The strongest beauty brands are defying the global challenges facing businesses, including inflationary pressure, changing consumer habits and a slowdown in China, by offering effective products, value for money and affordable luxury.
That’s according to Brand Finance’s list of the Top 50 most valuable beauty brands in 2026, shared exclusively with Cosmetics Business.
Bulgari and Valentino are among the standout performers with the biggest brand value gains of the year, up 41% and 29% respectively, pushing the value of both brands over the $US1bn mark.
The momentum of these luxury brands continues after they last year made their debut in the ranking, which is produced annually by the independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy.
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It follows a change to methodology that saw cosmetics, beauty and personal care of major fashion houses split out from apparel for the first time, which also saw a number of other luxury beauty brands enter the list.
Bulgari also saw the second largest rise in Brand Strength Index (BSI) in 2026, up 6.8 in 2026 with a score 63 out of a possible 100. [See more on what’s behind Bulgari’s success below]
BSI is essentially a health check on the brand, based on Brand Finance’s exclusive market research, and also includes a rating from AAA to D, similar to a credit rating in banking.
This looks at how stakeholders perceive, and consumers behave towards, the brand, such as if they would consider buying the brand’s products, or if they talk about it in daily conversations.
Meanwhile, Brand Value takes into account this BSI and translates it into a financial number, specifically the current value of future cash flows attributed to the brand.
“The score directly informs the royalty rate that we apply during the valuation model,” explains Jingyi Yu, Senior Brand Consultant at Brand Finance.
“We use something called the royalty relief method. The stronger the brand is, the higher the Brand Strength Index – the score out of 100 – will be, the higher the royalty rate will apply, and the inventory will deliver a higher brand value.”
The brand value also takes into account financial revenues and forecasts for brands, along with the current broader economic backdrop, as well as tax rates and currency exchange rates, and other factors specific to the beauty sector. [See more on methodology below.]
About Brand Finance
Brand Finance is the world’s leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy.
It is a specialist consultancy dedicated to the better understanding of marketing finances, founded in 1996 with the aim of ‘bridging the gap between marketing and finance’.
Brand Finance offers a highly professional approach to marketing accountability and brand evaluation.
For 30 years, Brand Finance has helped companies to connect their brands to the bottom line, building robust business cases for brand decisions, strategies and investments.
The company has helped finance people to evaluate marketing programmes and marketing people to present their case in the boardroom. To find out more, brandirectory.com/rankings/cosmetics or contact enquiries@brandfinance.com.
The most valuable beauty brands face challenges
Chanel topped the ranking for the second year in a row with a value of $24.4bn after making its debut in 2025.
L’Oréal – with a value of $13.5bn – followed in second place, and Procter & Gamble (P&G)-owned shaving giant Gillette was third with a value of $8.4bn.
Nivea ($7.9bn) and Guerlain ($6.6bn) rounded out the top five.
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