NikkieTutorials Interview: The Power of Makeup, Eurovision and Nimya

Nikkie de Jager has made makeup videos since she was 14, and her main idea hasn’t changed since her 2015 breakout: nobody should be ashamed of loving makeup. She has applied it to full glam, to the brands she works with and, after a blackmail attempt forced her, as she has put it, to come out as transgender in 2020, to being judged by her work rather than by a label.

This post is for beauty creators who want to see how a tutorial channel becomes a career, for marketers deciding how to work with a beauty creator, and for fans who want her story in her own words. It covers her start, her breakout video, filming, brands, coming out, Eurovision, Nimya, her advice and her plans as of October 2026.

Who is NikkieTutorials?

NikkieTutorials is the online name of Nikkie de Jager, a Dutch make-up artist, model and beauty YouTuber born in 1994, who became famous in 2015 with a video that showed one half of her face in full makeup and the other half bare.

She was born in Wageningen, in the Netherlands, and began uploading tutorials in 2008, at 14. After about two years of videos she enrolled in makeup coursework at B Academy in Amsterdam, and in 2011 she signed with Colourfool Agency and began working as a professional makeup artist, according to Wikipedia. She married Dylan Drossaers on September 6, 2022.

How did NikkieTutorials get started?

“It all started one weekend back in 2008 when I was sick in bed watching MTV. They aired ‘The Hills’ Weekend Break. It was the first time I ever saw the show, and I immediately fell in love with the girls’ style. For two days I drooled over Lauren’s beautiful eyeliner and Heidi’s gorgeous hair.”

— Nikkie de Jager, Teen Vogue, July 2011

The next Monday, she told Teen Vogue, she searched YouTube for Lauren Conrad’s look and found a tutorial by SandyGold that recreated it with drugstore makeup. After three months of watching, she started making her own.

When Teen Vogue profiled her in 2011 she was 17 and had more than 100,000 YouTube followers. She described her job as making viewers feel good about themselves, with a few tips and a laugh along the way. In 2019 her first tutorial was still on her channel, and she wasn’t sentimental about it: “It’s horrible! Did you even look at my eyebrows?” she told Grazia Australia in 2019.

The channel came first and the training second. In autumn 2013 she became head makeup artist on the RTL 5 show I Can Make You a Supermodel, Wikipedia records. If you teach a craft, that order works: copy a look you love, and keep improving in public while you learn the trade properly.

What was “The Power of Makeup” video about?

“I’ve been noticing a lot lately that girls have been almost ashamed to say that they love makeup … Nowadays when you say you love makeup, you either do it because you want to look good for boys, you do it because you’re insecure, or you do it because you don’t love yourself.”

— Nikkie de Jager, in her video “The Power of Makeup”, as quoted by Business Insider, June 2015

In the 2015 video she did full glam on one half of her face and left the other half bare, an idea she took from RuPaul’s Drag Race. By mid-June it had more than 15 million views and had pushed her channel to 1 million subscribers, Business Insider reported. By 2019 it had 40 million views and was still her most-watched video, Grazia Australia reported.

Her point wasn’t that makeup fixes insecurity: “I just want people to know that makeup is fun and there are no rules.” In 2016 she explained why the shaming persisted.

“I think makeup shaming is still a thing because people are intimidated by others who go outside the box and get creative … If you love makeup, there shouldn’t be anything or anyone holding you back.”

— Nikkie de Jager, Seventeen, July 2016

The video worked because it was a tutorial with an argument, in a format viewers could copy and post themselves. If you make how-to videos, ask what you believe about your craft that your audience wants defended.

How does NikkieTutorials make a video?

“To be honest, I make things up as I go. I have a rough idea for sure, but I don’t practice or map it out.”

— Nikkie de Jager, Grazia Australia, October 2019

That was her answer when Grazia asked where the ideas for her looks come from. She doesn’t picture the size of her audience either: “When I’m filming and looking down the lens, I’m not looking directly at millions of people … I just talk to a camera.” In 2016 she told Tubefilter she uploaded twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays. By 2019 she had set herself a rule.

“I try to explain it like this: when I film a video, I’m trying to pass on this feeling. So whenever I’m talking about a highlighter, a lip gloss, whatever, I try to pass on how I feel about it. But when I’m having an off day, it’s really hard to pass that on. So I’ve learned throughout the past that whenever I’m not in the mood I just shouldn’t be filming.”

— Nikkie de Jager, BEAUTY/crew, July 2019

She added that deadlines don’t change that rule, even if some people hate her for it. It is a lesson she says she learned over time.

In a tutorial, your energy is part of the product. A video that arrives a day late costs less than one where you clearly don’t care about the highlighter you’re selling.

What does NikkieTutorials say about working with brands?

“I’ve always believed that makeup is a form of self-expression and there is no shame in experimenting with it. Marc Jacobs shares a similar ‘shameless’ approach to beauty, which I so admire …”

— Nikkie de Jager, in a statement quoted by Allure, January 2019

Her Too Faced deal grew out of her breakout video: Seventeen reported in 2016 that the response to “The Power of Makeup” helped inspire her five-piece Too Faced collection. She has also worked with OFRA and Maybelline. In January 2019 Marc Jacobs Beauty named her its first global artistry adviser, a role the brand said would bring her into its product development process, Allure reported. Her Snoop Dogg video for Marc Jacobs Beauty won a 2019 Streamy for branded video, and in August 2020 she launched an eyeshadow palette with the retailer Beauty Bay.

The two deals she has explained publicly put fit before reach: one built on a video her audience already loved, the other on a brand that shared her view of makeup. If you’re setting rates, our guide on what to charge for a sponsored video covers the numbers, and our guide to disclosing affiliate links and sponsorships explains how to label paid work.

What did NikkieTutorials say about coming out as transgender?

On January 13, 2020, she posted a YouTube video titled “I’m Coming Out”, in which she said she is transgender and that someone had tried to blackmail her by threatening to reveal it.

“I transitioned while on YouTube … And saying that right now seems so crazy to me, because I have literally grown up and transformed into me in front of all of you.”

— Nikkie de Jager, in her video “I’m Coming Out”, as quoted by NBC News, January 2020

Within about five hours the video topped YouTube’s trending page with 5.5 million views, NBC News reported. She later told Attitude that before posting it, “It truly felt like everything I had built for years was about to crash down and I was going to have to find a new job and start a new life.”

“I always wanted to come out with it, but it is such a delicate thing. Like, how do you find the timing? There is never the perfect timing … So, in a way, while I’m not thankful to the person who did this, I am thankful that it happened now. And now I get to be free.”

— Nikkie de Jager, on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, as quoted by Entertainment Tonight, January 2020

A year later she was clear about how she wants to be described.

“The one thing that I feared, in the beginning, was that everything that I accomplished or achieved in life, it would no longer be, ‘Oh Nikkie won this’ or ‘Nikkie did that’ … I was scared that it would become, ‘Oh Nikkie, the transgender, won this and achieved that’. That has happened, which, if you’re part of the media, you need to stop that, okay? It doesn’t matter what I am, I’m Nikkie, okay?”

— Nikkie de Jager, in a fan Q&A video, as quoted by PinkNews, January 2021

In August 2020 she and Drossaers were robbed at gunpoint at their home in Uden; police later said arrests had been made. In the same Q&A, as quoted by PinkNews, she said: “In that moment, I feared for my life. With the blackmailing, I feared for my career.”

Twelve years of showing up as herself on camera had built trust: when someone threatened to tell her story for her, she told it herself, and the video brought her more views than ever on YouTube, Attitude reported.

How did NikkieTutorials end up hosting Eurovision?

“But I still got a call and the click was there. I got the online role first, and now I got promoted. I totally bluffed myself into it.”

— Nikkie de Jager, SBS Dutch, May 2021

After Duncan Laurence won the 2019 contest for the Netherlands, she tweeted that she would host the next one, SBS Dutch reported. In February 2020 she was named online host of the 2020 contest, which was cancelled because of COVID-19. In September 2020 she was confirmed as a co-host of the 2021 contest, with Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley and Jan Smit, and she was the first transgender person to host it, Wikipedia records. SBS Dutch called it her first big television job.

“It’s the same with my channel – basically, I’m talking to a camera or a small audience, but never to millions of people. But what I find exciting is that the countdown you hear in your ear and when the red light goes on, you have to make it happen.”

— Nikkie de Jager, SBS Dutch, May 2021

She has done other television too: in 2020 she won the 20th-anniversary season of the Dutch reality show Wie is de Mol?, and she has hosted the Dutch edition of Glow Up, PinkNews reported. In April 2024 she was named the Netherlands’ Eurovision spokesperson, who reads out the national jury’s points, saying that after presenting the contest, “I still had one wish left: being a spokesperson!” After the Dutch entrant, Joost Klein, was disqualified, she withdrew, and the broadcaster AVROTROS chose not to replace her.

She said publicly what she wanted, then proved herself in the smaller online role first. For another YouTube creator’s view of moving to a TV desk, read our Lilly Singh interview.

Why did NikkieTutorials fund her own brand, Nimya?

“I’ve been in this industry for 14 years now and along the way there were so many investors and people who were like, ‘Hey, I want to do something together?’ And I don’t trust people. I was too afraid. The cosmetics industry is scary.”

— Nikkie de Jager, Entertainment Tonight, September 2021

The push came from her manager, Wes van Os, now her business partner, who asked her to focus on products missing from her routine, she told Entertainment Tonight. Nimya launched on September 23, 2021, with a moisturizer-primer hybrid, a setting spray, a serum and a cooling eye stick. At launch it had no set release schedule; new products would come out when she felt confident in them, WWD reported.

“I want people to know that this isn’t another cash grab. In fact, I think it’s going to take quite some time before I even earn money from this … I poured pretty much every cent I had into this just to make sure that I could come up with products that were made by me, funded by me.”

— Nikkie de Jager, WWD, September 2021

Beauty Bay began selling Nimya worldwide in July 2023, PinkNews reported, and as of October 2026 the brand’s own site still sells products such as its setting spray and a Fourmation palette.

Self-funding keeps control and slows growth, and she chose control. Compare our Huda Kattan interview to see how another creator-founded beauty brand handled outside investors. If you’re thinking about a product, start with the question her manager asked: what are you missing?

What advice does NikkieTutorials give new creators?

“Do it for the right reasons. A lot of people nowadays start for fame, for money, and I think it’s super important to start for the love of makeup, or whatever you’re doing. That’s how I started, that’s how I still remain doing this 11 years in. So do it for the right reasons.”

— Nikkie de Jager, BEAUTY/crew, July 2019

“Be yourself. I can’t stress this enough. I hate it when I see girls hold back their true personalities … Also, don’t give up. Give everything some time; you have to work hard for the things you want.”

— Nikkie de Jager, Teen Vogue, July 2011

The best advice she ever received, she told marie claire Australia in 2019, was “Don’t get comfortable”: keep trying new looks, colours and textures. In 2016 she told Tubefilter that the key to her success had always been staying true to who she is.

Her advice at 17 and at 25 is the same: be yourself, love the work and give it time. The part people skip is the time. She posted for seven years before one video took off.

What is NikkieTutorials working on now?

“I’m so incredibly honoured to take over from Leomie, and I promise I’ll take very good care of this baby. I’ve been lucky enough to pop into the Glow Up studio as a guest judge for quite a few seasons now … but this time I’m staying!”

— Nikkie de Jager, on being named host of Glow Up, in a statement quoted by PinkNews, September 2026

In September 2026 she was announced as the new host of the BBC competition Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star, taking over from Leomie Anderson, with Val Garland and Dominic Skinner returning as judges, PinkNews reported. Series eight was due to begin filming that month and to air in 2027. She had been a guest judge on the show in 2019 and 2024.

Her route runs from copying Lauren Conrad’s eyeliner to being named host of a TV competition for young makeup artists. A craft taught consistently, in public, can lead to work well beyond your own channel.

What creators can learn from Nikkie de Jager

Sources

• Q&A with Nikkie of NikkieTutorials, Teen Vogue, July 2011
• This YouTube beauty star put her reputation on the line to send a message to the world, Business Insider, June 2015
• YouTube Millionaires: NikkieTutorials Succeeds As “Crazy, Makeup-Loving Life Enthusiast”, Tubefilter, June 2016
• NikkieTutorials On Makeup Shaming, Glitter, And Her Epic Collaboration With Too Faced, Seventeen, July 2016
• Nikkie de Jager (AKA YouTube’s NikkieTutorials) Is Marc Jacobs Beauty’s New Global Artistry Advisor, Allure, January 2019
• Nikkie de Jager Shares The Best Piece Of Advice That She’s Ever Received, marie claire Australia, June 2019
• NikkieTutorials Nikkie de Jager’s Favourite Beauty Products Of All Time, BEAUTY/crew, July 2019
• The Transformative Power Of Nikkie de Jager, Grazia Australia, October 2019
• YouTuber and makeup artist Nikkie Tutorials comes out as trans, NBC News, January 2020
• NikkieTutorials Talks Growing Up Transgender in First Interview Since Coming Out, Entertainment Tonight, January 2020
• NikkieTutorials’ world has only got brighter since she came out as transgender, Attitude, November 2020
• NikkieTutorials sends defiant message to monsters whose blackmail attempt forced her to come out as trans, PinkNews, January 2021
• ‘Eurovision’ gets first transgender host in YouTube star Nikkie de Jager, SBS Dutch, May 2021
• Nikkie de Jager’s Next Beauty Move, WWD, September 2021
• NikkieTutorials on Her New Cosmetics Line and Delayed Wedding, Entertainment Tonight, September 2021
• NikkieTutorials launches her range Nimya at this huge beauty retailer, PinkNews, July 2023
• Netherlands: Nikkie de Jager Announced as Spokesperson for Eurovision 2024, Eurovoix, April 2024
• Trans icon NikkieTutorials announced as new host of major BBC show, PinkNews, September 2026
• Nimya by NikkieTutorials (brand website), October 2026
• Nikkie de Jager (English and Dutch editions), Wikipedia, October 2026

What to do next

If de Jager’s test for a partnership, whether the brand shares your view of the craft, changes how you pick creators, look at what their best videos argue as well as their follower counts. NikkieTutorials is one of the beauty picks on our list of top Instagram influencers, and our methodology explains how we choose.

For the same questions put to other creators, read more creator interviews, including our Michelle Phan interview on YouTube’s first wave of beauty tutorials, or browse practical guides on the Topfluencers blog.