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Retail Media Insights · Sensor Tower · December 2025
Skincare Brands Put Their Best Face Forward on Retail Media
Retail media activity in the skincare category reached its highest level of the year in October, driven by K-Beauty campaigns at Amazon. We explored which brands led the category in 2025 and how channel strategies varied across RMNs.
A Highly Competitive Category with Retailer-Specific Leaders
The skincare category has emerged as one of the most active on retail media, generating over 10 billion impressions across 297 advertisers in 2025 YTD. While several large holding companies like L'Oréal, Unilever, and P&G are heavily represented, the category remains highly fragmented.
L'Oréal led the category overall with a 13% SOV in 2025 YTD, followed closely by Unilever (10%) and e.l.f. Beauty (9%). At the individual retailer level, many different brands claimed the #1 SOV, including: Beiersdorf at Walmart, Unilever at Target, Estée Lauder at Ulta, and Kenvue at Walgreen’s.
Top Skincare Brands Addressed a Wide Range of Needs
At the brand level, e.l.f. Skin led the skincare category in 2025 YTD, generating 634M retail media impressions. Their activity was led by Amazon support for their Holy Hydration lineup.
CeraVe ranked #2, driven by Moisturizing Cream ads touting its dermatologist-developed formula.
The category’s fragmentation stems in part from its breadth of skincare solutions. The top skincare advertisers promoted products across a wide range of sub-categories, including lotions, acne treatments, sunscreen, body wash, and more.
Amazon Captured the Bulk of Skincare Impressions
Amazon generated 8x more skincare impressions than any other RMN in 2025 YTD (6.6B). Brands primarily leveraged Amazon as a conversion platform, prioritizing OnSite Display ads to reach high-intent shoppers.
At other RMNs, channel mixes were far more varied. At Walmart, TikTok took center stage, including an influencer-style campaign for Cetaphil’s Gentle Exfoliating Line. At Ulta, 58% of category impressions ran on Facebook, including a product launch for Clinique’s Moisture Surge Active Glow Serum.
K-Beauty Drove the Biggest Skincare Spike of the Year
In October, skincare impressions on retail media jumped +36% MoM to 1.6B, the highest monthly level of 2025 so far.
The surge was driven by large-scale campaigns from two Korean beauty, or K-Beauty, brands at Amazon: Sulwhasoo and Innisfree.
According to eMarketer, demand for K-Beauty is soaring, fueled by TikTok and other social platforms that are accelerating product discovery. While Amazon helped pave the way for K-Beauty’s rise in the US, other retailers are competing to claim their share of the growth. Ulta launched dedicated “K-Beauty Marts” in-store and online, while Sephora and Walmart have expanded their assortment of K-Beauty brands.
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