Top 100 Beauty brands mentioned on Instagram - United States

Sephora is the brand US creators talked about most on Instagram from January to September 2026, with $316.9M in Earned Media Value (EMV) from 18,745 creators. L’Oréal Paris climbs to second on $274.9M, up 49% year on year, and Ulta Beauty completes the podium on $259.3M. Across the 1,901 beauty accounts tracked, total EMV reached $10.7B, up 15% on the same period of 2025.

What the ranking says about beauty influencer marketing in the US

• Retailers set the pace. Two of the top three are retailers. Sephora and Ulta Beauty earn $576.1M between them, more than L’Oréal Paris and Huda Beauty combined.
• Creator-led brands keep climbing. Rhode jumps eight places to fifth on $235.2M, up 74%. Patrick Ta Beauty gains 18 places, and One/Size, Makeup by Mario and Rare Beauty all sit in the top 20.
• US-born brands dominate. 67 of the Top 100 brands were founded in the US, and they earn 64% of the Top 100’s EMV.
• A few groups own the conversation. L’Oréal Group earns $1.65B from 87 Instagram accounts, a 15.3% share of all US beauty EMV. LVMH follows on $1.17B, and the top 20 groups hold 61.7% between them.

Who leads each beauty segment

L’Oréal Paris leads makeup on $274.9M. Rhode leads skincare on $235.2M, more than twice Summer Fridays in second. Kérastase climbs four places to lead haircare, up 122% year on year, and Dior Beauty leads fragrance on $171.9M, ahead of YSL Beauty.

What’s inside the report

• The full Top 100 beauty brands on Instagram in the US, ranked by EMV, with each brand’s move against 2025
• Top 10 brands in makeup, skincare, haircare and fragrance
• The Top 20 US-born beauty brands
• The Top 20 beauty groups by EMV, from L’Oréal Group and LVMH to independent brands like Huda Beauty and Rare Beauty
• Content volume, creator counts and engagement rate for every brand

How the ranking works

The ranking uses Kolsquare creator data. It covers 3,127,044 pieces of Instagram content published by 950,209 creator profiles with more than 5,000 followers and at least 30% of their audience in the US, from January 1 to September 30, 2026, compared with the same months of 2025. Brands are ranked by EMV, calculated with the Ayzenberg method, which values the likes, comments and shares a brand earns against the cost of buying the same engagement. Each Instagram account is ranked on its own, and the group ranking adds up every account under one parent company.

Beauty influencer marketing in the US: FAQ

Which beauty brand leads influencer marketing on Instagram in the US?

Sephora, with $316.9M in EMV from January to September 2026, ahead of L’Oréal Paris ($274.9M) and Ulta Beauty ($259.3M).

Which beauty group earns the most creator attention in the US?

L’Oréal Group, with $1.65B in EMV across 87 Instagram accounts, followed by LVMH ($1.17B) and Estée Lauder Companies ($458.0M).

What is EMV in beauty influencer marketing?

Earned Media Value puts a dollar figure on the engagement creators generate when they mention a brand. It lets beauty marketers compare brands, segments and campaigns on the same scale.

How can a beauty brand benchmark its own influencer marketing?

Kolsquare’s platform shows where your brand sits against competitors, which creators drive your EMV and how that changes over time. Book a demo to see your position in this ranking.

Download the full report to see all 100 brands, the segment leaders and the groups behind them.