Men's makeup becomes popular on TikTok, Ulta and Sephora capitalize on it

It often starts small.

A little concealer. A tinted moisturizer. Maybe an eyebrow gel that goes from borrowed to purchased. For many men, like Daniel Rankin, makeup has gone from taboo to a tool to make them look less tired and more put together.

“I remember thinking, 'Am I really doing this?'” Rankin, a 24-year-old New York advertising agent who likes to shop at Sephora, told CNBC. “But once I tried it, it became normal.”

In front of bathroom mirrors and in gym locker rooms, more and more men are adding cosmetics to their routines, industry experts told CNBC. The men's makeup market is now one of the most lucrative (and largely untapped) growth opportunities left in the beauty sector, and specialty retailers like Ulta Beauty and Sephora along with large companies such as Aim and Walmart everyone sees the opportunity.

“Men's beauty is one of the last remaining categories where brands can probably still see double-digit growth potential just by showing up,” said Delphine Horvath, professor of cosmetics and fragrance marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Sales of men's grooming products in the United States will exceed $7.1 billion in 2025, a year-over-year increase of 6.9%, according to market research firm NielsenIQ. The global market was valued at $61.6 billion in 2024 and is projected to exceed $85 billion by 2032, with the largest growth driven by the skin care sector, according to Fortune Business Insights.

Much of the push comes from Generation Z.

In the United States, 68% of Gen Z men ages 18 to 27 used facial skin care products in 2024, a sharp jump from 42% just two years earlier, according to data from market intelligence firm Mintel.

“This is no longer a niche,” said Linda Dang, CEO of Canada-based Asian beauty retailer Sukoshi. “Men are forming routines that typically start with skin care and then expand further; they're no longer just buying random products. That's what makes this market so valuable.”

Unlike one-time purchases for personal care, makeup encourages repeat use and experimentation. A man who starts with concealer often adds foundation, setting powder or tinted SPF over time, said Farah Jemai, associate global marketing leader at beauty brand Unleashia.

“When men discover makeup that works, they don't use it once and never again,” Jemai told CNBC. “They resupply.”

Market researchers estimate that by 2022, about 15% of American heterosexual men ages 18 to 65 were already using cosmetics and makeup, while another 17% said they would consider it, according to Ipsos. Industry experts say those numbers are likely to be higher in 2026.

Openness to cosmetics has grown, as the share of American men who say they never wear makeup has fallen from more than 90% in 2019 to about 75% in 2024, Statista survey data shows.

Both beauty conglomerates and startups are responding to the growth of men's beauty.

Ulta Beauty and Sephora have begun integrating men's skin products into gender-neutral, skincare-focused displays instead of having “men's” aisles. Such gender-specific displays can be intimidating or stigmatizing to some men, Horvath said.

Large retailers like Walmart and Aim They have also expanded their cosmetics or personal care offerings for men.

For example, in 2025, Target partnered with online streaming collective AMP, Any Means Possible, to launch TONE. The men's grooming brand debuted in Target stores nationwide in July, tapping into AMP's huge Gen Z male following on YouTube and Twitch.

Online, where much of the growth and discovery occurs, many beauty brands are investing money in partnerships with influencers to increase engagement and sales on TikTok Shop and Amazon.

“Many brands are now investing most of their marketing budget into influencer marketing to meet people where they already are online and make it easier to click 'buy,'” said Janet Kim, brand vice president of K-beauty Neogen.

Others lean toward digital education to teach men what different products do.

The War Paint brand sells makeup products such as concealers, tinted moisturizers and anti-shine powders that include QR codes on the packaging. Scanning them launches video tutorials explaining what each product does, without forcing customers to ask questions in a store.

“The biggest barrier is not price, it's uncertainty,” Dang said. “Men want to know what a product does and how to use it without feeling uncomfortable.”

But the path to mass adoption is not guaranteed.

Industry analysts warn that social stigma remains high and inflation threatens to curb spending on experimental and non-essential goods. Retailers also face a steep learning curve: It's difficult to scale a market when the core customer doesn't know how to use the product.

While men have worn makeup for centuries, from ancient Egypt to Elizabethan England, the modern commercial men's makeup movement has its roots in the mid-2010s.

In 2016, CoverGirl made history by naming then-17-year-old YouTuber James Charles as its first “CoverBoy,” placing a male face on a mass-market cosmetics brand for the first time.

Still, beauty conglomerates largely focused on women until recently, Sukoshi's Dang said. Now a broader cultural reset around masculinity is happening and companies are rushing to monetize it, said FIT's Horvath.

Social media has been the biggest accelerator, Dang said.

On TikTok and Instagram, male creators post step-by-step makeup routines, product breakdowns, and before-and-after results that often emphasize subtle changes rather than dramatic looks. Hashtags linked to men's grooming and makeup have racked up billions of views, with #mensgrooming alone surpassing 26 billion views on TikTok.

“TikTok democratized the procedures,” Dang said. “You no longer have to ask your sister or guess. You just scroll down, see a guy who looks like you fixing his acne in 30 seconds, and click 'buy'. It eliminated the gatekeepers.”

Gen Z men are also more comfortable rejecting rigid gender categories and are more skeptical of marketing that frames products as inherently masculine or feminine, Horvath said.

At the same time, makeup has increasingly been incorporated into a broader culture of wellness and optimization, sometimes called “looksmaxxing,” which includes fitness tracking, supplements, hair loss prevention, and longevity routines.

“Many men have begun to frame grooming and, for some, makeup as maintenance, not vanity,” Horvath said. “That rethinking removes the stigma and unlocks spending.”

Celebrity influence has further accelerated adoption, with stars such as Harry Styles, Brad Pitt and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson launching their own makeup and skincare brands, mirroring the celebrity saturation trend largely seen in spirits.

Johnson's Papatui brand, which launched at Target in 2024 and spans skin care, hair care, body care and tattoos, was created in response to ongoing questions about her self-care regimen. It now competes directly with legacy names like Clinique, L'Oréal and Kiehl's.

As the market matures, a debate is forming: do men want “men's makeup” or do they just want makeup?

Horvath said there is a “bifurcation” in the way companies market their products.

Brands like War Paint and Stryx argue that men need products designed for their thicker, oilier skin, and packaged in masculine, tool-like containers that would feel at home in a gym bag.

But Gen Z consumers are increasingly gravitating toward gender-neutral brands like LVMH co-owned by Fenty Beauty, The Ordinary and Haus Labs. To them, labels that say “For Men” can seem outdated or even condescending, Horvath said.

“In ten years, I don't think we'll be talking about 'men's makeup' again,” Horvath said. “We'll only talk about makeup. The gender binary in beauty is dissolving and sales data is finally catching up with the culture.”