Sephora Brands Dominate Online Skin Care Conversation, Data Shows

When it comes to skin care hype, Sephora appears to be on top.

Data from CreatorIQ shows that in August, eight of the top 10 skin care brands by earned media value — which measures social media reach and engagement — sell at Sephora, while the other two sell at Ulta Beauty.

With $31.2 million EMV, Hailey Bieber’s Rhode, which entered Sephora in September, was the top brand by the metric in August, followed by Laneige at number two.

Medicube, which launched at Ulta this summer after a hot streak on Amazon and TikTok Shop, is a top-three brand overall and Ulta’s top skin care brand by EMV year-to-date. Fellow K-beauty brand Anua is number-two for Ulta by full-year EMV, though in August La Roche-Posay had a bigger month.

Hashtag data also shows that across skin care, #Sephora has driven $59.4 million EMV this year, while Ulta drove $23 million EMV and was mentioned by about half as many creators.

“Sephora tends to be mentioned in more impactful content, largely due to the hype surrounding Sephora brands versus Ulta brands” said Alex Rawitz, director of research and insights at CreatorIQ. “Haul, first impressions and tutorial content are all more likely to feature Sephora than Ulta, both in skin care and across beauty categories.”

It’s worth noting that Rhode and Medicube only entered brick-and-mortar retail this summer, indicating most of their hype thus far has been the product of respectively savvy digital-first approaches.

The top 10 skin care brands by EMV in August, per CreatorIQ.