Retailers on TikTok: Sephora leads, Amazon pushes 30% off, Oct 23–29

Between Oct 23 and Oct 29, 2026, the eight US beauty retailers we track published 47 brand-authored TikTok posts; seven of the eight posted. Sephora took the top spot on both total engagements and engagement rate with a Halloween makeup post, while Amazon Beauty ran the only sustained discount campaign, a “holiday beauty event” it captions as “up to 30% off”. Metrics are as of Oct 29, 2026.

Most-engaged posts

Top five by total engagements (likes + comments + shares + saves), as of Oct 29.

1. Sephora, Oct 27: 15,116 views, 1,857 likes, 44 comments, 10 shares, 54 saves: 1,965 engagements, a 13.0% rate. A Halloween makeup look using products from several brands Sephora carries.
2. Sephora, Oct 28: 46,089 views, 977 likes, 19 comments, 55 shares, 78 saves: 1,129 engagements, a 2.5% rate. Promotes a limited-edition KAYALI fragrance bottle sold through TikTok Shop.
3. REVOLVE Beauty, Oct 26: 43,250 views, 491 likes, 10 comments, 67 shares, 348 saves: 916 engagements, a 2.1% rate. A creator’s skull-makeup tutorial for Halloween; it drew 348 saves.
4. REVOLVE Beauty, Oct 25: 35,319 views, 356 likes, 6 comments, 100 shares, 340 saves: 802 engagements, a 2.3% rate. A creator’s spider-makeup tutorial for Halloween; 340 saves and 100 shares.
5. Sephora, Oct 27: 192,720 views, 554 likes, 24 comments, 23 shares, 48 saves: 649 engagements, a 0.3% rate. Announces Sephora’s KAYALI TikTok Shop live event; the window’s highest view count, but a 0.3% rate.

Top engagement rate

Rate = (likes + comments + shares + saves) ÷ views. Only posts with at least 1,000 views qualify: 32 of 47 posts did. All five top spots went to Sephora (as of Oct 29).

1. Sephora, Oct 27: 13.0% on 15,116 views (also #1 by engagements, above)
2. Sephora, Oct 26: 8,535 views, 531 likes, 29 comments, 60 shares, 21 saves: 641 engagements, a 7.5% rate. A holiday gifting spot.
3. Sephora, Oct 28: 6,271 views, 348 likes, 32 comments, 10 shares, 15 saves: 405 engagements, a 6.5% rate. A go-live notice for the KAYALI TikTok Shop live event.
4. Sephora, Oct 26: 12,861 views, 470 likes, 42 comments, 29 shares, 21 saves: 562 engagements, a 4.4% rate. An early announcement of the KAYALI live event.
5. Sephora, Oct 24: 6,427 views, 215 likes, 20 comments, 6 shares, 17 saves: 258 engagements, a 4.0% rate. Features a Charlotte Tilbury product with Christina Aguilera.

Sale & promo announcements

6 posts matched our promo rules (% off, sale, code, BOGO, discount, deal, gift with purchase, limited time); none were excluded as false positives. Five came from Amazon Beauty’s holiday beauty event and one from Credo Beauty.

• Credo Beauty, Oct 23: “Hair bond repair in 10 minutes? And at home? Sign me up. Get 20% off during the Friends of Credo sale.”
• Amazon Beauty, Oct 23: “the holiday beauty event is your sign to build gift boxes for the girlies while deals are up to 30% off 🎀 shop medicube, charlotte tilbury, amika and more at the link in bio #amazonbeauty #holidaybeautyevent #beautydeals”
• Amazon Beauty, Oct 25: “a 2-step routine that’s 30% off during the holiday beauty event 💛 shop the medicube kojic acid mask and deep vita c capsule cream at the link in bio #amazonbeauty #holidaybeautyevent #beautydeals 🎥: @asia_obrien”
• Amazon Beauty, Oct 26: “the perfect polish for every holiday look is up to 30% off during the holiday beauty event 💅🎁 shop deals now at the link in bio #amazonbeauty #holidaybeautyevent #beautydeals 🎥: @heygreatnails”
• Amazon Beauty, Oct 27: “gift yourself the best blowout yet with holiday beauty event deals up to 30% off 🎀✨ save big on top beauty brands at the link in bio #amazonbeauty #holidaybeautyevent #beautydeals”
• Amazon Beauty, Oct 28: “up to 30% off beauty”

Also noted (not promos): Sephora promoted a KAYALI TikTok Shop live event on Oct 28 across four posts; Ulta Beauty pointed three posts to its TikTok Shop; Ulta and Nordstrom Beauty each posted an advent calendar.

Trends

Themes found in captions, hashtags and sound names, counted by code. Established = at least 4 counted posts across 3+ brands; Emerging = at least 3 counted posts across 2+ brands; no more than 2 posts per brand count.

• Holiday / gifting (Established): 8 counted posts (11 total) across 5 retailers: Amazon Beauty, Nordstrom Beauty, Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Target. Examples: Sephora, Oct 26 (a holiday gifting spot); Ulta Beauty, Oct 28 (peanuts x Ulta Beauty Collection holiday products)
• Halloween / costume looks (Established): 6 counted posts (9 total) across 4 retailers: REVOLVE Beauty, Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Target. Examples: Sephora, Oct 27 (a Halloween makeup look using products from several brands Sephora carries); REVOLVE Beauty, Oct 26 (a creator’s skull-makeup tutorial for Halloween; it drew 348 saves)
• Fall / autumn (Emerging): 3 counted posts (3 total) across 3 retailers: REVOLVE Beauty, Ulta Beauty, Target. Examples: Target, Oct 25 (a Halloween movie-night hosting post); REVOLVE Beauty, Oct 25 (a creator’s fall nail colors)
• TikTok Shop / live shopping (Emerging): 4 counted posts (8 total) across 2 retailers: Sephora, Ulta Beauty. Examples: Sephora, Oct 27 (announces Sephora’s KAYALI TikTok Shop live event; the window’s highest view count, but a 0.3% rate); Ulta Beauty, Oct 27 (a DIBS Beauty stick sold on TikTok Shop)
• Retailer-exclusive / limited edition (Emerging): 3 counted posts (4 total) across 2 retailers: Sephora, Ulta Beauty. Examples: Sephora, Oct 28 (promotes a limited-edition KAYALI fragrance bottle sold through TikTok Shop); Ulta Beauty, Oct 27 (a new byoma serum sold only at Ulta)
• GRWM / routine (Emerging): 3 counted posts (3 total) across 2 retailers: Amazon Beauty, Ulta Beauty. Examples: Ulta Beauty, Oct 27 (a clean-beauty makeup routine); Amazon Beauty, Oct 25 (a two-step skincare routine tied to the holiday beauty event)
• Tutorial / how-to (Emerging): 3 counted posts (9 total) across 2 retailers: Nordstrom Beauty, REVOLVE Beauty. Examples: REVOLVE Beauty, Oct 26 (a creator’s skull-makeup tutorial for Halloween; it drew 348 saves); REVOLVE Beauty, Oct 28 (a Natasha Denona eye-makeup look)

Context: 33 of the 47 posts tag other accounts, mostly brands and creators. We don’t count that as a trend.

Follower snapshot

Followers as of Oct 29, 2026.

1. Target (@target): 3,530,079
2. Sephora (@sephora): 2,536,153
3. Ulta Beauty (@ultabeauty): 1,923,420
4. Amazon Beauty (@amazonbeauty): 433,292
5. Nordstrom Beauty (@nordstrombeauty): 193,853
6. Bluemercury (@bluemercury): 67,352
7. REVOLVE Beauty (@revolvebeauty): 59,066
8. Credo Beauty (@credo.beauty): 8,158

Follower growth will be reported from next week, once we have a second weekly snapshot.

Data: TikTok posts published Oct 23–29, 2026 by eight US beauty retailers, metrics scraped Oct 29, 2026; collab posts excluded. These are patterns in the retailers’ own posts, not sales.