Cosmetify Index (2023)

Each year, Cosmetify looks at the world’s hottest beauty brands based on their social following, engagement, and number of Google searches.

In the 2022 Cosmetify Index, Florence by Mills was the hottest brand, with James Charles taking the crown as the most popular influencer, but how will things stand as we look back on 2023 and ahead to 2024?

As well as highlighting the most popular beauty brands, we’ve delved into the data for influencers and retailers and found out which brands have been on the rise in the last twelve months and which are the most popular worldwide.

The Hottest Beauty

Brands Ranked

1

Rare Beauty

7.81 /10

Rare Beauty, the makeup and cosmetics brand owned by Selena Gomez, leads the way with a score of 7.81 out of 10. The brand had over 17 million Google searches in 2023 and has a solid social media presence, with 7 million Instagram followers and a 0.51% engagement rate.

2

Charlotte Tilbury

7.71 /10

Charlotte Tilbury follows, with over 23 million searches and almost 6.5 million followers on Instagram. Makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury started the brand in 2013, and it has quickly ascended to cult status within the beauty industry, known for its high-quality products that combine the allure of old Hollywood with modern sensibilities and technology.

3

KIKO Milano

7.66 /10

In third place is KIKO Milano, which appears in more Instagram posts than the top two (2 million) but is slightly behind for searches and followers. The Italian brand has carved out a significant niche in the global beauty market. It emphasises inclusivity and diversity, catering to various skin tones, types, and personal styles.

Rank

Brand

2023 Searches

Instagram
Followers

Instagram
Engagement
Rate

Instagram Posts

Overall
score /10

View All

The Most Followed Brand

on Instagram

The Brand with the Best

Instagram Engagement

The Most Mentioned Brand

on Instagram

1

Huda Beauty

54.1

Million
Followers

One brand leads the way on Instagram, with Huda Beauty having over twice as many followers as any other brand. Founded by Huda Kattan in 2013, what started as a beauty blog in 2010 quickly transformed into a beauty empire, thanks to Kattan's passion for makeup, her expert knowledge, and her ability to connect with her audience. The brand is headquartered in Dubai, reflecting its founder's roots and the global nature of the beauty industry.

1

Sol de Janeiro

1.7%

Engagement
Rate

Sol de Janeiro has the best engagement rate on Instagram, which shows the percentage of likes and comments per post. These are usually higher among brands with fewer followers, as keeping a more extensive base of followers engaged is much more challenging. Sol de Janeiro captures the essence of Brazilian beauty culture, known for its fun and vibrant approach to personal care. Launched in 2015, the brand has quickly become famous for its body care products, celebrating Brazil's diversity, beauty, and energy.

1

Huda Beauty

30.7

Million
Posts

As well as being the most followed brand on Instagram, Huda Beauty also appears in the most posts, with over 30 million posts mentioning it using hashtags. The brand’s popularity on the platform can likely be attributed to Huda Kattan’s background as an influencer, leveraging her platforms to engage with her audience, showcase her products, and share beauty tips and tutorials.

The Brands on the

Rise for 2024

1

Bubble Skincare

2,872%

Increase 2022-2023

Bubble Skincare leads the way with an astounding 2,872% increase in searches, rising from 131,700 to 3.9 million. Bubble Skincare has been hugely popular on TikTok in the last year, with over 16 million likes, which explains its meteoric rise. The US-based brand is aimed at Gen Z customers and has been dubbed a Drunk Elephant dupe.

2

BYOMA

1,209%

Increase 2022-2023

BYOMA follows closely, with searches rising from 295,400 to 3.9 million, a 1,209% increase. This brand focuses on products designed to be gentler on your skin barrier, with fewer harmful ingredients. Like Bubble, it's taken TikTok by storm, which has helped build the hype.

3

Qure Skincare

569%

Increase 2022-2023

While its overall searches are lower, another brand that has seen a considerable increase is Qure Skincare, with searching going up by 569%, from 11,080 to 77,100. Qure offers LED skincare masks for acne, wrinkles and more. Light therapy has taken off in the last few years, and brands like Qure are bringing it from celebrity Instagram feeds to the home.

Rank

Brand

Searches 2022

Searches 2023

Searches Increase

Each Country’s Favourite

Beauty Brand

Looking at the most searched beauty brands worldwide, there were some interesting trends in 2023. For example, Bath & Body Works #1 most favoured brand in 12 countries, including Finland, The Netherlands, Spain, Cyprus & the US (see map below). Its popularity stretches across the globe, including countries in North America, the Middle East and parts of Asia and the Caribbean.

But other brands are more regionalised. For example, Rituals, a brand known for its home and body cosmetics, is popular across several European countries, such as the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland.

Oh K!, a Korean beauty brand, is the most searched-for brand in various countries, including Spain, Denmark and Israel. This indicates the global influence of K-beauty and its innovative, trend-setting products.

There are also examples of countries being loyal to their local brands. For instance, KIKO Milano is most prevalent in Italy and neighbouring countries, as is Charlotte Tilbury in the UK and Ireland. Innisfree is another example in South Korea.

KEY
Bath & Body WorksRitualsOh K!CeraVeLa Roche PosayKIKO MilanoL'OccitaneM·A·C CosmeticsSol de Janeiro Charlotte TilburyOriginsThe Body ShopAmouageBelcorpInnisfree No Data
Your browser does not support SVG
1

Bath & Body Works

Favoured In

12

Countries

List
2

Rituals

Favoured In

11

Countries

List
3

Oh K!

Favoured In

9

Countries

List
3

CeraVe

Favoured In

9

Countries

List
5

La Roche Posay

Favoured In

6

Countries

List
6

KIKO Milano

Favoured In

3

Countries

List
6

L'Occitane

Favoured In

3

Countries

List
6

M·A·C Cosmetics

Favoured In

3

Countries

List
9

Sol de Janeiro

Favoured In

2

Countries

List
9

Charlotte Tilbury

Favoured In

2

Countries

List
11

Origins

Favoured In

1

Country

List
11

The Body Shop

Favoured In

1

Country

List
11

Amouage

Favoured In

1

Country

List
11

Belcorp

Favoured In

1

Country

List
11

Innisfree

Favoured In

1

Country

List

2023’s Biggest Beauty

Retailers

1

Sephora

7.65 /10

Sephora leads for beauty retailers with an overall score of 7.64 out of 10, boasting the highest organic search traffic at 16,100,000 and a massive Instagram following of 22.1 million. Despite having a low engagement rate of 0.02%, the retailer appears in over 10 million Instagram posts, way more than any other retailer. Featuring nearly 3,000 brands and its own private label, Sephora offers a diverse range of beauty products, including cosmetics, skincare, body, fragrance, nail colour, beauty tools, and haircare. Founded in Limoges in 1970 by Dominique Mandonnaud, Sephora's concept is based on a self-service model that differs from traditional cosmetics counters of the past.

2

Beauty Bay

7.21 /10

Beauty Bay follows with a score of 7.21, showcasing a balanced performance with 909,100 in organic search traffic and an Instagram engagement rate of 0.10%, higher than Sephora's, on a follower base of 1.9 million. Beauty Bay is a UK-based online retailer known for offering various cosmetics and beauty products. Founded in 1999, it started as a fragrance retailer before expanding into a broader range of beauty products. Today, Beauty Bay is recognised for its extensive selection of makeup, skincare, haircare products, and beauty tools from well-known and emerging brands.

3

Ulta Beauty & Nykaa

7.06 /10

Ulta Beauty and Nykaa share third place, each scoring 7.06. Ulta Beauty has a strong organic search presence with 10.3 million hits and a significant Instagram following of 7.2 million. Nykaa has lower search traffic, fewer followers and a slightly better engagement rate of 0.03%. Ulta is a prominent American chain of beauty stores that offers a unique and comprehensive retail experience, catering to a wide range of beauty needs and preferences. On the other hand, Nykaa is an Indian e-commerce company.

Rank

Retailer

Organic search
traffic (February
2024)

Instagram
Followers

Instagram
Engagement
Rate

Instagram Posts

Overall
score /10

View All

2023’s Most Powerful

Beauty Influencers

1

nikkietutorials

Nikkie de Jager

Instagram

£16,400

TikTok

£16,100

YouTube

£16,500

Estimated Earnings Per Post

When it comes to influencers, Nikkie de Jager leads with a combined following of 42.7 million across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and the highest estimated combined earnings per post at £49,000. She is a Dutch makeup artist and beauty vlogger popularly known for her YouTube channel, NikkieTutorials. She gained international fame with her YouTube channel, sharing makeup tutorials, beauty tips, and personal vlogs.

2

bretmanrock

Bretman Rock

Instagram

£20,500

TikTok

£14,600

YouTube

£7,700

Estimated Earnings Per Post

Following closely is Bretman Rock, with a slightly higher combined following of 43.93 million but lower estimated earnings per post at £42,800. This is because estimated earnings are influenced by engagement rates, not just follower counts. Bretman Rock is a Filipino-American social media personality, beauty influencer, and content creator known for his vibrant personality, humorous videos, and makeup tutorials.

3

jamescharles

James Charles

Instagram

£15,300

TikTok

£18,300

YouTube

£9,000

Estimated Earnings Per Post

Third place goes to James Charles, with a combined following of over 83 million, the highest on the list, and estimated earnings of £42,500 across the three platforms. Born James Charles Dickinson, he is a prominent figure in the beauty and digital content creation industry and rose to fame for his work as a makeup artist and beauty YouTuber.

Instagram

TikTok

YouTube

Combined

Rank

Name

Followers

Estimated Earnings
Per Post

Followers

Estimated Earnings
Per Post

Followers

Estimated Earnings
Per Post

Combined
Followers

Combined Estimated
Earnings Per Post

View All

Carly Cochrane, beauty expert at Cosmetify, comments on the report’s findings:

"In the ever-evolving beauty industry, the Cosmetify Index comprehensively analyses the most influential beauty brands and trends for 2023.

“This year's report highlights Rare Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury, and KIKO Milano as leaders in the beauty sphere based on searches, social media presence, and engagement. Bath & Body Works emerges as the most searched-for brand, while Huda Beauty dominates Instagram with the most followers and posts.

“The report also highlights the rising brands, such as Bubble Skincare and BYOMA, showing significant shifts in consumer interest towards skincare and brand inclusivity.

“The index also shows the global reach of beauty preferences, with brands like Bath & Body Works and Rituals enjoying widespread popularity worldwide.

“In the realm of retail, Sephora leads with its vast organic search traffic and social media following, underlining the importance of digital presence in today's market.

“The influence of beauty content creators is still huge, with Nikkie de Jager, Bretman Rock, and James Charles topping the list of the most powerful beauty influencers. Their reach and impact show just how important the relationship between social media and beauty continues to be.”

Methodology

Brands

We started with a list of over 1,000 beauty brands before narrowing this down to a top 50 based on Google Search volume. Each of these 50 brands was then analysed on the following factors, with each being given a normalised score out of 10 for each factor before an average score was taken.

  • Annual Google searches: the number of searches made in 2023, according to Google Ads Keyword Planner
  • Instagram followers: the number of followers on the brand’s main account as of February 23rd, 2024.
  • Instagram engagement rate: the engagement rate on the brand’s main account as of February 23rd, 2024, according to HypeAuditor’s Instagram Engagement Rate Calculator.
  • Instagram posts: the number of posts that mention the brand using hashtags as of February 23rd, 2024.

We also calculated the increase in searches between 2022 and 2023 (using the full initial seed list of brands).

Retailers

We looked at 20 prominent beauty retailers, comparing them on the following factors:

  • Organic search traffic: The site’s organic search traffic for February 2024, sourced using Semrush
  • Instagram followers: the number of followers on the brand’s main account as of February 23rd, 2024.
  • Instagram engagement rate: the engagement rate on the brand’s main account as of February 23rd, 2024, according to HypeAuditor’s Instagram Engagement Rate Calculator.
  • Instagram posts: the number of posts that mention the brand using hashtags as of February 23rd, 2024.
Influencers

For each influencer, we took the number of followers on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube as of February 23rd, 2024. We calculated their estimated earnings per post on each platform using HypeAuditor’s earnings calculators. These were then combined. Note that YouTube earnings data was unavailable for Jeffree Star and Tati Westbrook.

Brought to you by
Compare prices on the UK’s favourite beauty brands