Top 50 Beauty & Makeup channels in United Kingdom
Beauty is one of YouTube's foundational creator categories. The biggest channels were built over a decade and have evolved from tutorials into multi-platform brand empires, often launching successful makeup or skincare lines that dwarf their YouTube ad revenue.
The United Kingdom is one of YouTube's most lucrative non-US markets. UK-heavy channels typically earn RPMs only slightly below US levels, and UK viewers are valued by advertisers as part of the broader tier-1 English-speaking bloc.
The leaderboard
36 channels
The beauty & makeup channels winning in United Kingdom.
Long careers: top beauty channels often span 8–12 years on the platform, much longer than most other niches.
Product-business synergy: AdSense is rarely the main revenue line; brand deals and owned product lines are.
Tier-1 RPMs: UK ad spend is the second-highest English-language market globally, behind only the US.
Strong in football commentary, comedy, music, and lifestyle vlogging, long-running creator culture.
Beauty & Makeup in United Kingdom, answered.
Real questions about how the beauty & makeup niche operates inside the United Kingdom market. Still curious? Get in touch.
Most full-time beauty creators have four income streams: (1) AdSense, usually a smaller slice; (2) brand sponsorships and PR partnerships; (3) affiliate commission from product links (Sephora, Ulta, Amazon); (4) their own product line, which over time becomes the largest line for top channels. The biggest beauty creators on YouTube earn 70–90% of their income outside YouTube ads.
It's saturated for generic 'apply makeup' content. It is wide open for specific angles: skincare for a particular skin condition, makeup for a particular skin tone, technique tutorials for under-served features, niche brand-history deep-dives, or budget-only product reviews. The top new entrants in the past 3 years have all picked a sub-niche specific enough to own, then expanded.
Better than the niche average, yes. Beauty is one of the few niches where image quality directly affects credibility, because viewers need to see exact colours and finishes. A solid ring light, a good front-facing camera (even a recent phone), and a controlled background are non-negotiable. Studio-grade gear is not, especially in the first 12 months.
Slightly below but in the same league. UK RPMs typically run 70-85% of US rates, depending on category. The big advantage UK channels have over the US is access to both UK and US sponsorship demand: an English-language channel with a UK audience can be sponsored by US brands targeting UK viewers, plus the entire UK brand-deal ecosystem on top.
Football commentary and analysis (a uniquely strong UK lane), comedy and sketch, lifestyle vlogging, music, and gaming. UK has produced some of the platform's longest-running creator empires in those categories. Tech, finance, and education are smaller in the UK than in the US but still substantial.
