TikTok takes the lead in online beauty influence with 20 times more engagement than Instagram

1 May 2026

Wearisma, an AI-powered social and creator intelligence platform, has released its Beauty Influence Index 2026, based on 327 beauty brands across more than 90 markets, as well as over 111,000 creators through 4.9 million conversations. The data spans the entirety of 2025, with comparisons drawn against 2024. Valued at $40 billion in media value generated by the industry's top 100 brands, the weight of beauty and its online influence has grown by +17%.

The geographic analysis of online beauty influence highlights the continued dominance of North America, which accounts for $19 billion in media value, including $17 billion for the United States alone. However, the most remarkable momentum comes from Europe, and more specifically from France, which recorded the fastest growth among major markets at +61%, reaching $3 billion. Italy and Spain also confirm this trend, helping to reposition the EMEA region as a major strategic hub.
With $18.1 billion in earned media value generated in 2025, TikTok has now established itself as the dominant platform in the beauty industry, surpassing Instagram for the first time, which trails at $17 billion. This strategic shift, marked by annual growth of +55% for TikTok, reflects a fundamental change in audience attention. The gap goes beyond volume alone. In terms of engagement, the platform generates nearly 20 times more interactions than Instagram. That said, Instagram retains distinct performance advantages. Carousel formats demonstrate superior effectiveness, delivering +29% more media value per post compared to Reels. In this reconfigured landscape, YouTube occupies a more targeted yet high-value position, with a content yield nearly three times greater than that of Instagram Reels.

The performance analysis reveals that mega-influencers are no longer necessarily the most effective lever. "The real challenge goes beyond platform shifts. The creators delivering the best results are often not the most well-known," explained Jenny Tsai, CEO and founder of Wearisma. Indeed, macro-influencers, with communities ranging between 250,000 and 500,000 followers, are showing the strongest growth momentum (+23% year-over-year). Within this category, ASMR content stands out as the most profitable in terms of media value per post, while remaining largely underutilized. This gap between performance and adoption opens up a significant strategic opportunity for brands willing to engage with content formats beyond the standard playbook.
+90% growth for K-Beauty

Makeup maintains a dominant position, accounting for $28 billion, or 61% of the total value generated by the beauty industry in 2025. L'Oréal Paris leads the ranking with $3 billion, while brands founded by entrepreneurs or creators are recording particularly strong growth trajectories: Rhode reaches $1 billion, Westman Atelier grows by +117% and Haus Labs by +66%. However, this dominance is gradually being challenged. Skincare, with $9 billion in media value and 50 billion engagements, confirms its solid market standing, while the fragrance segment emerges as the most dynamic, reaching $8 billion. Notably, it remains the only segment where Instagram holds the lead, driven by its visual and aspirational identity.
Certain market trends stand out for their remarkable acceleration. Having broken export records, K-Beauty is the most striking example, generating $1 billion in earned media value after surging +90% in a single year. This growth is largely driven by the mainstreaming of the "glass skin" aesthetic, now a widespread phenomenon, generating an average of 284,000 interactions per post.

On the fragrance front, "scent layering," the practice of combining multiple fragrances to create a personalized olfactory signature, recorded growth of +31%, approaching $33 million in media value. Beyond the numbers, this trend reflects a broader shift toward more educational content, brought to life by creators. In skincare, the "Get Unready With Me" format has emerged as a key indicator of changing consumer habits: 9 out of the 10 top-performing brands on this format belong to the skincare category.