The Power of Social Media
Social media has become the beauty industry's most powerful shopfloor. Our community spends time on Instagram, TikTok, and beyond — and they're not just scrolling. They're discovering, evaluating, and buying. This week, we asked our community to map their relationship with social media as a beauty and wellness discovery channel, from the platforms they use every day to the content that actually stops them mid-feed and sends them to checkout.
What came back was striking. Nearly all of our community have purchased a beauty, skincare, or wellness product directly as a result of something they saw on social media. Three quarters follow at least one beauty influencer. And the format that earns the most trust? Not the polished sponsored post — but the honest, unfiltered review. These findings have real implications for how brands show up, who they partner with, and what kinds of content actually convert.
The data below maps the full scroll-to-checkout journey: which platforms draw the biggest audiences, where discovery actually happens, how often social browsing translates into a purchase, and where the final transaction takes place. For brand partners and collaborators, the picture is clear — social is not just a marketing channel. It is the primary retail environment for beauty.
The Platforms That Own Attention
Instagram is nearly universal in this community — and when it comes to discovering new beauty products, it's the platform that leads with authority. TikTok follows as a strong second, but the gap between usage and discovery is worth noting: a platform can have a large audience without commanding the same trust as a product discovery source.
"74% discover new beauty and wellness products through social media very often — suggesting the feed is no longer a place people visit to browse. It is a continuous, ambient discovery engine running in the background of daily life."
From Feed to Checkout
Discovery is one thing. But social media's true commercial power lies in what happens next. The data here is unambiguous: this community buys from the feed — repeatedly, and often. Nearly everyone has made a social-media-driven purchase at least once. The majority do it regularly.
of the community buy a beauty or wellness product as a result of social media at least once every two to three months. More than a third do it every single month — making social media the most consistent driver of repeat purchase behaviour in this category.
Who They Follow — and What Makes Them Stop Scrolling
Influencers remain a central part of how this community navigates beauty discovery — but the community's preferences reveal a clear hierarchy of content. At the top: demonstration and proof. At the bottom: the sponsored post. Authenticity, in the most literal sense, is what converts.
"Product reviews and demonstrations attract three times as much engagement as sponsored posts. The community doesn't just prefer authentic content — they actively deprioritise paid placement. For brands, this is the single most important signal in this data."
Trust, Scepticism, and Where the Sale Happens
High engagement with social beauty content does not mean unconditional trust. The community approaches recommendations with a calibrated scepticism — they buy, but they verify. And when it comes to completing that purchase, they consistently prefer the established multi-brand platform over the in-app social shop.
"Social media has completed its transformation from inspiration board to primary retail environment. 97% of this community have purchased a beauty product directly as a result of something they saw on social — but the platforms where discovery happens and the platforms where transactions are completed remain stubbornly different."
Want to reach an audience that actually acts on what they see?
This data belongs to a community of active beauty consumers — people who save, share, and recreate content daily. If you're a brand or creator looking to connect with them, let's talk.
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