In an era where experiential marketing drives beauty's connections with consumers, Coachella, which can host 125,000 visitors at a time, has become a springboard for opportunities for brands. Festivalgoers now expect the beauty industry to deliver standout experiences in conjunction with the event, turning activities into entertainment destinations that capture attention and elevate a brand’s presence.
The festival, which has a predominantly Gen Z audience, encourages beauty brands to show up in ways that resonate with this demographic. After all, to Gen Z, the event is an ordeal that warrants months of research and planning on Pinterest and social media.
“Searches for Coachella start spiking at the beginning of the year on Pinterest, and nearly half of those searches are driven by Gen Z,” said Sara Pollack, Vice President of Global Consumer Marketing at Pinterest, in a company press release. Additionally, Pinterest searches for “Coachella aesthetic outfit” have increased by 769% since last year.
The excitement that Coachella activations create paves the way for further growth in marketing beyond the event itself. According to data from Creator IQ, which calculated earned media value on branded content post-Coachella, top brands, including Rhode Skin, generated impressive earned media value (EMV) as a result of engaging in the festival. The data showed Rhode with a $3.63M EMV, Kosas $3.61M EMV, ONE/SIZE $3.15M EMV, and Neutrogena $2.45M EMV, among several others.
BeautyMatter explores the brands that stole the show at Coachella 2025.
Neutrogena: Continuing its legacy as Coachella’s official sunscreen sponsor, Neutrogena hosted a range of activations for the Feel the Music, Not Your Sunscreen campaign. The brand kicked off weekend one with an immersive experience for 52 influencers and VIPs (with a combined following of 223.4M followers across social media), who were the first to receive some of the 200+ gallons of Ultra Sheer SPF product distributed through sampling both weekends.
To engage directly with consumers, the brand hosted nine suncare product stations within Safari Residences, resulting in a 25% increase in on-the-ground activations compared to previous years. Neutrogena also hosted pool party hangouts and a glam suite that offered services highlighting the brand's makeup products.
Sol de Janeiro: Making its festival debut as Coachella’s first-ever fragrance partner, Gen Z- favorite Sol de Janeiro hosted Casa Cheirosa, a 30x30-foot sensorial playground. The activation offered ticketed festivalgoers the opportunity to explore the brand’s best-selling fragrance mists on a deeper level, with each scent given a dedicated wall that interpreted the emotion and inspiration behind each product. Casa Cheirosa also included Brazilian orelhões (public phone booths) that acted as interactive scent portals giving key takeaways of scents to all who visited. The brand tapped into this year's growing trend of beauty merch, with mini fragrances available with keychain accessories attached.
NYX Professional Makeup: The cosmetics brand kicked off Coachella with out-of-home billboards spread across common routes taken to the festival, spotlighting its new Epic Ink Glitz metallic liquid eyeliner. In keeping with the theme of traveling, NYX Professional Makeup hosted the Epic Glitz Mobile, a branded car that drove around the festival with ambassadors handing out samples, swag bags, and offering photo moments. The brand partnered with the car app Lyft, creating the Lyft Glitz fleet of cars that ran through Coachella Valley and LA; $5 off codes were distributed at random during the festival, geotagged to the Coachella Valley and SoFi areas.
Beauty of Joseon: The heritage-meets-modern Korean skincare business brought its philosophy of "Beauty in Relief" to life at the festival, with a focus on the viral Daily Tinted Fluid Sunscreen. The brand rolled out a paid media and sampling campaign, distributing 10,000 full-sized units of the sunscreen SKU through on-site ambassadors who were dressed in a hybrid of trending and traditional Korean fashions, including Hanbok-inspired skirts, to create a “fresh cultural aesthetic” that reflected the brand's roots. Twelve branded cars were also present at the event, each representing one of the 12 shades of the Daily Tinted Fluid suncream. The cars looped around high-traffic areas, picking up festivealgoers and gifting them products while escorting them to the festival.
Rhode: After the success of Rhode’s photo booth at Coachella 2024, which led to a photo booth tour across several destinations, Hailey Bieber’s brand returned for a second year, this time setting up at best friend Kendall Jenner’s tequila brand 818’s activation space. The Rhode x 818 photo booth allowed visitors to insert branded coins and select either a Peptide Lip Tint (with options of salted caramel, PBNJ, or original) or a mini 818 Tequila, while of course snapping a picture. The pop-culture-fueled collaboration was the main focus of Rhode’s Coachella social post, which ranked as one of the highest-engaged pieces of content from the festival with over 2.5M impressions.
Kosas: Carrying on the theme of sun protection and car rides, Kosas ambassadors drove around in a DreamBeam Sunscreen-inspired car, which boasted an oversized version of the SKU on its roof. The vehicle drove around Palm Springs, gifting sunscreen to attending influencers' houses and on the streets to the public. The activation was shared across the brand's social media, including a TikTok recreation of the famous “Get in loser, we're going shopping” line from the Mean Girls movie. Kosas’ Coachella campaign paid off, landing it as the second best-performing beauty brand for Coachella 2025 (3.61 EMV) as shared in CreatorIQ’s report.
Ulta Beauty: The beauty retailer was the title sponsor of the NYLON House, which took place at Maraza. At the event, Ulta Beauty hosted a hair and makeup bar, where Ulta Beauty Pro Team artists provided festival glam, touch-ups, and beauty tips, while gaining exclusive access to limited-edition festival beauty products. Ulta Beauty rounded up an impressive roster of guests for the party, including model and blogger Amanda Steele and singer Dove Cameron, who also performed at the event.
Pinterest: The trend platform returned to Coachella for a second year with an activation designed by Creative Director Ramisha Sattar, crafted by NVE Experience Agency. The space was inspired by Pinterest's recently revealed festival trends, including “pop girl aesthetic” (198% year-over-year (YoY) search growth), “Y2K it girl” (141% YoY search growth), and “glitter freckles” (516% YoY search growth) to name a few. The tent incorporated these trends by highlighting its collage feature interactive tool, which encourages consumers to create a mood board of their favorite aesthetics, going on to complete their looks with the help of fashion stylists and makeup artists.
Method: The brand returned in 2025 as the official body and haircare sponsor, presenting its “Dream in the Desert” activation. The pop-up was a multisensory experience inspired heavily by the brand's latest product, Dream Foam Body Wash. Produced by Revolution Marketing, the interactive space invited guests into four “dream worlds”: Velvet Ember, Iridescent Shore, Bloom Lounge, and Enchanted Grove, each exploring the products' different fragrances. Additionally, the brand was on-site at camps, gifting samples of its body and haircare products.
Dreame Technology: Following the recent launch of the AirStyle Pro, a 7-in-1 hair styling kit, Dreame Technology hosted a pop-up salon and styling bar at Coachella to showcase the latest addition. The “Dreame Dry Bar” was located at the exclusive GUESS Jeans compound, where celebrity hair stylist Davontaé Washington provided exclusive styling sessions. In addition to the dry bar, a large photo booth was situated in the GUESS Jeans compound, further promoting the brand while providing recently styled guests with a place to showcase their new looks.
Fenty: Throughout weekend one, Rihanna’s brand hosted guests at the Fenty Beauty Festival House in Korakia Pensione for a full festival-preparation routine. The space featured several areas, including a beauty studio, a branded pool and sun loungers, and a curated product area for festival essentials. The activation offered attendees services from Fenty Skin, Fenty Beauty, and Fenty Hair, including shade matching, glam touch-ups, massages, and hair appointments.
