The Rise of Mexican Beauty Brands
Mexico’s beauty brands are enjoying a boost in sales and brand awareness as consumers seek more culturally authentic brands that resonate more closely with them. As local brands gain popularity across the country, driven in part by the ubiquity of TikTok shop, the market is also rapidly expanding with the launch of more and more premium beauty brands in the country. Charlotte Tilbury, for instance, will be launching in Sephora Mexico later this week, and branching out into El Palacio de Hierro, the largest luxury department store in Mexico, and a travel retail concession at the Mexico City airport later this year.
There is little doubt that the beauty market in Mexico has benefitted from the vote of confidence premium brands and mass market giants alike have given the country. Unilever recently announced that it would be investing USD 1.5 billion in Northern Mexico to increase production capacity, and Ulta Beauty is expected to open its first retail location in the country this year. Rising wealth in the country and market factors such as low unemployment rates, lower tariffs for products made in Mexico, and an influx of immigrants from wealthier countries have primed Mexico to become a strong contendant in the fashion and beauty categories.
Fueled by a rise in national pride, brands like Sarelly Sarelly, OD Beauty, Aora Mexico, Xinu and House of Bo and Botica Floral are likely to benefit from market dynamics. In 2024, mass beauty and personal care brands in the country saw lower growth rates. However, the beauty sector grew overall as consumers favored premium and specialised products.
TikTok Shop has also had a boosting effect for some Mexican beauty brands. According to Remi Martini, co-founder of Sarelly Sarelly, told Business of Fashion that ““After we launched on TikTok Shop, we saw a double-digit increase in our sales on Amazon,” he said, adding that no additional marketing was carried out. The brand has invested in live streams, promotions and content to succeed on TikTok, a move which Martini believes “is a big stamp of credibility before we go to a big retailer,” adding that the brand is set to launch in the US retailer Credo later this year.”
Aora Beauty, a mass cosmetics label which is known for its “clean beauty” profile and their range of lip products infused with a chili-based ingredient that gives wearers a lip plumping effect, leans into national pride and their intimate knowledge of the country and cultural nuances, to set itself apart from other global beauty brands.
The landscape for growth for global beauty brands is quite cloudy these days as the uncertainty fueled by tariffs complicates demand planning for the American market. Mexican brands are poised to benefit from the challenging environment, not just for aforementioned reasons, but also because of its proximity to the 62 million Latinos living in the US, According to research by insights firm Nielsen IQ, “Spanish-speaking beauty customers in the US outspend non-Hispanic shippers by an average of $39 each year on products like hair care, fragrance and cosmetics.”
For brands like Sarelly Sarelly, the US has already proven to be a boon. Martini said to BoF that the brand has already reached virality in TikTok, arguing that customers are craving content in Spanish. For instance, he makes sure to emphasize that A/B testing quickly showed that “videos in Spanish performed much better in the US than those in English.” Unsurprisingly, and strongly rooted in cultural nuance, Sarelly Sarelly’s best-selling products in the us include sinclude the USD 29 “Telenovela” lip duo and the USD 18 “Long Cow Lash” mascara.
Remini ends his conversation with BoF by saying that ““To be a defining Hispanic brand, you need to come from a Hispanic country,” he said. “But you also need to be successful and legit in your Hispanic country before you launch in the US.”
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