Social Media Trends in Africa 2025: Beauty Edition
Discover the hottest social media trends in the African beauty industry for 2025. From professional MUAs dominating TikTok to celebrity beauty brands taking over Instagram and the rise of phygital events, this analysis provides data-backed insights and practical strategy tips to elevate your brand in this dynamic market.
The market has been sleeping on African brands for way too long.
And as all the eyes stay on Western and Eastern-Asian marketing scene, Africa has been stepping up its game.
As Social Media and Marketing professionals, we need to be in tune with the continent’s trends. We’ve got to be in the know.
Because when working locally, copying-and-pasting what the U.S. and Europe are doing will not bring the best results in the long term.
In this analysis, I dive deep on the major trends shaping social media in the African beauty industry and on the data-backed reasons behind their popularity.
And if you stick till the end… you will get extra strategy tips on how to implement this industry-focused insights for your or your client’s brand.
What you will learn:
TikTok is the place to be for professional MUA tutorials
Celebrity beauty brands are showing off on Instagram
Bringing fans behind the scenes of beauty events
How to implement this trend in your brand or client’s strategy
TikTok is the place to be for professional MUA
Forget cheap clothing hauls and clickbait clips. TikTok has become the number one social for established makeup artists in Africa.
Dubai-based beauty guru Hindash has set the highest bar, turning his feed into a “palette exposition” where stunning models are getting professionally glammed up on camera.
With a up to 5M views per video, Hindash focuses on quality over quantity, delivering in-depth and high-end tutorials. I applaud his strategy to disregard TikTok’s algorithm and test his following with a 7-minute deep-dive video. He was rewarded by higher engagement and desiring requests for more.
Nigerian-born and African-wide phenomenon Nuban Beauty - 40K views/video - hopped on the trend, gracing her followers with curated how-to videos. By only showing the models’ faces and the artist’s hands, the emphasis stays on the efficacy of the cosmetics and on the blending techniques.
User-generated and influencer-made content is still trending! Kenyan Johanna K Cosmetics brings that relatable and approachable flair to her feed thanks to Facetime-like tutorials, popular voice-overs, and personalized commentary from her audience’s favorite creators.
🔍 Why this works:
TikTok is THE short-form video powerhouse, perfect for sharp, visually appealing, and concise content.
Users love watching brands getting real and showing the process themselves. It gives them DIY vibes… Or, at the very best, convinces them to buy the product and support the brand because they trust it.
Celebrity beauty brands have taken over The Gram
Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez, Fenty by Rihanna, Rhode by Hailey Bieber… you know them. They have conquered Sephora’s shelves and our social media feeds.
In Africa, celebrities have followed their international counterparts’ steps and jumped on the beauty business’ bandwagon.
What do they have in common (besides being genius female businesswomen)? They have chosen Instagram as their go-to social.
Nigerian singer Yemi Alade launched YemBeauty, a lip makeup brand which has earned more than a thousand followers since its launch on August 19th.
I like the strategy so far: Yemi goes full brand ambassador, showing up on Reels applying the lipstick, posing in stunning red dresses and being her Yemi-self. Although a bit early to tell, the audience seems to appreciate more the posts where she is featured, while engaging less under pictures with other models.
TM Beauty by Toke Makinwa has chosen a product-based approach. Founded by the Nigerian radio host and personality, TM Beauty treats Instagram like a beauty catalog. Lots of promotions, event announcements and photos of her perfumes and makeup accessories. Showing her face more and interacting with her followers via IG Stories will undoubtedly give her likes a boost.
🔍 Why this works:
Video-first content is king on Instagram right now. Reels specifically are perfect for product launches, to reach new audiences and to raise brand awareness. Even better when paired with trending audios, or original songs for singer brands. As for static pictures featuring new products, they are great means to build brand consistency and engage with an established audience. Plus, we all love crispy HD pics and harmonious feeds!
Celebrity beauty brands are so successful because of the household name’s personal brand. The customers are actually fans who buy because they love the artists. And on which social do people usually go when they want to follow someone they like? You guessed it!
Phygital beauty events are in, behind-the-scenes content is also in
While social media remains the best channel for exposure and engagement, in-person events have their large slice in the African market’s pie.
House of Tara partnered with Nigerian makeup artist Theresa Emegwara in the GLAM 4 144, the Guinness World Record attempt for the longest continuous makeup application by an individual. The challenge has been strategically promoted on House of Tara’s socials, leveraging on the MUA’s popularity to increase engagement. They used the virality potential of reels to share behind the scenes and key moments of the event.
Ghanian skin care and makeup brand Lyvv Cosmetics brought its clean products to the OmniBSIC Health Walk in Accra. Testing cosmetics with attendees, giving away cute samples… all republished for the Gram through stories, reels and photo dumps.
AMFA BEAUTY showed up at the SEN MODE 2025, ready to glam up models with its premium goods. If the fashion event sets the trampoline for huge brand awareness, the follow-up in pictures and videos on social media wraps up the campaign with class. Results? Increased engagement and boosted follower count thanks to sponsored posts and shared content with other brands which were attending the event.
🔍 Why this works:
The chronically-online overwhelm in our generation has created a burning desire for offline connections world-wide. Across Africa, customers are still very attached to in-person meetings and events. Exhibits, pop-up stores and fairs are special promotional tools for brands to shine.
At physical events, brands come alive and can connect deeper with their customers than through a digital screen. Still, showing that energy on social media, builds online reputation and generates an overall positive impression around the brand, also known as the halo effect.
How to implement these trends in your strategy
Maybe you work in the Communications department of a beauty brand. Or you are a Digital Marketing Strategist, and you have clients from this industry. Whatever the case, this is how you can use these trends to your advantage.
Create platform-oriented content
❌ Don’t: Copy and paste the same material across channels.
✅ Do: Repurpose content and adapt it to each social with intention.
Let’s say you have planned a product photoshoot. Besides taking curated pictures for your Instagram, also do film videos that can be cut and edited for TikTok, YouTube shorts and Instagram reels. Have the model or the content creator explain how to use the products in a longer form video for your YouTube channel and your Facebook page.
Personalize and humanize
❌ Don’t: flood your page with flyer-looking posts or graphics full of texts.
✅ Do: alternate more promotional posts with authentic ones. Let your brand talk to your audience. Show up with your face in stories, bring them with you to an event, take a group picture of the people working with you behind the scenes. Do use the space in captions and bios to start a conversation or to give extra information.
Keep your audience in mind
❌ Don’t: repeat what international brands are doing without proper investigation.
✅ Do: listen to what African businesses are doing online. Apply international trends only if they are coherent with your audience’s needs and your brand vision. Be sensitive to cultural nuances and local beauty customs.
So, there you have it! These are the main trends taking over the beauty industry’s social media in Africa.
Staying ahead of them takes effort, research and keen knowledge of what’s going on in the continent. As a Social Media Manager who has lived and worked both in Africa and Europe, I can help you craft strategies that match the market’s standards. See my services here.
Want to have these trends ready-at-hand for your next campaign?
Download the summary of this article with key takeaways to never stay behind on social media trends in Africa again.