidly share his fitness journey is inspiring and motivational. He does it all, per Buzzfeed. If you don't follow him already, you're missing out on being part of the hilarious tight-knit community he's built on Instagram — as well as some killer makeup looks.

Nikita Dragun is one that people either love, hate, or love to hate. First joining YouTube in 2014 and beginning to openly share her journey as a transgender American immigrant, Dragun gained a huge following before even officially becoming an influencer, per Forbes. Now amassing 9 million followers on Instagram, as of publication, Dragun has skyrocketed in fame on every social media platform. Doing what she does best, Dragun shares immaculate makeup looks every time she posts and "p**** stunts," as she likes to call it. 

Similar to Angel Merino, Dragun also launched her own beauty brand Dragun Beauty with the beautiful mission to "create transformational makeup that celebrates people of all ages, races, sizes, genders, and identities as they unleash their fantasies and showcase their beauty." Her very first product launch celebrated the trans community with a color-correcting palette that's a must-try. 

Unfortunately, over the years Dragun has become much more synonymous with getting canceled than with beauty, as she has gotten caught up in countless controversies from accusations of her blackfishing to not respecting COVID-19 guidelines, per Seventeen. 

Despite all the drama, Dragun's inspirational story that she candidly shares still stands true. She has always openly shared photos from her journey to reaffirm and inspire her followers hoping to transition as well. Dragun recently shared an Instagram side by side photo of herself with a beautiful message, "I am loved and have every right to live my life as ME. trans women are women. trans men are men." 

If you're looking for truly awe-inspiring makeup looks and unreal talent, look no further. Toronto-based Mei Pang has taken the internet by storm with her unique makeup looks that instantly go viral and inspire a mass of TikToks attempting to recreate them, like Pang's unique lipstick print makeup look, per Allure. With her girl boss, tatted up, 100% real persona, Pang has built a huge following with 1.4 million followers on Instagram, as of publication. 

@Meicrosoft is the account you want to turn to if you're looking to get creative and step out of the box with your makeup. She shares an insanely intricate piece of art on her face almost daily and spreads the knowledge as she shares in-depth tutorials of how she achieved the looks on her TikTok and YouTube. Pang truly puts the art in makeup artist, as her magical looks can't even be described as just makeup anymore. Make sure to follow, as she's guaranteed to share an impressive Pride month look any day now!

For makeup with a powerful message, it's all about @Ellessechar — but don't forget to clock her bio clarifying her name is actually Char, not Ellesse. Char dedicates her account to championing diversity. Her beautiful feed highlights everything from her own story as a young woman of color that rocks a buzzed head like no other, to her adorable relationship that will leave you swooning, per Instagram. 

Char is unapologetically herself, and her 65.1k followers can not get enough of her realness, as of publication. She says it herself best in her Instagram bio description, "The unapologetic queer black woman of your dreams."

Char's talent at playing with vibrant bold colored makeup looks is just the cherry on top, as she shares everything from her makeup faves to skincare products. But most importantly, Char highlights and celebrates Black excellence with every post she shares. Char has even launched a separate platform, @Girlswillbeboys, that serves the purpose of telling queer stories. She's doing the damn thing.

What better way to end the list than with Nikkie Tutorials? She took the makeup world by storm as her tutorials became everyone's makeup gospel. Her influence only got all the more inspiring two years ago when she came out as transgender on YouTube. The news surprised her followers, but made her all the more amazing and loved.  

With almost 16 million followers on Instagram, Nikkie de Jager's impact speaks for itself. De Jager has been on YouTube for 13 years sharing in-depth makeup tutorials. You'd be surprised by how many beauty trends and hacks were set by de Jager — who could forget when she had us all using Nivea Men's Post Shave Balm as a primer, per Bustle? Well, just like all of her bizarre makeup tips and tricks, it worked! 

It's not just tutorials that she shares, but de Jager's YouTube has become infamous for featuring huge celebrities doing their own makeup routine from Adele to Selena Gomez. De Jager continues to share detailed makeup tutorials across all platforms, and now she gets to do it as her unapologetic fierce self!