From the classics to the most established, here is the list of beauty's most wanted brands globally. Editor Trudi Brewer shares the front-runners for sales and convertibility - that you may already have in your beauty bag.
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Not many industries keep pace with beauty. Apart from constant change, this crop of clear winners embraced by TikTok and Instagram entered the metaverse and mastered an omnichannel environment in 2022. These brands will thrive in 2023, despite beauty’s shapeshifting landscape.
CeraVe
TikTok’s darling shows no signs of slowing down. This mass-market skincare brand, loved by dermatologists and the skin-obsessed alike, holds the top slot in the facial cleansing and moisturiser category, according to data from IRI. Its cleansers reached close to $260 million in sales, while moisturizers grew 40 per cent in a category that overall posted 25 per cent growth. CeraVe sees more than 2.2 million Google searches in the average month, and revenues were expected to be around $600 million; that’s a lot of sales when the average product is $17. It’s affordable and works, and it deserves to have cleaned up.
Our favourite CeraVe beauty buy
CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser, $17.
First up, this brand is endorsed by dozens of dermatologists worldwide because it cleanses and cares for the skin simultaneously. It’s stacked with three essential ceramides (fats that help nourish the skin). It protects the skin’s natural barrier with MVE delivery technology, providing the skin with a steady stream of hydration throughout the day and while you sleep.
Chanel
One hundred years young, in 2022, Chanel No.5, the original celebrity fragrance, marked its centenary in a big way. Its enduring popularity shows it has hit the sweet spot between history and currency better than any other brand. Consumer spending remains strong: Euromonitor reports that Chanel is the biggest fragrance brand in beauty. At the same time, Chanel remains firmly focused on the future. The launch of the No.1 range, a clean and sustainably made anti-ageing line where red camellia extract is the main ingredient, consists of 13 products, skincare, makeup and a fragrance mist, is in hot demand already.
Our favourite Chanel beauty buy
CHANEL FLUIDE ENLUMINEUR Limited Edition - N°5 Holiday 2021 Collection
Iridescent Illuminating Fluid, $109.
The gift that keeps on giving is this skin-illuminating glow-giver. Now you can wear the iconic N°5 fragrance as makeup in a formula packed with light-reflecting pigments that melt onto the skin, leaving a luxurious golden sheen.
Charlotte Tilbury
This brand had a blockbuster year in 2022 under Puig’s ownership, and it’s one of the fastest-growing makeup brands globally. Tilbury is the darling of Hollywood’s makeup artist scene and is a master at driving buzz, whether tapping the likes of Twiggy and Kate Moss to be the faces of the brand or jumping into the metaverse with virtual reality shopping. No surprise. It’s a social media megastar. Charlotte Tilbury generated $326 million in earned media value (EMV) according to Tribe Dynamics' an influencer marketing business. It also garners a monthly average search volume of 801,000 on Google. From Mecca in New Zealand to Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan — both of which recently started carrying the brand, and they can’t get enough of it.
Our favourite Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Buy
CHARLOTTE TILBURY WONDER GLOW, $82.
It was a hard job choosing one Tilbury beauty buy. But if you can get your hands on it, Wonder Glow is epic. It’s a skin illuminator, a makeup primer and a skin perfector all-in-one, and it will banish the look of tired, dull skin in seconds. It is sacked with light-diffusing pigments, a skin-plumping peptide, wild pansy extract, rosehip and camellia oils, and that famous moisture magnet hyaluronic acid. We won’t ever be without it.
Clinique
Clinique has cemented its powerhouse status in a year when skincare dominated (we can thank the global pandemic and Zoom calls for that); it had an outstanding 2022: On recent earnings from its parent, Estée Lauder Companies said the brand was hitting double-digit growth, helping to drive gains overall for Lauder. Searches are high, too, about 1.5 million monthly, according to Spate, who analyses online beauty searches. Though significant, Clinique is not resting on its laurels. The brand is still breaking barriers, launching its first NFTs, a beauty industry first at the time, tying loyalty to the metaverse.
Our favourite Clinique beauty buy
CLINIQUE POP PLUSH CREAMY LIPGLOSS IN BLACK HONEY, $50.
Clinique Black Honey lip colour came back in 2021, not because of the retro shade; but because it’s a universally flattering, multi-benefit beauty buy. Made with a base of three different kinds of skin-loving butter, including aloe, avocado and shea butter, your lips are well-conditioned with every swipe. In addition, that hero skincare ingredient we constantly rave about, hyaluronic acid, helps lock in moisture, so your lips stay plump. Finally, it’s fragrance-free and made under the watchful eye of a panel of dermatologists to ensure it is safe for the most sensitive of skin.
Cover Girl
For a brand that was once beleaguered, it has become a bright spot for the owners of Coty Inc. The chief executive officer Sue Nabi called it “The most beloved makeup brand in America.” Global earrings echo that sentiment. It’s also a high flyer in New Zealand too. The brand’s next-generation identity has encompassed everything from rekindling partnerships with past Cover Girls like Niki Taylor and Queen Latifah to reformulating products to be a leader in the mass-market clean beauty industry. The strategy is working: Cover Girl owns the top spots in powder and blush and is third in mascara, according to data from IRI. It’s parlaying that popularity into new territory, too, introducing six new Covergirl Clean Fresh Skincare products last year all priced around $20.
Our favourite Cover girl beauty buy
COVERGIRL TRUBLEND UNDERCOVER CONCEALER COVERGIRL, $21.
We carry this concealer in our beauty bags because it immediately deals with dark circles and other skin blemishes. In addition, it’s a lightweight formula that doesn’t pool in fine lines and wrinkles, and the sponge tip makes it easy to apply anywhere, anytime. But most importantly, the velvet-like matte finish lasts on the skin for hours.
Deciem
Please leave it to Deciem (who produces The Ordinary) to blur the lines between mass and prestige with accessibly-priced products that deliver on their promises. It did just that again when it launched hair care earlier this year. Disrupting the status quo has been a winning strategy for this brilliant brand thus far. According to NPD, The Ordinary is the number four prestige skincare brand in the U.S. and averages nearly 2 million monthly searches, according to Spate. It’s a hit on TikTok, too, with 2.5 million followers and more than 2 billion views for its videos on serums alone. No wonder its parent company Estée Lauder cite it during earnings calls, lauding its positive impact on top-line sales and bottom-line health.
Our favourite the ordinary beauty buy
The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + HA Serum (previously known as “Buffet”), $63.
If you buy one serum from this brand, make it this one. If you are looking for a product that packs a punch in age-erasing, this water-based gel-like serum holds potent peptides that help address an array of skin concerns, including skin slackness and fine lines - it’s a game-changer that comes with an affordable price tag.
Dior
With classic fragrances like J’Adore and Sauvage (both top-selling fragrances in New Zealand.), it’s a given that Dior is one of the most prominent beauty players. It’s also one of the fastest growing. According to data from NPD, Dior is the second biggest in makeup and beauty, a result of a strategy that has fueled its hero products while amping up its relevance across social media, too. Its marketing strategy, including new spokespeople Anya-Taylor Joy and Yara Shah,idi earned it a genius ranking on the L2 Genius List, with young consumers clamouring for its TikTok-viral Dior Glow Lip Oil, which is the brand’s bestseller on Sephora’s website, and its Kylie Jenner-endorsed Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Blush. Dior is the fifth biggest makeup brand and the third biggest in fragrance - expect to see exciting innovation from this beauty brand in 2023.
Our favourite dior beauty buy
DIOR Addict Lip Glow Oil in Cherry, $67.
This lip oil's mirror-like shine, colour and hydrating abilities are unrivalled. While glossy, it’s not sticky; it’s also a multipurpose lipgloss. Wear it as a lip primer under lipstick or over your lippy to give a lip-plumping shine; there are five shades.
Diptyque
Sixty years young and still smelling as fresh as a garden in Province. This luxe-y home and personal fragrance brand is on a roll. Its revamped take on retail starting with a new store in SoHo, N.Y.C follows trends adeptly, olfactive and otherwise, including a new rose-forward collection that came to market this year, an expansion into home goods and the brand’s growing authority on TikTok, where videos mentioning Diptyque surpass 40 million views. The brand’s mainstays, though, are still in full flower. Philosykos, a woody personal fragrance inspired by Greek fig leaves, was voted one of the 100 best fragrances of all time by industry insiders.
Our favourite diptyque beauty buy
diptyque Tempo EDP, $309.
Patchouli oil changed the face of fragrance in the 60s, and since then, it’s been the base note of many seductive scents, including this beauty. Tempo is elegant, woody, enveloping and earthy - and our style director’s favourite fragrance. This aromatic scent blends bergamot, pink pepper, violet leaf, clary sage, and patchouli.
Nars
Shiseido-owned, Nars Cosmetics has the feel-good factor. According to the NPD Group, artistry brands were makeup’s biggest winners in 2021. Nars is one of the category’s original players and was a key contributor, helped by the enduring popularity of its Orgasm blush, which has spawned an entire variety of products for the brand. A top 10 player in the U.S. and thanks to a savvy cross-platform social media strategy (it earned just shy of $280 million in EMV, according to Tribe Dynamics), it remains one of the top share gainers in the category, too. Still founder-led at a time when many of the makeup artists who launched brands at the same time have not only left their original businesses but started new ones, Francois Nars continues to propel his namesake proposition as the custodian of his covetable and very powerful beauty brand.
Our favourite nars beauty buy
NARS Climax Mascara, $42.
While we try dozens of mascaras every year, we keep returning to this wonder wand and are happy to pay top dollar for its virtues. Thanks to the fat, ribbed bristles that coat even the tiniest lashes, offering lift and curl without clumps. So far, we have never suffered smudges under the eyes - it lives up to its rep as a game-changing lash perfector which is all we could ask for.
Tom Ford Beauty
You could credit F*cking Fabulous for Tom Ford Beauty’s success. It’s also an apt description of the brand’s overall performance. As shoppers gravitate toward luxury scent collections, Tom Ford is reaping the benefits: It’s always in the top 100 best fragrances of all time and has seen 30 per cent increases in monthly average searches on Google to more than 500,000, according to Spate. Distribution-wise, Tom Ford opened a new digital channel by launching the fashion website Farfetch on its beauty vertical. It’s also amplifying gains by expanding key franchises, such as line extensions with its new Soleil Summer makeup collection. In November this year, Estée Lauder acquired Tom Ford's eponymous fashion and beauty brand for 2.8 billion - a bargain, we would say.
Our favourite tom ford beauty buy
Tom Ford White Suede, 100ml, $585.
I first smelt this scent on another woman’s wrist in 2009, when it launched, and I had to have it. It was a risk to think it would smell as good on me as it did on her, but it did, and everyone that smells it loves it. This fragrance wraps itself around you with a warm musky aroma that is addictive. The blend of ingredients includes thyme and tea, Lily-of-the-Valley, saffron and rose. With lasting suede, musk, sandalwood, olibanum and amber, lingering for hours. I love it today as much as I did the first time I smelt it.
Olaplex
The runaway hit fuelling growth right now is prestige hair, and Olaplex continues to ride that wave. The most significant player in prestige hair care in the U.S., sales are expected to reach $826 million this year, putting billion-dollar brand status well within reach. On Google, searches nearly 1.5 million on average per month, according to Spate, and that digital prowess extends to social media. Olaplex is also the top hair care brand ranked by EMV. All this with a tight lineup of just nine products (three of which consistently top bestseller lists at Sephora ad Ulta beauty.) Olaplex CEO JuE Wong told WWD, “We don’t want SKU proliferation; we want SKU innovation.”
Our favourite olaplex beauty buy
Olaplex No7 Bonding Oil, $61.
Ideal for all hair types and textures, the Olaplex range offers lotions, this oil and in-salon treatments for anyone who wants healthy, lustrous hair. It has been likened to a gym routine for your hair - the more you use it, the more robust, healthier, and shinier your hair will be. How does it work? The star ingredient is Bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate - a mouthful, we know. It actively restores broken bonds (bonds determine our hair's shape, strength, elasticity and shine.) in every strand. It’s genius and deserves to be in every woman's bathroom whether you colour your hair or not.
Pat McGrath Labs
Celebrity makeup artist Pat McGrath has long relied on her vast cultural lexicon for marketing expertise; remember when the brand’s collaboration with Supreme sold out in mere seconds (we missed out). Then, this year, after two collaborations with the record-shattering Netflix show “Bridgerton,” McGrath solidified her marketing genius status. McGrath doesn’t just think makeup; she lives and breathes makeup. Earlier this year, she debuted her first skin care product, an essence to prep the skin. Available in-store and online at Sephora NZ, this time, you don’t need to miss out on her beauty genius.
Our favourite pat mcgrath beauty buy
PAT MCGRATH LABS SKIN FETISH HIGHLIGHTER & BALM DUO, $93.
If you’ve binge-watched Netflix's Bridgerton, you might have noticed a royal glow on the lady cast. In an interview with Allure, the show's lead makeup artist for season two, Erika Okvist, revealed that this radiance-making illuminator was the one product every female cast member had dotted on their skin just where the light would hit the high points of their complexions. We have bought all three shades, Nude, Golden and Bronze, of this half-highlighter and half-nourishing skin balm - it makes even dull-looking skin appear simply magnificent.
A designer scent laced with vanilla.