Key Takeaways:
When Summer Fridays, a brand built on SPF and skincare credibility, finds its lip butter driving massive sales percentages, something fundamental has shifted in beauty. When Gisou's Honey-Infused Lip Oil becomes the haircare brand's number-one SKU, we're witnessing product diversification—and an industry-wide pivot toward "the lipification of beauty."
Across categories, from skincare to haircare to acne treatment, brands are discovering their most unexpected hero products live not in their founding expertise but in the accessible world of lip care. This is the new reality of how consumers shop, feel, and engage with beauty in an economy where a $15 lip oil can deliver both the emotional lift of luxury and the practical promise of skincare treatment.
The Numbers Tell the Story
The data reveals how dramatic this shift has been. In 2024, the lip cosmetics sector accounted for 15% of total retail sales in the color cosmetics category in the US, a significant jump from 13.1% in 2022, according to Mintel Reports US, Color Cosmetics, 2025. This growth reflects both expanding market share and universal adoption. Ninety-two percent of makeup users reported they used lip products in 2025, up from 90% in 2024, per Mintel.
The intensity of engagement is compelling: Mintel reports that 40% of US women ages 18-34 now use four or more different types of lip products, so it’s not about having a single go-to lipstick anymore. Consumers are building lip wardrobes, collecting oils, balms, treatments, and tints with the same fervor once reserved for eyeshadow palettes.
Per Mintel, in 2022, new product launches accounted for 13% of all lip color cosmetic launches in North America (US and Canada), dropping to 11% in 2023 and 10% in 2024. However, in Asia Pacific, Mintel reports that lip color cosmetics product launches rose steadily from 2022 to 2024, accounting for 32%, 41%, and 42% respectively, in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Lips didn't just grow with the market; they stole share from other makeup categories. This suggests consumers are choosing to spend more on lip products relative to everything else in their makeup routine.
When Off-Brand Becomes On-Brand
Lipification’s evidence is in watching brands abandon their founding expertise for unexpected lip success. In addition to the Summer Fridays and Gisou examples, Laneige’s Lip Sleeping Mask became a phenomenon rivaling its skincare heritage, while Starface—the brand synonymous with pimple patches—is now betting lip balm will be its next breakout hero product. These aren't anomalies, but evidence of a shift where off-brand products are becoming the most on-brand thing a beauty company can do.
True Beauty Ventures Vice President Caroline Weintraub says it’s accurate to see Summer Fridays and Gisou as part of a larger structural shift rather than isolated anomalies. Beauty brands today are defined less by their original category and more by the emotional territory they occupy, she said. “A skincare or haircare brand selling lip oils or balms is not ‘off-brand’ if the product reflects the brand’s broader promise of sensorial care, aesthetic identity, or community connection,” she noted.
The sustainability, however, depends on balance. Virality can create temporary spikes, Weintraub noted, but long-term value requires translating that momentum back into core credibility and innovation. “If brands use these hero lip SKUs as entry points to deepen consumer relationships and reengage them across the full assortment, the strategy is sustainable,” she explained. If not, she said, they risk being defined by a single trend rather than a lasting brand ecosystem.
The Economics of Lip Products
Weintraub says the rise of lip products reflects both consumer psychology and shifting market dynamics. In a crowded landscape with limited discretionary spend, especially among younger shoppers, she said lip products are an easy entry point, “a small luxury that feels both attainable and expressive ... They have become modern status symbols, the new lipstick index,” she explained.
There's also a perfect storm of economic incentives making lip products irresistible to brands. The category hits the sweet spot of affordable luxury, with price points between $10-$30 that deliver high margins while remaining accessible for impulse purchases, retail strategist Lisa Adams said. The low customer loyalty in the category makes lip products even more attractive, she added. Unlike skincare routines where consumers stick with what works, lip color purchases are impulsive and experimental, creating endless opportunities for brands to capture new customers, Wonderskin founder and CEO Michael Malinsky said.
Retailers have capitalized on this psychology, building dedicated lip areas at Sephora and Ulta Beauty and strategically placing lip products at checkout as the ultimate last-minute addition, according to Adams.
"Lip trends often serve as a gateway into a brand's full offering and often lead [consumers] to explore the brand's broader range," an Ulta Beauty spokesperson said in an interview. It's also an emotional boost purchase that makes consumers feel good without breaking the bank.
While traditional color cosmetics sales lag, lip products continue to perform, bridging the gap between skincare and makeup in a way that resonates with today's hybrid-loving consumers, Adams said. Malinsky added that the result is a category that not only drives individual sales but builds larger basket sizes through complementary products like scrubs, oils, and liners, creating a lip ecosystem that maximizes revenue per customer.
The Hybrid Revolution
The line between skincare and makeup has never been more blurred than it is in the lip category, where oils, serums, and overnight masks have transformed what we expect from color cosmetics. Lip balms, oils, and long-lasting lip stains are leading growth, particularly products formulated with skin-loving ingredients like peptides that promise hydration and natural plumping, Ulta Beauty’s spokesperson said.
The rise of nourishing hybrids like NYX Smushy Matte Lip Balm and Too Faced Kissing Balm demonstrates an appetite for products that deliver color and skincare benefits in a single swipe. This combo approach has spawned an entire layering culture, with consumers routinely stacking lip stains under balms or oils from brands like Ole Henriksen, e.l.f., or Dior to achieve a glossy, hydrated aesthetic.
Weintraub agreed that the difference today is format and virality. “Lipstick has evolved into glosses, oils, balms, and masks, with brands like Summer Fridays and rhode turning each new flavor or finish into a collectible moment,” she said. “For consumers, owning every variant is a form of participation in the brand’s world, a way to buy into aspiration without breaking the bank.”
The category has also seen dramatic revivals, with Wonderskin's viral peel-off stain breathing new life into a once-dormant format through social media-engineered design—its striking blue formula that transforms on lips becoming the kind of shareable moment that drives discovery, Malinsky noted.
Per Spate, this evolution has created dedicated TikTok communities: #LipCombo garners 2.4 million average weekly views while #LipBalmAddict claims 1.1 million, reflecting how lip care has become a cultural conversation rather than just a beauty category. The data confirms this shift toward treatment-focused products, with lip serums up 119% year-over-year, tinted lip oils growing 56%, and peptide lip treatments surging 54%, according to Spate. An Ulta Beauty spokesperson said the category continues to evolve with soft mattes and cloud-textured formulas heavily inspired by K-beauty, promising the next wave of innovation.
Retail as the Catalyst
Lipification ground zero is Sephora, where the retailer's influence extends beyond stocking products to actively shaping the category's trajectory. The store has become a destination and credibility machine for beauty brands, where a spot on the shelf translates directly into consumer trust and brand visibility, Malinsky noted. In terms of merchandising, lip products’ small packaging allows for way more SKUs per shelf compared to bulkier skincare or face products, creating visual abundance that drives impulse purchases. The accessible barrier to entry in lip product development means both indie brands and established beauty conglomerates can compete on relatively equal footing—a democratization that benefits retailers seeking constant newness and innovation, Adams said.
At Ulta Beauty, this dynamic plays out through viral favorites like Milk Makeup Jelly Tints, Benefit Benetint, and SACHEU Peel Off Lip Liner driving serious engagement alongside accessible private label options, demonstrating how retailers can leverage both prestige and proprietary products to own the category. The result is a retail environment where lip products function as both destination draws and last-minute checkout additions, with strategic placement ensuring they capture consumers at multiple decision points throughout the shopping journey.
Sephora's role is crucial for scaling emerging brands, providing distribution, in-person product experiences, and cultural cachet that transform viral moments into lasting momentum. “For every ten customers, maybe four or five ask where they can try it in person,” Malinsky noted. He said that with the Sephora partnership, the brand is able to scale and deliver that experience, which is important to many beauty buyers.”
The Future of Brand Identity
Lip products’ success across beauty categories has forced brands to lean into what's working, even if it contradicts their founding mission, or course-correct to protect brand identity. There’s evidence that the former is the way to go. Gen Alpha and Gen Z shoppers gravitate toward playful, portable products they can easily carry in bags or pockets, an Ulta Beauty spokesperson said.
A post-category beauty landscape is emerging where products serve multiple purposes—eyeliners double as lip liners, blush sticks work across face and lips, and discovery happens through social media experimentation rather than department store consultations. “Our eyeliners went viral when a celebrity makeup artist used them on Jared Leto’s lips,” Malinsky shared. This shift from traditional beauty discovery to viral, platform-based trends means brands now design for efficacy and shareability, creating products that generate conversation and connection.
This evolution doesn’t kill traditional categories—classic lipsticks maintain their appeal alongside hybrids, with consumers appreciating having different options for different occasions, moods, and styles, an Ulta Beauty spokesperson said.
Beyond Lipification
Ultimately, lipification is bigger than lip products. It reveals how modern consumers make beauty decisions in an economy where affordable indulgence matters, social shareability drives discovery, and category boundaries are meaningless. Lip products demonstrate consumers aren't loyal to brand heritage or category definitions. They're loyal to products that deliver emotional impact, functional results, and cultural currency at an accessible price point. The implications extend beyond lips to every corner of beauty, suggesting the next wave of growth may come from unexpected adjacencies that meet consumers where they are. The question isn't whether lip-driven growth is sustainable—the data and retailer commitment suggest it is—but which category will experience its own version of lipification next.
The brands thriving in this landscape recognize category disruption as an invitation to meet customers in new, emotionally driven ways rather than a threat. The lipification of beauty isn't an anomaly; it's a blueprint for how modern beauty brands survive and scale.
