How Long do Viral Beauty Launches Stay Popular?

Beauty’s buzz cycle is becoming ever-more compressed.

Though virality has become a coveted feat among brands in recent years, the phenomenon is evolving in terms of both typical impact and longevity as products and content proliferate. In beauty, this means that even the most popular new products are spending less time at the top.

Data from CreatorIQ shows that when comparing the top 10 beauty launches of 2024 versus 2025 by earned media value — a measurement of social media reach and engagement — 2025’s top performers garnered less chatter than those of the year prior ($4.4 million average monthly EMV versus $3.2 million).

In both years, though, product trajectories indicated a standout pattern.

Three’s a Magic Number

“Typically, after a surge of interest during the product’s first two or three months on the market, products level off into a consistent holding pattern of monthly EMV totals,” said Alexander Rawitz, director of research and insights at CreatorIQ, adding that most products “peak in month two; maintain solid returns in month three and taper off by month six, at which point they begin producing consistent monthly totals that are typically at least 50 percent less than their peaks.”

In 2024, there were two key exceptions to this rule, with the Nyx Professional Makeup Buttermelt Blush and the Armani Beauty Silk Cheek Tint (both launched under the L’Oréal umbrella) increasing or maintaining their monthly EMV totals well after their respective April and May launch dates.

In 2025, there was one notable exception, with the One/Size On ‘Til Dawn Glitter Setting Spray garnering $4.2 million EMV in August — more than double the $1.9 million it scored during its second month on the market in April.

The Rise of Pre- Pre-seeding

While EMV levels may cool off quickly in the months following a launch, brands are increasingly drumming up pre-launch interest by teasing newness and seeding products to creators, in some cases, months in advance.

For instance the One/Size Glitter Setting Spray scored $1.6 million EMV in February 2025 even before debuting in March, and the Armani Beauty Vertigo Mascara garnered nearly $1 million pre-launch EMV in February before also launching in March to the tune of $2.1 million EMV.

This strategy has recently been favored by Hailey Bieber’s Rhode — which dominated the top launches lists in both 2024 and 2025 with its Pocket Blushes and Lip Contours, respectively. More recently, Rhode had influencers tease unlabeled samples of its newest face and lip masks, launched Thursday, in a viral campaign that kicked off in mid-January.

Customer — not just influencer — seedings look to be a potential next frontier for this trend, per recent efforts by brands like Cocokind and Dedcool.

Tried-and-true Beats New

In both 2024 and 2025, buzz surrounding longtime hero products far outpaced that of new launches.

Huda Beauty’s Easy Bake setting powder — the number-one product by overall EMV both years — generated $200.5 million EMV in 2025, while MAC Cosmetics‘ lip liners ranked number-two with $133 million. Other top performers by overall EMV were relatively unchanged across both years, including Rare Beauty’s liquid blushes; Summer Fridays’ Lip Butter Balms, and One/Size’s setting powder.

Only in 2024 did new launches also crack the top-10 overall list — those being the Milk Makeup Cooling Water Jelly Tints, which ranked number-10, as well as the Rhode Pocket Blushes, which not only ranked number-four overall during their debut year, but held the position in 2025, as well.

The top 10 new product launches in 2025 by EMV, per CreatorIQ

1. Rhode Peptide Lip Shape (Jan)