Keeping Up With Pat McGrath

When Forbes published a story that applauded “America’s Women Billionaires,” many folks were left scratching their heads when Kylie Jenner was touted as a “self-made” businesswoman. It’s true that the 21-year-old is on track to become the youngest-ever billionaire, but coming from the most famous family in show business, Jenner is about as self-made as Donald Trump was when his father gave him a “small loan” of more than a $1 million to get his real estate empire started.

One makeup maven who is unquestionably a self-made billionaire is Pat McGrath.

Vogue has dubbed the British-Jamaican artist “the most influential make-up artist in the world” and her unmatched innovation and skill-set has earned her the affectionate title, “Mother” among many within the beauty industry.

Though McGrath has been in the beauty industry since the 1980s, her make-up line, Pat McGrath Labs is fairly new, making its debut in 2015. But within that short span, her company has already reached an estimated valuation of $1 billion and is outpacing Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics by a long shot.

Here’s what you need to know about the trailblazing artist:

McGrath was born in Northampton, England and did not have any formal training. Instead, she was inspired by her Jamaican single mother, Jean McGrath, who would quiz her daughter on different shades of eyeshadow.