Charlotte Tilbury leads Christmas social media beauty race

Charlotte Tilbury has emerged as the leading beauty brand on social media this Christmas, according to data from influencer marketing platform, Kolsquare.

The data indicated that Charlotte Tilbury employed a considerable number of influencers, precisely 1,560, to achieve a significant engagement volume of 1.76 million, capturing a 42.7% share of voice on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.

While Charlotte Tilbury achieved the highest share of voice, Glossier recorded the highest engagement rate at 3.88%, surpassing Charlotte Tilbury's engagement rate of 2.37%. Huda Beauty closely followed with an engagement rate of 3.14%.

In terms of earned media value (EMV), a metric equivalent to paid advertising, Charlotte Tilbury again topped the list with a value of GBP £1.03 million on December 2nd, the day beauty sales peaked. Huda Beauty came second with an EMV of GBP £291,000.

The Christmas gift rankings, assessing beauty brand performance from 1 November to 19 December, placed Charlotte Tilbury at the forefront with an EMV of GBP £4.1 million. Huda Beauty followed with GBP £2.7 million, while Made by Mitchell, Sol De Janeiro, and Laura Mercier recorded EMVs of GBP £1.05 million, GBP £800,000, and GBP £530,000, respectively.

Glossier also made its mark with an EMV of GBP £426,000, facilitated by 293 influencers and amassing an engagement volume of 1.1577 million.

Drag queen Connor McGee, known on social media as @connormua, was noted for the highest engagement level of 28.7%, posting for brands such as Huda Beauty and Made By Mitchell. Connor's posts featured Made By Mitchell's Blursh Book and Colour Case Neutrals, among other products.

Sarah Ahmed, under the handle @sarah.a.makeup, achieved an impressive engagement rate of 28.17% by featuring bronzer for Charlotte Tilbury and foundation for Huda Beauty to her audience of 39,110 followers.

Ellis Atlantis, another drag influencer, garnered the highest EMV, totalling GBP £559,280, for collaborations with Huda Beauty, Made By Mitchell, and Charlotte Tilbury. A notable post by Ellis featuring Huda Beauty's Blush Filter in Strawberry Cream received 152.9k likes.

Quentin Bordage, CEO and Founder of Kolsquare, commented, "Christmas is the biggest calendar event for beauty brands and the industry has harnessed the power of influencers, with the majority working with micro-influencers (audiences of between 5 and 100k followers). Very few beauty brands work with mega influencers (more than 1 million followers) because the key to success lies in a highly engaged audience as you see with Sarah Ahmed, Connor McGee and Ellis Atlantis."

The top beauty gifts highlighted this season include Charlotte Tilbury's Pillow Talk Iconic Mini Lip Kit, Glossier's Mini Cloud Paint Duo, and Huda Beauty's Obsessions Eye Kit, with prices in the GBP £23 to £62 range.