Holiday Beauty Forecast Predicts Surge for TikTok Shop
Beauty sales on TikTok Shop are projected to significantly surpass last year’s holiday performance, driven by brand-led live broadcasts, curated gift sets, and surging demand for Korean beauty products. Ajay Salpekar, general manager of beauty, food, and beverage at TikTok Shop, pointed to a broader retail market where Deloitte forecasts e-commerce sales growth between 7.5% and 8.4% for the upcoming season.
Last year’s holiday shopping peak saw beauty category sales reach $392.8 million in November, according to e-commerce intelligence firm Charm.io data. The platform has since experienced a period of explosive yet moderating growth. Beauty and personal care sales approached $1 billion in each of the first three quarters of 2026, touching $992.9 million in the third quarter alone. Year-over-year growth registered at 96% in the first quarter, 82% in the second, and 39% in the third.
Livestreaming Takes Center Stage
Platform operators expect direct brand broadcasts to play a much bigger role this year compared to last year. Salpekar noted that the interactive live format yields higher user engagement, with more brands going live compared to last year and for longer. Major names are leaning heavily into the medium. On Oct. 6, Rihanna hosted a Fenty Beauty livestream on TikTok, highlighting the brand’s new Pro Filt’r Fluid Flex Foundation alongside holiday gift sets and a Casetify collaboration. Meanwhile, Sephora is utilizing live shows to highlight its monthly product drop strategy on TikTok Shop.
The format has proven particularly lucrative for top-tier sellers. Charm.io data indicates that TikTok Shop’s 10 leading beauty livestreaming sellers generated over $83 million during the first half of 2026. Korean skincare brands Medicube and Dr. Melaxin led the charge, pulling in $19.4 million and $13.3 million, respectively. Salpekar emphasized that live selling accommodates product demonstration, pointing to E.l.f.
K-Beauty Expansion and Holiday Bundling Strategies
Korean beauty brands are expanding beyond traditional skincare dominance into makeup and haircare categories, while fragrance brands are seeing a trend of more body mists and body mist/EDP duos. Salpekar attributed the success of K-Beauty on the platform to different combinations and bundles and the experimentation, noting that these brands generally participate in creator-brand matchmaking events at a high rate and are very open to creator partnerships.
Beyond live broadcasts, brands are leveraging structured holiday assortments including advent calendars, discovery kits, bundles, regimen packs, and gift sets. Sephora capitalized on this trend by launching an advent calendar for its last Drop Shop, which performed strongly through live channels.
