Nikkie de Jager (NikkieTutorials): Bio, Career & Net Worth

Long before Nikkie de Jager became one of the most recognizable beauty creators on the planet, she was a 14-year-old in the Netherlands, filming makeup looks in her bedroom after school. Today, NikkieTutorials is a name that reaches far beyond YouTube: a beauty mogul with her own brand, a former Marc Jacobs Beauty adviser, and the first openly transgender host of the Eurovision Song Contest. If you are wondering how big her fortune actually is — and how she built it — this biography covers her full story, with her net worth broken down by income source and labeled for what it is: an estimate.

Early Life and YouTube Beginnings

Nikkie de Jager was born on March 2, 1994, in Wageningen, the Netherlands. Makeup hooked her early: while home sick one day, she watched MTV's The Hills, became fascinated by Lauren Conrad's makeup, and started experimenting. In 2008, at just 14, she uploaded her first videos as NikkieTutorials — back when filming tutorials in a bedroom was something only a handful of people did.

She took the craft seriously. Nikkie studied makeup at the B Academy in Amsterdam and then went pro: she joined the Colourfool agency and rose to chief makeup artist for the TV show I Can Make You a Supermodel in 2013. Behind the camera, she kept uploading — a slow, steady grind that would pay off spectacularly a few years later.

"The Power of Makeup" and the Viral Breakthrough

May 10, 2015 changed everything. Nikkie posted "The Power of Makeup," applying makeup to only one half of her face — then showing the world the bare half. Her point was direct: makeup is fun, a form of art, not something women "need" to hide behind. The video passed 40 million views and started a global wave of half-and-half face posts.

It was the moment NikkieTutorials went from popular channel to cultural reference point. Subscribers poured in by the millions, brands came knocking, and in 2017 she collected the Shorty Award for YouTube Guru and the Teen Choice Award for Choice Fashion/Beauty Web Star. Forbes named her one of the ten most powerful beauty influencers that year. Her channel has since grown past 14 million subscribers with well over 2 billion lifetime views.

From Influencer to Industry Insider

Unlike creators who stayed in front of a ring light, Nikkie moved inside the industry. In January 2019, Marc Jacobs Beauty named her its Global Artistry Adviser — a newly created role that put her into the brand's product-development process and its global campaigns, including a collaboration with Snoop Dogg narrating a collection launch.

She also partnered with other beauty players over the years, including Ofra Cosmetics, Too Faced, Maybelline, and the UK retailer Beauty Bay, for which she curated her own eyeshadow palette. The palette's shade names were personal — the true red shade was named after her younger brother Mikai, who died of cancer in May 2018.

The 2020 Coming-Out Story

On January 13, 2020, Nikkie uploaded a video titled "I'm Coming Out" — and revealed that she is transgender. She had fully transitioned as a teenager, but had never shared that part of her life with her audience. The reason for the timing was painful: she said she had been blackmailed by someone threatening to reveal her history to the press, so she chose to tell her story on her own terms. The video has since been watched well over 30 million times.

The response was overwhelming. She appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and in June 2020 the Netherlands' UN chapter named her a Goodwill Ambassador. She was engaged to Dylan Drossaers, who proposed during a trip to Italy in August 2019; he stood beside her in the coming-out video. That August the couple were robbed at gunpoint in their own home; Nikkie said they were physically okay but mentally shaken, and the suspects were arrested by December 2020.

Eurovision 2021 and a History-Making Hosting Role

In 2021, Nikkie reached an audience most YouTubers never touch: she co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam alongside Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley, and Jan Smit — the first openly transgender person ever to host the contest. For one of the semi-finals she wore a dress covered in pink, blue, and white crystals, the colors of the transgender flag. She later served as the Dutch jury spokesperson for Eurovision 2024.

Like Nikkie, Duncan Laurence rode a Rotterdam Eurovision moment to international fame — I profiled his journey on this blog. Davina Michelle, another Dutch singer I have profiled, climbed the same kind of national-platform-to-international-stage ladder.

Nimya: Building Her Own Beauty Brand

The biggest business move of Nikkie's career came on September 23, 2021, when she launched Nimya, her own beauty brand — and she did it entirely with her own money. She publicly turned down investor offers, saying she wanted full creative control. The line launched with a moisturizer-primer hybrid, setting spray, cooling ice stick, glow serum, and lip glosses at accessible prices, and has since expanded into products like the "Trash Until The Lash" false-lash range.

That self-funded choice shows how far she has come: from promoting other brands' products to owning the entire operation. It is also the biggest question mark in any estimate of her fortune, because a founder-owned brand can be worth anywhere from a few million to tens of millions depending on sales.

Nikkie de Jager Net Worth in 2026: The Breakdown

So what is Nikkie de Jager's net worth? There is no official number — but published estimates cluster in a range, and the range tells its own story:

  • $6 million: the current estimate on multiple 2026 net-worth trackers, including networthforum.com, infoseemedia.com, and superstarsbio.com, as well as an Everything-PR industry profile that explicitly attributes it to YouTube revenue (15.1 million subscribers, 2.43 billion views), brand deals, and Nimya equity.
  • $2 million: the figure on celebsmoney.com and infocelebs.com — though both pages carry visibly stale data (one cites 7 million subscribers, less than half her actual count), so this number looks outdated rather than conservative.
  • $1.9 million: an even older estimate that has not been updated in years.

The honest answer, then: a defensible 2026 estimate sits around $6 million, with older or less-maintained sources still showing $2 million. Every one of these is an estimate, not a verified figure. Here is the reasoning behind the higher, more current number, based on her visible income streams:

Where the money comes from

  1. YouTube ad revenue: with 14+ million subscribers and over 2 billion lifetime views, even a modest back catalog generates steady income. Her library is evergreen — tutorials from years ago still get views.
  2. Brand deals and collaborations: the Marc Jacobs Beauty global advisory role, plus partnerships with Ofra, Maybelline, Too Faced, and Beauty Bay. Industry-standard deals at her scale run well into six figures each.
  3. Nimya brand equity: the wildcard. She owns the brand outright, so its value belongs to her — but privately held company valuations are guesses until a sale or funding round proves otherwise.
  4. Television and hosting: Eurovision hosting, the Dutch jury spokesperson role, and TV appearances add fees and, more importantly, keep her in front of mainstream advertisers.

The pattern is familiar: creators who turn a personal brand into diversified businesses. Martin Garrix, whose own empire I broke down, followed a similar arc from bedroom producer to global business.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Nikkie de Jager get famous?

She started uploading makeup tutorials to YouTube in 2008 at age 14. Her breakout came in 2015 with "The Power of Makeup," a half-face video that passed 40 million views and launched a global trend. Awards followed in 2017 — a Shorty Award and a Teen Choice Award — and her channel grew past 14 million subscribers.

What is Nikkie de Jager's net worth?

Published estimates range from $2 million to $6 million, and all are estimates, not verified figures. The most current 2026 sources, including networthforum.com and infoseemedia.com, converge on roughly $6 million. Older, less-maintained pages still show $2 million, but their data (citing only 7 million subscribers) is clearly out of date.

What is Nimya, NikkieTutorials' beauty brand?

Nimya is Nikkie de Jager's own beauty brand, launched September 23, 2021, with her own money — no investors. The line includes skincare-makeup hybrids like a moisturizer-primer, setting spray, glow serum, and lip products, plus false lashes, at accessible price points.

Did NikkieTutorials really host Eurovision?

Yes. She co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, becoming the first openly transgender person to host the event. She was originally lined up for the cancelled 2020 contest's online coverage, and later served as the Dutch jury spokesperson for Eurovision 2024.

About the Author

Sidra Salman is the founder of Dutch Stars Bio, where she writes practical, research-backed guides on biographies of Dutch celebrities. Every guide is tested and written in plain English for a US audience.

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