Amazon has become the place for beauty shoppers (all shoppers?) and, by extension, for beauty brands and their advertising teams. This year, Amazon is projected to overtake Walmart as the largest beauty retailer in the U.S. This seismic shift means major beauty houses like Estée Lauder, L’Oréal, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Coty are now pouring millions into Amazon ads to stay visible. But beyond the numbers, we have thoughts: one personal, and one with a sharper eye on small business.

Skincare Obsessions & Our First Client

We’ll admit it — our team is skincare obsessed. Hydrating serums, super rich night creams, tinted SPF, the whole 10-step routine. (Okay, maybe 12.) It’s partly because our first-ever client was a beauty brand we still proudly partner with today. They keep us stocked, glowing, and deeply invested in what’s happening in the beauty category — especially on Amazon.

Watching giants like Estée Lauder finally cave to the “Amazon effect” tells us one thing: the battleground for attention in beauty has moved firmly into Jeff Bezos’ marketplace. Estée Lauder’s one-to-one ad spend (every $1 in sales matched by $1 in ads) has spiked CPCs by 248% on beauty keywords (ugh…). Clinique’s Black Honey lipstick is generating ~$600K/month on Amazon, a reminder that even iconic products need ad muscle to stay visible.

For us, it’s proof that even most glamorous, addictive categories start and end with marketing discipline. Storylines, strong offers, smart conquesting, subscription models, and standout campaigns are what carry brands through an increasingly crowded, exponentially expensive marketplace. And yes, we’ll keep testing them all — preferably with hyaluronic acid, ceramides and niacinamide slathered on our faces.

What This Means for Small Beauty Brands

Here’s the flip side: while “Big Beauty” flexes million-dollar ad budgets, smaller beauty brands are caught in the middle. Amazon offers incredible reach and customer acquisition — 70%+ of prestige buyers are new-to-brand, but it also creates challenges. CPCs in beauty rose 80% YoY, with spikes as high as 248% after Estée Lauder joined the platform. For smaller and emerging skincare and beauty brands, those numbers can be crushing.

Without strategic targeting, smaller brands risk invisibility. Amazon’s tools: DSP (Demand Side Platform), Marketing Cloud, and creative formats like video and subscriptions — let even the little guys punch above their weight. We know we can’t outspend the giants, but we’d like to think we can outsmart them. Knowing your niche, telling a story worth buying into, and leveraging Amazon’s scale without letting it gobble up your margins is the small brand playbook.

So, How Much is Big Beauty Actually Spending on Amazon?

Estée Lauder: The “Amazon Effect”

After years of resisting, Estée Lauder finally joined Amazon in 2024. Their entrance was loud — adopting an aggressive one-to-one ad strategy (spending $1 on Amazon ads for every $1 in Amazon sales). This level of investment drove CPCs on beauty keywords up 248% within a year, from $0.84 to $2.91 for branded terms. Many smaller brands suddenly found their go-to keywords prohibitively expensive and started seeing revenue and profit backslide.

Estée Lauder’s Clinique brand shows the payoff: Black Honey lipstick generated ~$600,000/month on Amazon (about $8M annually), implying a similar spend on ads to sustain sales. The takeaway: Estée Lauder has permanently raised the cost of competing in beauty ads on Amazon (thanks guys). 

L’Oréal: Customer Acquisition at Scale

L’Oréal leaned into Amazon earlier — and it shows. Its portfolio now generates more than $100M in Amazon revenue per month. When Lancôme debuted on Amazon in 2023, it became the #2 top-selling luxury beauty brand within eight months. Even more interesting: 73% of Lancôme’s Amazon shoppers were new customers for the brand.

They were able to unlock Amazon for meaningful new customer acquisition. L’Oréal’s investment in sponsored product listings, brand placements, and display ads ensures dominance across mass and prestige tiers.

P&G: ROI Above All Else

Procter & Gamble, with brands like Olay and Pantene, plays the Amazon game more cautiously. Their approach: retail media must “earn its place” in the marketing mix. P&G spends heavily during events like Prime Day (when beauty & personal care ad spend spiked 649% vs. the prior month’s average), but otherwise keeps a tight ROI lens. For smaller brands, this illustrates that efficiency and timing can still work, even in a crowded category.

Unilever: Scaling Up and Spending More

Unilever boosted global marketing spend to 15.5% of sales in 2024, its highest in a decade, with much of that funneled into retail media. Amazon, which accounts for ~74% of U.S. retail media ad spend, is a major beneficiary. Expect Dove, TRESemmé, and prestige names like Dermalogica to keep showing up at the top of sponsored Amazon results as Unilever invests millions into sponsored ads and influencer collaborations.

Coty: Playing the Funnel on Both Sides

Coty, parent of CoverGirl and Gucci Beauty, is using Amazon ads for both conversions and brand-building. They leverage Amazon DSP tools to improve ROAS (up 28% in recent campaigns), while simultaneously running brand-building display ads for prestige fragrances. This “dual funnel” approach means Coty captures both impulse mascara buyers and luxury fragrance browsers.

Amazon Beauty Trends In A Nutshell

• Ad Spend Surge: Beauty ad spend on Amazon grew over 25% from Q1 to Q3 2024. Some brands increased budgets 50–100% YoY just to maintain visibility.
• CPC Inflation: Average beauty keyword CPCs rose more than 80% YoY. Prime Day alone saw an 83% spike.
• New Customer Acquisition: For prestige brands, 70%+ of Amazon buyers are first-time customers.
• Retail Media Leader: Amazon owns ~74% of U.S. retail media ad spend, dwarfing competitors like Walmart and Target.

What This Means for Beauty Marketers

The era of “set it and forget it” listings is over. Competing in Amazon’s beauty category now requires:

• Significant ad investment (10–15% of Amazon sales revenue at minimum, often more).
• Smart targeting through Amazon DSP and Marketing Cloud.
• Creative campaign strategies that go beyond discounts (storytelling, influencer tie-ins, conquesting, and subscription pushes).

Amazon is the place to grow beauty brands. The question isn’t whether to advertise there — it’s how aggressively you can spend and still see ROI. For brands willing to spend, Amazon offers unmatched reach and new customer acquisition. For those who hesitate, invisibility is the risk.
The Beauty Bottom Line: Amazon ads in the beauty category are no longer optional. The biggest players have declared it a pay-to-play arena. Smaller brands must get savvier, more creative, and more efficient if they want to keep up. Whether you’re a legacy house, an indie darling, or just a skincare-obsessed team like ours, the rules are clear: spend smart, measure well, and always play the long game.