Finding UGC Creators for Your Beauty Brand: What the Data Shows

You're probably not reading this to hear about brand awareness or engagement metrics. You want to know: which creators are actually driving results for beauty brands right now?

We tracked hundreds of beauty partnerships across Instagram and TikTok in January 2026. Here's what we found.

The Creator Landscape: January 2026

Beauty partnerships span an enormous range this month:

The data is clear: mid-tier creators (25K-100K) are carrying the bulk of beauty partnerships. But micro-creators under 25K are punching well above their weight in engagement.

What Content Types Are Brands Running?

Based on our tracking:

GRWM (Get Ready With Me) - Still dominant. Morning routines, event prep, everyday looks.

Before/After - Especially for skincare. Transformation content outperforms product reviews.

Product Integration - Natural mentions within lifestyle content vs. dedicated reviews.

Tutorial Hybrid - Educational content that teaches a technique while featuring the product.

The days of pure product reviews are declining. Brands want content that feels like the creator would make it anyway, just featuring their product.

Brands Actively Working With Creators

Mass Market / Drugstore

SHEGLAM Heavy activity this month. Multiple partnerships across follower tiers.

• Creator sizes: 22K to 750K
• Content focus: Concealers, makeup tutorials, aesthetic visuals
• What's working: Their "Like Magic Concealer" campaign is everywhere. Clean visuals, minimal copy.

NYX Professional Makeup Side-by-side comparison content (which side looks better?) driving engagement.

• Creator sizes: 7K to 150K
• Content focus: Tutorial-style, before/after
• What's working: Interactive content that asks questions

Lakmé Strong presence in India. Multiple partnerships tracked.

• Creator sizes: 40K to 830K
• Content focus: Affordable luxury positioning, lip products
• What's working: Budget-friendly messaging that doesn't feel cheap

Maybelline One standout: Kat Clark (8M+ TikTok) hit 265K views and 10.42% engagement on serum lipstick content.

• Creator sizes: Large creators, but also testing mid-tier
• Content focus: Product humor, relatable moments
• What's working: Comedy + product = higher engagement than straight reviews

Premium / Prestige

Dior / YSL Beauty Still working with creators, though at lower volume than mass brands.

• Creator sizes: 30K-750K
• Content focus: Workout moments (YSL), makeup routines
• What's working: Lifestyle integration, not just beauty content

Charlotte Tilbury Active in the mid-tier space.

• Creator sizes: 30K-100K
• Content focus: Product-in-context shots
• What's working: Creators with existing beauty credibility

Milk Makeup Just launched on Nykaa. Strong partnership push.

• Creator sizes: 700K+ for launch content
• Content focus: "Minimal effort, maximum glow"
• What's working: Clear brand messaging that creators can adapt

Skincare

Dove Hair care focus this month. Peptide Bond line.

• Creator sizes: 40K-135K
• Content focus: Hair transformation, repair messaging
• What's working: Specific product benefits (5% protein peptides) with visual proof

La Roche-Posay SPF content performing well.

• Creator sizes: 60K range
• Content focus: Educational skincare, sun protection
• What's working: Science-backed messaging from credible creators

Pond's Biome face wash push in India.

• Creator sizes: 1M+ for awareness
• Content focus: Wellness + skincare, gentle product messaging
• What's working: Calm, aspirational content

Olay Isabel Clancy (4M+ followers) partnership on moisturizer.

• Creator sizes: Large creators for brand awareness
• Content focus: Nostalgia angle ("lotion that moisturizes and smells good")
• What's working: Humor and relatability over product specs

Hair Care

Dae Hair One of our top performers this month. Emilie Kiser (5M TikTok) hit 781K views and 17.44% engagement on their texturizing spray.

• Creator sizes: Large hair creators
• Content focus: "Exactly what the bob needs"
• What's working: Product solving a specific problem, not general claims

Hairburst Working with micro-creators.

• Creator sizes: 10K range
• Content focus: Routine content, wash day resets
• What's working: Simple, authentic "this is what I use" content

Supercuts Dad self-care angle doing well.

• Creator sizes: 1M-2M+ couples/family creators
• Content focus: "Dad duties paused. Self-care era activated."
• What's working: Unexpected positioning for salon brand

Engagement Patterns Worth Noting

Some standout numbers from our data:

The pattern: specificity wins. Generic "I love this product" underperforms compared to "this solves X specific problem."

What This Means for Your Brand

If You're a Small Brand (Under $50K marketing budget)

Focus on micro-creators (10K-50K). Our data shows:

• They're getting higher engagement rates
• They're more accessible for partnerships
• Their audiences trust product recommendations more

Look for creators who already make content in your category. A creator with 15K followers who regularly posts skincare routines is more valuable than one with 100K who occasionally mentions products.

If You're Mid-Market ($50K-250K budget)

The sweet spot is 25K-100K creators. They combine:

• Strong engagement (5-15% typical)
• Established production quality
• Professional working relationships
• Enough reach to matter

Run multiple partnerships rather than one mega-influencer deal. Our data shows more consistent results with volume at this tier.

If You're a Larger Brand ($250K+ budget)

Large creators (500K+) are doing brand awareness work, but engagement drops significantly. The Maybelline/Kat Clark partnership worked because it was genuinely funny, not just a product mention.

Consider a tiered approach:

• 1-2 large creators for awareness
• 5-10 mid-tier for conversion-focused content
• 20+ micro for authenticity and community

Finding the Right Creators

Traditional influencer platforms give you follower counts and demographics. What they don't show is: which creators are already doing paid partnerships with brands like yours?

That's what CollabFeed tracks. Instead of guessing whether a creator would be a good fit, you can see who's already working with similar brands and what content performed.

Content Formats That Performed This Month

High performers:

• GRWM with specific product integration
• "This product fixed X" storytelling
• Humor + product (especially TikTok)
• Tutorial content that teaches something useful

Lower performers:

• Pure product reviews
• Unboxing without context
• Generic "I love this brand" messaging

Methodology

This report uses CollabFeed's live tracking of Instagram and TikTok sponsored posts from January 2026. We filtered for "Beauty" niche and counted only verified paid partnerships (posts containing #ad, #sponsored, or platform-disclosed partnerships).

Sample size: Hundreds of beauty partnerships Platforms: Instagram, TikTok Date range: January 2026 Data source: CollabFeed real-time partnership tracking

What Brands Are Planning for Q1

Based on current patterns:

• February: Valentine's self-care content, "treat yourself" messaging
• March: Spring skin prep, lighter formulas, fresh looks
• April: Festival season prep, bold makeup

Brands planning now should be locking in creator partnerships 4-6 weeks before campaign launch.

Related posts:

• Top Beauty Brands Hiring UGC Creators: December 2025
• Top Fashion Brands Hiring UGC Creators: January 2026

Data powered by CollabFeed. Track real-time brand partnerships at collabfeed.io.