From 'Glass Skin' to British Favourites: TikTok Shop Drives Double Digit Beauty Growth in 2025

As K-Beauty brands bring 'glass skin' routines to the masses, TikTok Shop's discovery-first model fuels 60% YoY beauty growth, empowering British and global brands to educate, engage and scale.TikTok Shop has cemented its position as the UK’s fourth-largest beauty retailer*, revealing 60% year-on-year growth for the category in 2025. At an exclusive industry showcase in London, the platform demonstrated how Discovery Commerce on TikTok Shop - driven by creator education and search-by-skin concern behaviour - is reshaping the beauty industry, fueling a massive 125% surge in K-Beauty searches on TikTok Shop, while simultaneously accelerating the success of homegrown British and global favourites.Attended by hundreds of top UK beauty creators and leading TikTok Shop beauty brands such as The Ordinary, Beauty of Joseon, Medicube and Mixsoon, the event lifted the lid on how TikTok Shop connects brands with shoppers in real time, drives discovery, skin education and helps beauty brands scale globally.The preview event launches TikTok Shop’s Beauty Crush week running from 9–14 February. The in-app beauty campaign will spotlight new product launches, exclusive LIVE shopping moments and limited-time offers, giving beauty lovers the chance to discover and shop the best of beauty on TikTok Shop.K-Beauty’s Rise and UK ImpactK-beauty brands like Medicube, Mixsoon, Beauty of Joseon, Dr Melaxin, Colorgram and BIOHEAL BOH have all launched on TikTok Shop UK over the last few months to tap into a hyper-engaged UK customer base. The influx of K-beauty brands on TikTok Shop has played a pivotal role in mainstreaming 'glass skin' routines and ingredient-led layering. As a result, #kbeauty is the third most-used beauty hashtag in the UK on TikTok.Lexy Shim, Team Lead on the TikTok Shop Marketing Team at Medicube said: "UK consumers are increasingly seeking skincare that delivers real results, and K-beauty’s multi-step, ingredient-led routines resonate strongly here. On TikTok Shop, we’ve seen how education and engagement drives purchase decisions. Shoppable videos and LIVE Shopping sessions also allow us to connect directly with customers, helping them understand and embrace routines like ‘glass skin’ step by step."This shift is measurable: the average basket value for K-Beauty brands on TikTok Shop is nearly 35% higher than the overall skincare average, driven by multi-step routines. Brands like Medicube have seen searches for their 'Zero Pore Pads' surge 400% as users seek efficacy driven solutions.This education-first mindset is not limited to Korean brands. TikTok Shop British beauty brand favourites such as The Ordinary , e.l.f. Cosmetics, and UK-founded The Beauty Crop, are thriving by using LIVE Shopping sessions and shoppable videos to connect directly with their communities to educate them with personalised approaches to skin care and concerns, with searches for The Beauty Crop growing by over 270% over the last quarter alone.Commenting on the event, skincare content creator James Welsh, said: "The beauty industry in the UK is evolving fast. From local brands to K-Beauty movements, we’re seeing real influence on routines. Shoppers are exploring products for specific skin concerns and seeking tips that are science-backed. People want guidance they can trust, routines that fit their lifestyle and content that makes discovery fun and easy. TikTok Shop is an incredible platform for delivering all of this in one place. Trends, products, ingredients and routines that were once insider knowledge are now far more accessible to everyone."Discovery Commerce at ScaleTikTok Shop's growth within the beauty category is underpinned by its unique content first approach to shopping. Emily Caine, Head of Beauty at TikTok Shop UK comments: "What is different about our platform is that users don't necessarily know what beauty products or brands they want to buy just yet. They come to discover, be inspired and learn from brands and creators to help them find the routines and right products for a specific skin concern or wanting a specific routine for oily skin, for example."This search by skin concern then shop behaviour has seen a 20% spike in posts tagged with #DrySkin and a 75% increase in posts with #MatureSkin as brands and creators look to provide informative content about products for their communities.LIVE ShoppingBeauty focused LIVE shopping sessions grew 90% in 2025 as more brands seize the opportunity to connect in real-time with buyers to help with their purchasing decisions - using TikTok as a marketing and research tool to get direct feedback straight from customers.Frances Leonard, Social Commerce Manager at The Ordinary commented: "We use LIVE sessions to answer questions about routines instantly. We often get feedback that customers love using two or more of our products together to address a specific skin concern, so we then can instantly create a bundle of those products for viewers to buy in the live that address specific concerns raised by viewers."The 'TikTok Shop Halo Effect' on RetailSuccess on TikTok Shop is driving footfall and success on the UK highstreet for British brands and new global favourites. The platform acts as a 'trend incubator' where products that prove popular and drive virality, end up in high street stores as a result.The Beauty Crop: Founder Ning Cheah, secured a listing in Boots as a direct result of its viral sales performance and community demand on TikTok Shop.The Ordinary: The exclusive launch of their Volufiline serum on TikTok Shop drove significant subsequent traffic to other retail channels once the exclusivity period on TikTok Shop ended.Mixsoon: The brand's Bean Essence didn’t just go viral on TikTok, it sparked demand from other UK beauty retailers looking to stock the productsSupporting the Creator EconomyThe number of active creators on TikTok Shop UK has risen over 72% in the past year, with many sharing honest advice, reviews and viral content that drives product sell-outs.Hundreds of creators now earn more than the average UK salary (£39k) in commission alone, demonstrating the economic opportunity TikTok Shop provides not only for brands and sellers, but also for individuals, by connecting their expertise with an engaged, discovery-driven community.Greise Astrauskaite @griese_a , Content Creator adds: "TikTok Shop has allowed me to earn a meaningful income from doing something I am incredibly passionate about. I love that I have been able to build a community of people who are as excited about beauty as I am, and who can ask me any questions they may have. I enjoy sharing honest reviews, demonstrating how different brands and products work on my skin and recommending the products I trust to my followers."-ENDS-*According to Nielsen IQ (NIQ) data, 2024