Three years after launching in the United States, TikTok Shop generated quarterly beauty sales equivalent to roughly one-third of Ulta Beauty’s quarterly sales without a single store.
According to e-commerce intelligence platform Charm.io, the social e-commerce platform registered $980 million in beauty gross merchandise value (GMV) during the second quarter of the year, an increase of 82% from the same period last year and 6% from the first quarter of the year. In June alone, beauty sales on TikTok Shop reached $330 million. During its first quarter earnings, Ulta reported net sales of $3.16 billion. Sally Beauty reported net sales of $903 million in its most recent second quarter earnings, placing it below TikTok Shop’s quarterly beauty sales.
Total TikTok Shop U.S. sales reached over $2 billion in the month of June, an increase of 85% from the year prior. According to eMarketer, the platform is expected to surpass the online businesses of Target, Costco, Best Buy and Kroger this year with an estimated $23.4 billion in digital sales, up about 48% from an estimated $15.8 billion in 2025.
K-Beauty behemoths Medicube and Dr. Melaxin continue to dominate beauty on TikTok Shop, per Charm.io. Medicube racked up $62.8 million in the second quarter of the year, making it the platform’s top-performing beauty brand. Dr. Melaxin held the No. 2 spot with $38.8 million in GMV. During the first quarter of the year, Dr. Melaxin narrowly beat out Medicube for first place, earning $46.3 million to Medicube’s $44.3 million. Demand for Medicube shows little sign of abating. During Amazon’s four-day summer Prime Day event, the APR Corp.-owned brand’s Zero Pore Pads were the top-performing beauty product.
Similar to the first quarter, Tarte and Based Bodyworks placed third and fourth in Charm.io’s ranking of top TikTok Shop beauty storefronts, generating $24.3 million and $15.9 million in GMV, respectively. ColorWow, which L’Oreal scooped up for an estimated $1 billion last year, moved up from No. 9 in the first quarter to No. 5 in the second quarter, with $9.6 million in sales. Affordable fragrance brand Bellavita, haircare brand Bask & Lather, oral care brand Hismile, hair tools brand Wavytalk and fragrance distributor BeautyHouse rounded out the top 10 beauty storefronts in descending order.
Beauty’s top TikTok Shop storefronts reflect a marketplace where success has consolidated around a small group. According to a Momentum Works report produced in collaboration with Tabcut, more than half of TikTok Shop’s approximately 803,500 U.S. stores recorded no sales in 2025, while 2,143 surpassed $1 million in GMV. On the creator side, the imbalance is even more pronounced. Of TikTok Shop’s approximately 851,000 affiliates, around 291 generated more than $1 million in sales. The majority generated less than $10,000 last year.
In a LinkedIn post, Camille Moore, a brand strategist and president of Third Eye Insights, argues that TikTok Shop rewards brands with established consumer interest and the resources to sustain hefty creator commissions, discounts and paid media rather than serving as a lifeline for brands struggling in other channels or looking to generate awareness from scratch. “The success story you keep seeing on your feed represents about a quarter of one percent of the platform, a group small enough to fit in a hotel ballroom,” she wrote, adding, “The case studies are outliers presented as a playbook, and the platform has no incentive to correct the impression, because the jackpot is what sells the tickets.”
At a category level, skincare again took the top spot with $844.1 million generated in the 12 months ending in June, an increase of 123%, per Charm.io. Makeup and fragrance followed in second and third place, with $721.3 million and $501.4 million generated, respectively. Haircare, which overtook fragrance as the industry’s fastest-growing prestige category in the first quarter of the year, was the fifth-strongest-selling beauty category on TikTok Shop after personal care appliances. It drove $401.1 million in revenue, a 118% year-over-year jump.
Sets and K-Beauty products containing PDRN, collagen and NAD+, a longevity-focused ingredient, resonated with TikTok shoppers in the second quarter. Charm.io’s data shows three of the five top-selling products on the platform were sets, including Dr. Melaxin’s Gifted Collagen Boost Set and Medicube’s Affordable Glass Glow Skincare Set and 5-step Longevity Anti-Aging Routine Set. The three sets amassed a little over $18 million in revenue combined. Medicube’s PDRN/NAD Pink Collagen Volume Multi Balm and Hismile’s Whitening Mouthwash were also bestsellers on TikTok Shop.
Known for teeth-whitening products and flavored toothpastes, Australian brand Hismile has risen to prominence on TikTok Shop as oral care products aimed at whitening and hygiene gain momentum. Charm.io’s data identified that the hashtags #breathspray, #dientesblancos (Spanish for “white teeth”) and #flossing each drew more than 20 million views in the month of June. In addition to Hismile’s Whitening Mouthwash, Dr. Dent’s Whitening Strips and Purple Mouthwash sold briskly on TikTok Shop during the second quarter, along with Chinese oral care brand Ceelike’s Nano-Hydroxyapatite Teeth Strips and NOBS’ Toothpaste Tablets.
Other hashtags that performed well on TikTok Shop illustrate that shoppers are searching for solutions to beauty issues. The hashtag #axilasmanchadas (Spanish for “dark underarms”) racked up 51 million views in June, #ricewater generated 30.9 million views and #eyelinertutorial generated 26.8 million views. Videos demonstrating durability, precision and application struck a chord with users looking to purchase eyeliners. A June 16 TikTok video featuring a creator with the handle @smittyyyyyyy1 applying Wonderskin’s Longwear Eyeliner was viewed 5.4 million times, resulting in $120,000 in revenue.
Products intended to deliver hydration, radiance and visible effects like smoothing, firming and anti-aging won over beauty shoppers on TikTok Shop in the second quarter. Face moisturizers and hydrating serums and mists generated $67.8 million in revenue in the second quarter, and skincare sets promoting glass-like skin snagged $61.3 million. Exfoliating products rang up $48.6 million, peptide and retinol-containing creams and serums $47.5 million and body sculpting devices and firming masks $47 million.
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