Established beauty brands are struggling to compete with indie upstarts and their celebrity founders. Kylie Cosmetics made young consumers’ hottest beauty brand ranking, thanks to Kylie Jenner leveraging her influencer effect to turn her fans into customers. Glossier’s Emily Weiss and famed makeup artist Pat McGrath employed a similar strategy, building social followings with influencers’ and their own cult followings. Now, major brands are catching on, like MAC, which teamed up with YouTuber Patrick Starr and upped their digital presence. (WSJ)
