TL;DR: The beauty brands pulling ahead don't chase viral moments. They build around sustained signals, treat creators as partners, and let authenticity drive demand. Here's what two TikTok executives confirmed at Cosmoprof 2025, and why it matters for every brand.

Two TikTok executives. Two Cosmoprof stages. One consistent message: the beauty brands winning right now aren't the ones with the biggest budgets or the slickest content. They're the ones who've figured out that authenticity is currency, creators are partners, and the real play is signals, not moments.

Trends aren't all equal: know the difference

Alessandra Sangalli, Head of Creator Marketing Italy & Spain at TikTok, drew a distinction most brands miss. There are three levels of trend on TikTok:

• Moments: fast-moving, gone in weeks. Glitter freckles. Fun, but don't build a strategy around them.
• Signals: sustained conversations that stick. Korean skincare is a signal. The more content users see, the more they adopt it, and eventually it hits major retail shelves worldwide.
• Cultural forces: structural shifts in how the industry operates. TikTok itself is a cultural force. It has changed how people discover, evaluate, and buy products entirely.

Most content strategies chase moments. The ones that last build around signals.

If you're creating content, that's the question worth sitting with.

The full-funnel loop is real, and it's data-backed

In a separate session, Livia Falcioni, Consumer Goods Group Vertical Director at TikTok Italia, brought the receipts:

• 1 in 3 users discovers a new beauty brand on TikTok
• 38% of beauty lovers buy because a creator influenced them
• 84% come back to review products after purchasing, becoming advocates who influence the next buyer
• 70% have been directly influenced by TikTok content to purchase a new beauty product

The #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt hashtag has over 30 million posts. The cycle is: discover → buy → review → influence others. This isn't a marketing funnel. It's a flywheel, and it's powered by users, not ad spend.

Livia showed five products that all went out of stock, not because of multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns, but because people made it happen through content.

Authenticity is currency, literally

Both speakers landed on the same point from different angles. Falcioni framed the audience not as a target, but as a partner: democratic, authentic, and engaged.

"What you actually buy on TikTok is trust. Authenticity is our new currency." Alessandra Sangalli, TikTok

71% of users worldwide say they purchase because creators were authentic: showing real applications, imperfections, how products actually perform. Not polished. Authentic.

The implication for content: stop polishing. Show the real thing.

Creators have changed roles

They're not just entertainers anymore. Both speakers described the same evolution:

• Educators: dermatologists breaking down ingredients, creators doing deep-dive product analysis.
• Trendsetters: setting signals, not just following moments.
• Advocates: their authentic stamp of approval moves product. Trust is built and owned by creators.
• Retailers: through features like TikTok Shop, creators now own the end-to-end consumer journey: discover, research, evaluate, purchase.

Sangalli made the point that creators are also contributing to brand narratives. When a creator applies a product in a way the brand didn't anticipate, that can be incorporated into the brand story. When the community resonates with certain values, those become brand assets. The relationship should be co-creation, not top-down briefing.

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Your audience isn't your target: they're your partner

Falcioni reframed something important: on TikTok, the audience is active. They create, review, remix, and amplify. When you involve them through UGC, reviews, and community participation, campaigns scale exponentially. She calls this the "ripple effect." A single video creates a wave that lands in physical shops and e-commerce carts.

Move from speaker to listener. Be part of the conversation, not the one broadcasting it.

Education is replacing entertainment

Both speakers confirmed this independently. The era of quick tips and hacks is being replaced by substance: ingredient breakdowns, brand narratives, the science behind products. Creators who go deep are building loyal, engaged followings.

Sangalli noted that TikTok itself has shifted: from short content only, to long-form, and now what's emerging is education-first content where creators provide deep dives, break down ingredients and values, and share the history behind brands. Trends are being replaced by knowledge.

But here's the nuance: don't over-produce. Over-polished, high-production content underperforms. Situational content, showing products in real-life moments, drives sustained demand, not just spikes.

Authentic and substantive beats slick and shallow every time.

This is a cross-channel reality

What TikTok is proving with data, every other channel is reflecting. At the same event, Sephora's Global Vice-President Nigel Lawmon described retraining store staff because consumers arrive already educated by creators. Anastasia Soare, CEO of Anastasia Beverly Hills, said the job now is to educate followers on how to use the product. NikkieTutorials said brands need to trust creators to know what their audience wants to learn.

Same principle, four completely different roles in the value chain.

Anastasia put the cross-channel reality plainly: you need a 360 strategy. A TikTok video drives someone to a Sephora store. A beauty advisor conversation reinforces what a creator showed. A creator's review sends people to a brand's storefront. Content doesn't live on one platform. It ripples across all of them.

Measurement matters: the Beiersdorf proof

Falcioni brought a concrete case study. Ilaria Balena, Marketing Manager Southern Europe at Beiersdorf, shared how they moved TikTok from test channel to strategic core for their sun care launch. The campaign was built on three pillars: product launch support, education around suncare misconceptions, and using the launch to strengthen awareness across the entire sun care category.

Results from their Marketing Mix Model:

• TikTok was nearly 3x more effective than offline video channels at driving discovery
• Branded content partnerships delivered up to 4.5x higher ROI versus standard formats
• Even at early-stage, lower investment levels, TikTok Shop generated measurable sales impact outside the platform

Their approach was phased: test products and formats, define hero SKUs and best-performing content, then scale the affiliate programme. When content drives consumption, measurement drives growth.

What this means if you're creating content right now

• Build around signals, not moments. Identify the sustained conversations in your space and contribute consistently.
• Go deep, not polished. Education-first content with real demonstrations outperforms high-production value.
• Treat your audience as co-creators. Invite participation. The ripple effect is your scaling mechanism.
• Think message-first, then adapt to channel and format. The consumer journey doesn't live on one platform.
• Co-creation beats transaction. Sephora, Anastasia Beverly Hills, and TikTok all said it: long-term partnerships outperform one-off deals.
• Measure what matters. If you're investing in TikTok, build the infrastructure to connect content to business results. Beiersdorf proved it's possible.

The creators and brands already adapting to this are building audiences. The ones still chasing viral moments are building content that expires.

Two sessions, two speakers, one consistent message. Cosmoprof confirmed what the data already shows: content that educates and content that's real is what's actually moving product right now.

Sources: Cosmoprof 2025. Panel: "The Icon & The Influencer: Masterminding Beauty's Digital Evolution" featuring Alessandra Sangalli (Head of Creator Marketing Italy & Spain, TikTok), Anastasia Soare (CEO, Anastasia Beverly Hills), Nikkie de Jager (NikkieTutorials / Founder, Nimya), and Nigel Lawmon (Global Vice-President Haircare, Sephora), moderated by Andrea Nagel (Chief Content Officer, CEW). Session: "Beauty in Store: How TikTok Is Shaping Shopping Into an Irresistible Experience" featuring Livia Falcioni (Consumer Goods Group Vertical Director, TikTok Italia) and Ilaria Balena (Marketing Manager Southern Europe, Beiersdorf).