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Maybe I’m still basking in the afterglow of CreatorIQ Connect Europe—and if you want to bask with me, check out our Connect Recap Hub, featuring videos of each and every session—but lately my mind is turning to EMEA markets. After all, I heard someone say that Europe is the future of creator marketing. But with all this Europe talk, and all this attention on the future, I realized that HBBIP is pretty America-centric. Could there be more to this world beyond the Atlantic? Crazy theory, I know.

Think of this latest blog post as a Kinder Surprise Egg: a distinctly European offering. I didn’t want to describe this edition as either a roundabout (though some might describe my writing style that way) or a bidet (though some might describe my writing style that way), so that left the Euro-chocolate.

But I don’t want to talk about European chocolate brands, at least not this week. (Though if any readers happen to work for European chocolate brands, I am once again asking you to please send me free product.) Instead, I want to talk about a vertical near and dear to my heart—and, apparently, the heart of Europe: beauty.

Which brands are surging? Which trends are emerging? Which products are worth splurging…for? Without further ado, the answers to these and other questions.

The top (European Beauty) brand(s) of all time (of the week): keep reading

To start, some ground rules. We’re going to be looking at data from:

• The whole world (i.e. our global panel)
• Europe (all of it)
• France (or, as it’s known in France, ‘France’)
• Germany (aka ‘Deutschland,’ which seems like a mouthful, but hey, I don’t make the rules)

Posts under analysis will date from:

• May 2024 to April 2025

Global Beauty

I know, I know: I said this would be Eurocentric. But I figured now that I’m casting my gaze beyond America, I might as well go big with it. Let’s start all the way zoomed out.

What stands out about global beauty over the past 12 months?

• (Almost) Everybody’s growing
  • Only one brand in the top 50 beauty brands by EMV displayed a negative YoY EMV change, while one additional brand displayed no change. I’m not going to identify those brands, because I’m a nice person (legal disclaimer: the real reason is that we don’t want any brands to get mad at us. Also, he’s not that nice.)
  • When we expand that search to the top 100, we add eight more declining brands and one more brand stalling out at a 0% change. Now, I am not a mathematician, but 89/100 brands showing YoY EMV growth demonstrates a pretty healthy vertical. I can’t tell you exactly what percentage that is—because again, math—but it’s quite impressive!
• Solid, but not spectacular, YoY gains
  • The top 100 brands by EMV displayed the following averages for YoY growth in key metrics:
    • EMV: 34%
    • Impressions: 42%
    • Engagements: 30%
    • Number of creators: 22%
    • Number of posts: 24%
  • One thing these numbers show is that creators (and brands) are doing more with less. We might not be seeing a ton of new creators or posts, but that content is fueling growth in other metrics, especially in impressions. And why is that?

• TikTok is a rising tide

• I’ve mentioned before how TikTok is hyper-effective at sparking impressions. Thanks to the platform’s For You Page algorithm, which allows users to experience content from creators they don’t necessarily follow, TikTok casts a wider net, to use another maritime metaphor.
• Even though a majority of brands’ totals stem from Instagram, TikTok tends to see higher YoY growth across key categories. Check out these averages for the global top 100 for comparison:

Average YoY Growth: Top 100 Global Beauty Brands

This is crazy stark. Again, scale matters, and Instagram is still driving much higher raw totals in these metrics, but when you have a difference in growth rate between the two channels of over 100%, how long will Instagram continue to hold an edge? The difference in engagements is 1% YoY growth for Instagram, 97% for TikTok. It’s getting to the point where our legal team is going to have to step in again so I don’t offend our friends at Meta (legal disclaimer: easy now).

I’d go on with more takeaways about global beauty, but a lot of the same points hold true about our other markets, so let’s hop over to them.

European Beauty

Alright, as promised, here HBBIP is in Europe, at last. Old buildings. Lots of little cups of coffee. Kilometers. Let’s do it.

For now, we’re going to look at the top 100 brands by EMV. In particular, we’re going to focus on the top 10 brands by YoY EMV growth within the top 100:

Top 10 YoY EMV Growth: EU Top 100 Beauty Brands

I love the representation of different industries and brand identities across this set: fragrance, skincare, bodycare (we see you, suncare), lux beauty (!) and even a little skin-friendly makeup. It really shows the diversity of the space, and the innovation that’s washed ashore on Ye Olde Europe: five of these 10 brands (Kayali, RHODE Skin, Beauty of Joseon, Sol de Janeiro, and Saie) were founded in the last 10 years, while five were founded more than forty years ago, with two dating back over 100 years.

From Prada in 2013 to RHODE Skin in 2022, this set represents over a century of beauty innovation, and here they all are, still growing together. It warms the heart. (Legal disclaimer: [big-eyed tear emoji].)

Beauty in France

And how are things faring in the land of wine, cheese, baguettes, berets, and other ignorant stereotypes?

Top 10 YoY EMV Growth: France Top 100 Beauty Brands

Well, apparently France is also the land of Fenty Hair, because the brand has rewritten the growth charts in that country. It makes sense—after all, France loves Rihanna. It goes all the way to the top!

Rhianna and Emmanuel Macron

Did you think when you opened this blog post that you were going to see a photo of Emmanuel Macron ready to risk it all? Reader, you did not. But here we all are.

An obvious caveat: Fenty Hair launched in 2024, so obviously its YoY growth is going to be astronomical. What does the field look like once we’ve nerfed Fenty Hair by pushing it just a smidge above the No. 2 brand, Tatcha?

Top 10 YoY EMV Growth: France Top 100 Beauty Brands

Once we reduce Fenty Hair’s YoY EMV growth from 5,791,841% to 321%, a more complete picture emerges. We’ve got a lot of skincare here, representing six out of 10 brands. We’ve also got a decent degree of divergence from Europe at large: just two brands overlap with Europe’s top 10—Rabanne Beauty and RHODE Skin. Naturally, we’ve written about both right here in HBBIP.

(Legal disclaimer: another obvious caveat that we’re legally obligated to note—Emmanuel Macron is a happily married man. (Legal disclaimer disclaimer: maybe don’t, uh, look too far into the details of that marriage.))

Schönheit in Deutschland

Finally, what are our old friends the Germans up to?

Top 10 YoY EMV Growth: Germany Top 100 Beauty Brands

Well this is a stumper. Aveeno did not launch last year, and I can’t find any photos of Friedrich Merz with either a skincare product or Rihanna. Let’s see what happens when we nerf Aveeno:

Top 10 YoY EMV Growth: Germany Top 100 Beauty Brands

Patterns certainly become clearer: while Aveeno has an astounding lead, Dove and Head & Shoulders stand, uh, head and shoulders above the rest of the pack, which is rounded out mostly by skincare brands. Germany is evidently a land of diligent moisturizers—there’s a cultural insight for you, courtesy of HBBIP.

In other exciting news, Rabanne Beauty and RHODE Skin complete the European triple crown, with Dove, Dr Jart+, and Beauty of Joseon rounding out their strong showings across the European market.

But is Europe the world? Savvy readers will note that I never shared the top 10 fastest-growing beauty brands among the top 100 global brands by EMV. I know you’ve been waiting patiently for it, so here it is:

Top 10 YoY EMV Growth: Global Top 100 Beauty Brands

A lot of familiar faces here. Skincare and suncare are carrying the day, alongside skin-friendly makeup and a few lux beauty party-crashers. In future newsletters I’ll have more to say about the specific brand initiatives that are driving growth for these heavy hitters, but for now, I’ll leave you all with one lesson: never bet against Hailey Bieber. Can somebody get this blog post to her so that she can post our data on her Instagram again? 

Also, all this data has left me pretty hungry, so after you share this with Hailey, can somebody also get me a Kinder Surprise Egg?

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