Beauty on Reddit

Lifestyle thunderemoji •

Christine Cassis
(u/thunderemoji)

With NYFW just around the corner and fall trends heating up, we’re exploring the best of beauty communities on Reddit. From haircare and makeup to skincare, redditors are discussing best-of tips and tricks, discovering new products and more.

But first, here’s a quick summary of beauty on Reddit, by-the-numbers:

  • 33M+ monthly page views in top beauty communities*
  • 2.7M+ monthly unique users in top beauty communities*
  • 28M+ redditors searching for info on beauty or skincare in 6 months**

Beauty lives on Reddit

People come to Reddit’s beauty communities to share advice and recommendations, ask for product suggestions, discuss trends and share photos of their looks. Beauty communities on Reddit drive more than 33M monthly pageviews. Here are some of the top beauty communities on Reddit:

The conversation in top beauty communities showcase both breadth of topics and interests and depth of engagement. On Reddit, the beauty community is a highly engaged group, not just an audience of lurkers; in fact our own data shows that contributors to Reddit’s beauty communities have a 40% higher-than-average comment length.

Skincare on Reddit

Skincare alone has generated a ton of interest and great content on Reddit, with more than 9.2M redditors searching for skincare information in the first half of the year.** Their discovery and discussion has generated more than 5M skincare purchases between $50 – $100.**

But beyond purchasing power, these communities have demonstrated the potential to change lives. From skincare concerns, like aging and acne, to routine-building, confidence-boosting advice, Redditors around the world are coming together to lift each other up and provide support.

Creating a skincare routine for Autistic Brother [Routine Help] from SkincareAddiction

Communities like r/SkinCareAddiction are known for their positive engagement. In fact, the community’s first rule is “be kind and respectful” — and it shows. Redditors build trust and support within these communities by offering words of encouragement for “before and after” posts, advising on routines, debating and discussing the science of skincare, and more.  

Beyond building trust for deeply personalized recommendations on products, routines and more, we see redditors supporting each other. In beauty and skincare communities, we see more positive engagement than average, with 8 upvotes for every downvote and with 33% of unique users coming back 10 or more times in a month, there’s plenty of fresh and engaging user-generated content, daily.

[Selfie] I stopped wearing face makeup about a month ago to give my skin a break, save money, and to step outside of my comfort zone. I finally feel confident with my makeup-free face and wanted to share with you guys! Skincare routine in comments : ) from SkincareAddiction

Haircare on Reddit

Beauty isn’t just make up and skincare, though; it’s haircare, too. Which is why more than 14M redditors have searched for haircare-related content in the past 6 months, with more than 50M redditors making haircare purchases and more than 17M redditors spending between $50 and $200 on haircare products in the last 6 months.**

Eager to ask haircare questions, redditors engage in everything from professional AMA’s to haircare science.

TIL that air-drying hair causes damage to the cell Membrane cortex, and it may actually be healthier to use a blow dryer with cold air from HaircareScience

They also come to places like r/FancyFollicles to show off their hair color and creations, but also to ask for advice on specific looks.

never been blonde, never had bangs… my only regret is that i didn’t do it sooner! from FancyFollicles

Let’s hear it for the boys

But it’s not just women contributing to the conversation. Male grooming on Reddit has its own community (r/MaleGrooming) a place for advice, generating more than 210K pageviews each month. Nowhere else on the Internet can you find more interested and relevant, or engaging conversations around male lifestyle topics, including hair care and grooming. In fact, users come in droves to discover and share what they want to wear, trends to stay ahead of the curve, ways to stand out and express themselves. Popular communities include:

Not just trend spotters, but trend starters

Beauty communities on Reddit don’t just have the power to create popularity and drive purchasing power for products, they’re also trend starters and trend spotters. From best sunscreen for dark skin to winged-liner tricks and hacks for dull tweezers, redditors have got your back. And with more than 28M redditors searching for information on beauty and skincare in the first 6 months of 2018 alone, it’s no wonder why media is starting to take notice.

Don’t take our word for it, though. The beauty gurus, including everyone from Teen Vogue and HuffPo to Marie Claire and Allure, can attest.

For more insights and trend reports, stay tuned!

*Source: Reddit internal data 2018
**Source: ComScore data 2018