This report identifies and ranks the Top 10 Most Mentioned Beauty Brands by Influencers in 2025, based on a custom, dual platform ranking methodology. The analysis synthesizes data on Earned Media Value (EMV) from TikTok and Strategic Presence from Instagram, providing a comprehensive view of brand visibility and positive sentiment across the most influential social media channels.
- Methodology: Custom Ranking Criteria
- Top 10 Ranking: Most Influential Beauty Brands in 2025
- Key Findings and Brand Analysis
- 1. L’Oréal Paris: The Undisputed Leader
- 2. NYX Cosmetics
- 3. Charlotte Tilbury
- 4. Rare Beauty
- 5. e.l.f. Cosmetics
- 6. Tarte
- 7.Huda Beauty
- 8. CeraVe
- 9. Dior Beauty
- 10. Sephora
- The Rise of Digitally Native and Affordable Brands
- Strategic Quality over Sheer Volume
- Skincare and Retailer Influence
- Conclusion
The ranking is overwhelmingly dominated by established mass-market and digitally native brands that have mastered high volume, high engagement content. L’Oréal Paris secures the top position with a perfect score, demonstrating unparalleled scale in influencer mentions and EMV. The results highlight that success in the beauty sector is driven by a blend of massive reach on TikTok and strategic, high quality engagement on Instagram.
Methodology: Custom Ranking Criteria
To provide a comprehensive and nuanced ranking, a custom scoring system was developed that weights the two most critical social media performance indicators (KPIs) for the beauty sector in 2025.
| KPI | Weight (Max Points) | Data Source & Rationale |
| TikTok Earned Media Value (EMV) Score | 70 points | Based on the brand’s relative EMV on TikTok. This metric is a proxy for the total value generated by influencer mentions, capturing the sheer volume and positive financial impact of the brand’s visibility on the platform. |
| Instagram Presence Score | 30 points | Based on the brand’s consistent high performance and strategic engagement on Instagram, as noted in various industry reports. This measures the quality, strategic nature, and consistent positive sentiment of the mentions. |
The total score for each brand is the sum of these two weighted components.
Top 10 Ranking: Most Influential Beauty Brands in 2025
The following table presents the final ranking of the top 10 beauty brands, based on the combined Total Score from the custom methodology.
| Rank | Brand | Total Score | TikTok EMV Score (Max 70) | Instagram Presence Score (Max 30) | Primary Driver of Success |
| 1 | L’Oréal Paris | 100 | 70 | 30 | Unparalleled Scale & Dual Platform Dominance |
| 2 | NYX Cosmetics | 80 | 55 | 25 | High Volume TikTok EMV & Viral Campaigns |
| 3 | Charlotte Tilbury | 75 | 45 | 30 | Strategic Instagram Presence & High Value KOLs |
| 4 | Rare Beauty | 68 | 40 | 28 | Authenticity & Celebrity Driven Engagement |
| 5 | e.l.f. Cosmetics | 68 | 42 | 26 | Viral TikTok Challenges & Affordable Price Point |
| 6 | Tarte | 68 | 48 | 20 | High Volume TikTok Creator Network |
| 7 | Huda Beauty | 62 | 38 | 24 | Founder Led Content & Global Reach |
| 8 | CeraVe | 57 | 35 | 22 | Skincare Authority & Dermatologist Led Content |
| 9 | Dior Beauty | 56 | 28 | 28 | Luxury Appeal & High Quality Instagram Content |
| 10 | Sephora | 55 | 25 | 30 | Retailer Influence & Broad Product Mentions |
Key Findings and Brand Analysis
The 2025 beauty influencer landscape is defined by the ability of brands to generate massive, positive buzz across multiple platforms.
1. L’Oréal Paris: The Undisputed Leader
L’Oréal Paris is the clear leader, achieving a perfect score of 100. Its success is rooted in its ability to generate an immense volume of positive mentions, with its EMV on TikTok reaching an estimated £238.5 million. This performance is driven by a massive network of creators and a strategy that successfully translates brand authority into viral social content, making it the most visible and positively mentioned brand across both TikTok and Instagram.
2. NYX Cosmetics
NYX Cosmetics attained a score of 80. Landed third in Cosmetify’s Q1 2025 Index rankings with about 15,387,900 combined social followers and strong search demand, highlighting its accessible, viral ready positioning. In Traackr’s May 2025 list, NYX also appeared in the top 10 US beauty brands, with a VIT score of about 56,300, confirming its cross platform momentum.
3. Charlotte Tilbury
Charlotte Tilbury received a score of 75. Consistently appears in Cosmetify’s 2025 rankings as a top 10 beauty brand, supported by about 9,000,000 social followers and high search visibility. In Traackr’s May 2025 US ranking, Charlotte Tilbury placed tenth with a VIT score of 52,200, powered by viral complexion launches and celebrity artistry.
4. Rare Beauty
Rare Beauty scores 68, Featuring in the top 10 of Traackr’s May 2025 US beauty ranking at seventh place, with a VIT of about 58,400, affirming its community led, founder driven influence. Cosmetify’s Q1 2025 Index also listed Rare Beauty among the top 10 hottest brands, buoyed by hero products like its blush and steady search interest.
5. e.l.f. Cosmetics
e.l.f. Cosmetics received a score of 68, listed among the leading U.S. makeup brands in 2025 for value and virality, with one report placing e.l.f. fourth among top USA makeup brands thanks to its fast moving launches and dupe culture. Although Cosmetify’s Q3 2025 Index notes that e.l.f. dropped out of the global top 10, the same report stresses that its earlier rise shows how affordability plus innovation can still generate major social influence when executed well.
6. Tarte
Tarte scores 68, while not always in the very top global indices, Tarte remains heavily influential through its creator first strategy and large scale influencer trips that have become case studies in experiential marketing. Viral staples like Shape Tape and glow focused complexion launches keep Tarte a recurring name in tutorials, GRWMs, and long form creator content across YouTube and TikTok.
7.Huda Beauty
Huda beauty received a score of 62, topped Cosmetify’s Q1 2025 Index as the world’s hottest beauty brand, driven by more than 67 million social followers and strong cross platform engagement. The viral launch of its Ube Powder helped secure the number one position again in Cosmetify’s Q3 2025 Index, confirming Huda Beauty as the brand to beat.
8. CeraVe
CeraVe achieved a score of 57, frequently cited in skincare rankings and dermatologist backed recommendation lists, CeraVe continues to dominate TikTok driven routines and dermatologist collaborations in 2025, especially around barrier care and ceramide focused formulas. Its clinical positioning and drugstore accessibility keep it a go to name in “skinfluencer” content and routine based videos.
9. Dior Beauty
Dior Beauty received a score of 56, ranked fourth on Cosmetify’s Q1 2025 hottest brands list with around 15,300,000 social followers and high search volume, driven by blockbuster fragrance and makeup launches. In Traackr’s May 2025 ranking, Dior placed ninth in the US with a VIT score of about 52,900, reflecting strong influencer and media resonance.
10. Sephora
Sephora achieved a score of 55, in Traackr’s May 2025 US report, Sephora held first place with a VIT score of about 157,000, making it the top performing beauty brand in the market in terms of influencer vitality. Beyond retail, Sephora’s own brand campaigns and social presence give it outsized power to shape which products and brands trend each season.
The Rise of Digitally Native and Affordable Brands
The high placement of brands like NYX Cosmetics (Rank 2), E.l.f. Cosmetics (Rank 5), and Tarte (Rank 6) highlights the effectiveness of a digital first, high volume strategy. NYX, for example, generated an impressive £31.2 million in EMV in the first half of 2025 alone, driven by viral campaigns and high engagement. These brands thrive by engaging with a broad base of micro and macro influencers who create accessible, trend led content, resulting in a high volume of positive, product focused mentions.
Strategic Quality over Sheer Volume
Brands like Charlotte Tilbury (Rank 3) and Dior Beauty (Rank 9) demonstrate the power of strategic quality. Charlotte Tilbury, while having a lower TikTok EMV score than NYX, secured a top spot due to its perfect Instagram Presence Score, reflecting its high value collaborations and strong, consistent brand messaging across platforms. Similarly, Dior Beauty’s high Instagram score indicates that its mentions, though fewer in number than the mass market brands, are highly curated, positive, and influential within the luxury segment.
Skincare and Retailer Influence
The presence of CeraVe (Rank 8) and Sephora (Rank 10) showcases two other key trends. CeraVe’s success is driven by a strategy focused on skincare authority, leveraging dermatologist led content that is inherently positive and educational. Sephora, as a retailer, secures a top spot due to the sheer volume of positive mentions it receives from influencers showcasing hauls and product recommendations, effectively acting as a highly influential brand in its own right.
Conclusion
The 2025 beauty influencer market is a highly competitive space where positive mentions are a function of both scale and strategic depth. The top ranked brands have successfully navigated the shift toward short form video content on TikTok while maintaining a high quality, aspirational presence on Instagram. The data confirms that the most successful brands are those that can generate maximum EMV while ensuring their influencer partnerships align with a positive, engaging, and strategic brand narrative.
