Beauty & Cosmetics, Europe, Marketing, MarTech, United Kingdom

Beauty Brands Have to Fight Harder for Attention on UK Social Media

1 October 2026

Editorial Brief

At a glance: AI-assisted overview, optimised for journalists, search & news aggregators

Huda Beauty led TikTok rankings in the UK for the first half of 2026, but its media value dropped by 35% compared to 2025. Meanwhile, Rhode saw significant growth in media value on both TikTok and Instagram, indicating that increased influencer presence doesn't always equate to higher engagement value. This suggests that marketers need to focus on the quality of engagement rather than just the quantity of content or influencers.

EDITORIAL INSIGHT: Context, industry insight and market perspectives of this news story

While beauty brands continue to invest heavily in influencer marketing across social platforms, the latest UK rankings from Kolsquare suggest that simply increasing content and creator partnerships does not guarantee a rise in engagement or media value. The divergence between the volume of influencer activity and the actual earned media value highlights a growing challenge for marketers seeking measurable returns on their social media spend.

For UK beauty marketers, these findings emphasise the importance of scrutinising not just campaign scale but the quality and relevance of influencer engagement. As planning for 2027 campaigns gets underway, the focus is likely to shift further towards understanding which types of content and creator relationships genuinely drive audience response, rather than relying solely on headline rankings or share of voice.

Story Ideas

Consumer trend

Influence vs. Engagement: The Changing Dynamics of Beauty Brands on Social Media

Despite increased influencer activity, major beauty brands like Huda Beauty and NYX Cosmetics are experiencing a decline in engagement and earned media value on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, challenging the notion that more content equates to more value.

Target audience: consumer-lifestyle
Story potential: 8/10

Economic impact

The Economic Implications of Declining Social Media Engagement for UK Beauty Brands

As major beauty brands see a drop in earned media value on social media despite higher content volumes, there are potential economic repercussions for marketing budgets and brand strategies within the UK's beauty sector.

Target audience: business-finance
Story potential: 7/10

Press Release

Huda Beauty tops UK TikTok rankings despite falling media value, while Rhode grows strongly on both platforms

Despite using more influencers on Instagram and TikTok, beauty brands are getting less value from it, according to a comparison of Kolsquare’s published 2025 and 2026 UK beauty rankings, which cover the first half of the year.

Huda Beauty took first place on UK TikTok from January to June 2026, yet its reported earned media value (EMV) fell by around 35% compared with the 2025 figures. NYX Cosmetics UK generated substantially more content but saw its reported EMV almost halve.

Rhode tells a different story. Its reported EMV more than doubled on TikTok and rose by around 90% on Instagram between the first halves of 2025 and 2026, placing it in the UK top ten on both platforms.

The findings challenge the assumption that a bigger influencer presence automatically delivers stronger results. A brand can climb the rankings while the estimated value of the engagement it generates falls.

Quentin Bordage, CEO and founder of Kolsquare, says: ‘This is why marketers need to look beyond their position and ask what’s happening to engagement, content volumes and the creators talking about them. Rhode’s results show that a bigger creator presence can translate into stronger performance. The challenge is understanding which content gives audiences a reason to respond.’

Kolsquare’s latest reports rank the top 100 beauty brands on Instagram and TikTok in the UK between January and June 2026, with separate tables covering make-up, skincare, haircare and fragrance. Rankings are based on EMV, which estimates the media value of interactions with creator content, including likes, comments and shares.

For marketers preparing their 2027 plans, the question is how effectively that content earns a response – not simply how much gets posted.

WHAT THE UK RANKINGS SHOW

More content does not guarantee more value

Huda Beauty generated 4,961 pieces of TikTok creator content in H1 2026, compared with 4,134 in the H1 2025 report. The number of influencers mentioning it increased from 955 to 1,163. Yet reported EMV fell from £28 million to £18.1 million, while its engagement rate dropped from 5.9% to 3.5%.

NYX Cosmetics UK followed a similar pattern. Content increased from 4,018 to 5,541 pieces, and its influencer count rose from 986 to 1,430. Reported EMV fell from £31.3 million to £16.1 million, with engagement declining from 4.9% to 2.4%.

Rhode combines scale with stronger engagement

Rhode ranked sixth on UK TikTok and eighth on Instagram in H1 2026.

On TikTok, its reported EMV rose from £5.5 million in H1 2025 to £11.4 million in H1 2026. Content mentions increased from 1,888 to 3,849, while its influencer count grew from 520 to 1,018. Engagement rose from 3.9% to 5.1%.

On Instagram, reported EMV increased from £8 million to £15.1 million. Content approximately doubled, from 4,553 to 9,322 pieces, while engagement increased from 5.1% to 5.6%.

Different platforms have different leaders

Huda Beauty led UK TikTok in H1 2026, followed by NYX Cosmetics UK on £16.1 million and Garnier on £13.7 million. Rimmel London ranked fourth with £13 million, ahead of Charlotte Tilbury on £12.6 million.

L’Oréal Paris led UK Instagram for the same period with £30.1 million. Huda Beauty ranked second with £25.6 million, narrowly ahead of Charlotte Tilbury on £25.2 million.

Holding your position can mask falling value

Space NK ranked ninth on UK TikTok in H1 2026. Its reported EMV increased from £7.8 million in H1 2025 to £9 million.

On Instagram, it held sixth place across the two published editions, even as reported EMV fell from £22.9 million to £15.7 million. Its position stayed the same; the estimated value of its creator engagement did not.

HOW THE RANKINGS ARE BUILT

The reports use Kolsquare data on creators with more than 5,000 followers and identify content through brand mentions. EMV estimates media value rather than sales, profit or influencer spending.

Comparisons above use matching brand accounts in the published H1 2025 and H1 2026 UK tables. Historical ranking movements differ between editions; year-on-year comparisons remain indicative pending confirmation of consistent measurement and coverage.

AVAILABILITY

Download the free UK reports: Instagram | TikTok.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Kolsquare is a Global Influencer Marketing Intelligence platform helping brands and agencies build, manage, measure, and scale influencer marketing strategies with data-driven insights. Combining advanced data analytics, AI, and machine learning technologies, Kolsquare enables marketing teams to discover the right creators, understand their audiences, manage campaigns from end to end, measure impact, and benchmark performance against industry standards. Trusted by more than 2,000 global and national brands and agencies, Kolsquare provides access to one of the world’s most comprehensive creator intelligence databases, covering millions of creators across 180 countries and major social platforms including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat and Twitch. As a Certified B Corporation, Kolsquare is committed to advancing Responsible Influence by promoting transparency, ethical collaborations, and more sustainable practices across the creator economy. In October 2024, Kolsquare joined Team.Blue, one of Europe’s largest private technology groups and a leading digital enabler for businesses and entrepreneurs. Team.Blue brings together more than 60 brands across web hosting, domains, e-commerce, online compliance, lead generation, application solutions, and social media.

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