The pandemic has completely upended beauty habits, with consumers gradually moving towards more authentic products and brands.
Natural ingredients, eco-responsible packaging and holistic beauty are now central to consumer priorities, but they're not the only factors driving decisions.
Shoppers are also keen to use vegan products that guarantee animal welfare, and which are now being spearheaded by numerous cosmetics brands, such as Florence By Mills, currently considered the most popular in the world – on social networks at least.
To establish this ranking, Easy Vegan Recipes compared various factors, such as the number of followers, likes, or views, as well as shares, comments, and overall engagement for each brand on Instagram and TikTok.
Read more: Shea butter, aloe vera, olive oil: 3 natural beauty allies for sun-kissed skin
Each category was scored out of 10 to give an overall result out of 100.
As such, it's Florence By Mills, created in 2019 by the Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, that tops the list with a score of 70.1.
The skincare and makeup brand has a community of over three million followers on Instagram, and boasts one of the highest engagement rates.
Celebrities lead the way
And that's not the only vegan beauty brand launched by a celebrity to top the rankings.
Rare Beauty, also founded in 2019, but this time by Selena Gomez, takes second place on the podium with a score of 61. More followed on social networks than Florence By Mills, the brand boasts the highest average number of Instagram likes per post, at over 70,000.
Rem Beauty, created by Ariana Grande, came third with a score of 49.5, and Haus Labs, the brand created by Lady Gaga, follows in fifth place with 26.9 points.
Looking at more traditional brands – but brands no less committed to animal welfare – Elf Cosmetics takes fourth place with a score of 35, Truly Beauty is sixth with just over 25, and Milk Makeup is just behind with 18 points.
This ranking shows how important it can be to have a large community on social media to promote a brand and earn the loyalty of customers looking for the same beauty routine as their favourite star – while also promoting certain values.
Read more: What is dermaplaning, and why is this beauty technique considered controversial?
Gomez, for example, is the most followed female personality on Instagram, with no less than 426 million followers.
"It is clear that beauty brands have recognised the growing importance of online presence and are not only competing against each other in terms of sales nowadays but also for the biggest online following.
As we can see from the top ten, there is a clear link between the founders of these brands and their popularity online.
Many of these celebrities have a huge following, meaning their corresponding brands have a recognisable face that fans can attach to them," said a spokesperson for Easy Vegan Recipes. – AFP Relaxnews