By Mark Seavy  

The pricing gap between mass market and premium beauty products continues to narrow as sales increasingly shift online. 

eCommerce accounted for 46% of U.S. beauty and personal care product sales in 2025, according to Euromonitor International. However, there was a higher percentage of online sales in some categories like skincare (57%). 

This shift comes amid a slowing of beauty and personal care sales to a 3.3% increase in 2025 (down from 4.4% growth a year earlier). Fragrances proved to be the most “durable” category, while skincare showed “clearer trade down” as consumers grew more price conscious, according to Euromonitor. 

The increase in eCommerce sales also came as TikTok Shop continued to gain favor with consumers. The eCommerce shop, which launched in 2023, accounted for 3% of beauty and personal care sales last year. During that same period, TikTok Shop’s revenue increased 100%. That jump was fueled by more retailers launching with the online shop, the most recent being Ulta Beauty, which debuted on the platform in March. 

“When you think about premium [products] versus mass, the gap has been narrowing for quite some time, especially in fragrances. But, because of the macroeconomic instability, it will continue to soften a bit in 2026,” said Olivia Stelmaszczyk, a Research Analyst in Beauty and Fragrances at Euromonitor. “Social media and online will continue to evolve as a place for discovery where consumers can do a first pass and then go to retailers to experiment. Retail is becoming less a point of discovery [and] more a curator of the influx of brands. The role of TikTok can be more of vetting brands and identifying the ones that retailers should be paying attention to.” 

One factor speeding up the narrowing of the pricing—and quality—gap between premium and mass market products is the emergence of South Korean beauty brands (K-Beauty) as top sellers. Thanks to rave reviews from influencers and growing availability through eCommerce platforms, many K-Beauty brands are increasing their distribution globally. This expansion follows the K-Beauty craze in the early 2010s, which focused on skincare. Now, demand for K-Beauty products has spread to the makeup, hair, body, and fragrance categories.   

Among those brands that have gained a foothold in the U.S. and are expected to be top sellers this year are Amore Pacific’s COSRX, Goodai Global’s Beauty of Joseon, The Founders’ Anua, Amore Pacific’s Laneige and Innisfree, and iFamilySC’s Romand. In fact, Ulta worked with Landing International to develop K-Beauty World, a platform launched in stores and online that features more than 200 K-Beauty products across skincare and color cosmetics. 

Another significant shift in the beauty and personal care space is the growing presence of e.l.f. Beauty, which gained strength last year with the acquisition of Hailey Bieber’s Rhode, a purchase that included the trademarks and also carried the model’s strict policy of no licensing deals or name partnerships.  

Bieber remains Rhode’s Chief Creative Officer and the brand is expanding with recent incursions at drug chain DM-drogerie markt in Germany (2,136 stores) as well as Mecca (110) in Australia and New Zealand. And e.l.f Beauty secured distribution at 11,000 Dollar General stores and expanded its presence at Target from four to 20 feet, CEO Tarang Amin said. 

Additionally, e.l.f. has benefitted from a $7.50 average price for its products against $9.50 for long-time mass market brands and $30 for prestige labels, Amin said. About 75% of e.l.f. products are priced at $10 or less. The cosmetics company has also struck a licensing deal with the beverage firm Liquid Death, the “Lip Embalm” version of which has sold out, as well as with retailer H&M for fragrances.  

“Newness and brand building is really important to us and the entire category,” Ulta CEO Kecia Steelman said last week at the JP Morgan Retail Round-Up conference. “So, we are really doubling down on that.” Steelman also said the company is focused on leveraging its investments around personalization in order to connect with its 46.7 million loyalty club members.   

Moving forward, industry experts expect pop culture trends to create even more demand for K-Beauty brands. This includes the hit Netflix series KPop Demon Hunters, which has been a licensing bonanza. 

“The new wave isn’t just in beauty in isolation as it was in 2010, and there is more awareness now of Korean culture and content like KPop Demon Hunters is backing that trend,” Stelmaszczyk said. “It is the perfect time to capture and cement those brands in people’s lives. It is not just about looking and feeling good but feeling healthy as well.”