Beauty companies are working hard to catch the eye of their customers. Sometimes, that means using ethically sourced and sustainable ingredients to develop their products, which not only helps their customers look good, but feel good about their purchases. Other times it means implementing artificial intelligence and data science techniques to do everything from enabling potential customers to virtually try on new makeup to formulating special shampoo based on proprietary algorithms.
In any case, the beauty companies listed below are finding ways to innovate within the industry.
Top Beauty Companies
- L'Oréal
- Unilever
- Estée Lauder
- Procter & Gamble
- Chanel
- Johnson & Johnson
- Dior
25 Top Beauty Companies
Famous beauty company L’Oréal offers a line of beauty products ranging from makeup and skincare to shampoos and serums. Along with its own line of products, L’Oréal owns other popular brands like Garnier, Maybelline and NYX Professional Makeup. In 2023, the company also unveiled a makeup applicator dubbed HAPTA for people with limited mobility in their hands and arms.
Unilever provides beauty, personal care and wellbeing products to over 190 countries. Brand names like Axe, Dove and Vaseline are among the few of 400 the company offers. Unilever also places a large emphasis on sustainability within its business, taking steps to uphold climate action, nature preservation and human labor rights throughout its operations.
One of the largest beauty companies in the world, Estée Lauder manufactures, markets and sells hundreds of skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. Estée Lauder is also the parent company to over 20 global cosmetic and beauty brands, including names such as Bobbi Brown, Clinique and MAC Cosmetics.
Popularly known as P&G, this company specializes in creating consumer goods products, including those for hair care, skincare, personal grooming and oral care. P&G oversees several American household beauty brands like Gillette, Olay, Old Spice and Pantene. P&G has been innovating products since 1837, even being the developers of the original Ivory soap.
Alongside its fashion line, Chanel also sells makeup, skincare and fragrance products across the globe. Facial cosmetics, moisturizers, perfumes, and bath and body soaps are among the few of various beauty items the company offers. Additionally, Chanel supports women-focused nonprofit initiatives through its Foundation Chanel organization and innovation in cultural arts through the Chanel Culture Fund.
A manufacturer of skincare, makeup, bodycare and fragrance products, Glossier emphasizes beauty as being about individuality and freedom of expression. Its products can be bought based on skin type or specific skin concerns like acne, fine lines and more. Glossier also sells curated beauty sets and brand merchandise.
Bubble Skincare is a beauty company that offers vegan products like serums, toner mists, moisturizers, cleansers and exfoliating masks. The company develops its products by transforming flowers, plants and extracts cultivated from the sea into a plant-based glycerin, which eliminates side effects, according to its website.
Founded in 2010, FabFitFun offers a seasonal subscription service. Four times a year, the company’s more than 1 million subscribers receive a box filled with items from fashion, wellness and beauty brands like Michael Kors and Fenty Beauty. The membership also includes access to FabFitFunTV, which features workout and product how-to videos, as well as a community platform to connect with other subscribers to share beauty tips and healthy recipes.
GlossGenius is a technology company that’s developed software for salons and spas, specifically related to day-to-day operations like client management, finance and analytics. Its software helps hairdressers, estheticians, nail artists and others working in the beauty industry develop fully customizable websites for booking appointments. It also creates calendars for scheduling and staff management, along with inventory management systems.
Nutrafol specializes in hair growth and restoration products and supplements for different stages of a person’s life. Its offerings are tailored to men and women and rely on natural ingredients to target barriers to hair growth, such as stress, hormones, metabolism and aging. Subscribers can also work with naturopathic doctors who provide support and analyze potential causes of hair loss.
Quip is an electric toothbrush company that also offers water flossers and refillable gum and mouthwash dispensers. The company’s smart electric toothbrush connects via bluetooth to an app that tracks a user’s brushing habits, provides tips for better oral health and motivates users with points that can be redeemed for credits, gift cards and other items.
Reformation is a fashion house creating sustainable, eco-friendly clothing and accessories. The company aims to make all of its products out of recyclable material, and puts out limited edition collections based on direct data from purchases. Reformation has also attained climate neutral certification and tracks information about its products’ environmental impact.
By offering a scheduling and operations platform for barber shops, SQUIRE is helping people in the beauty industry run their businesses more efficiently. Its system features flexible checkout with online or in-person point-of-sale options, an earnings dashboard that’s updated in real time and email marketing. It also allows clients to book appointments straight from search engines, third-party websites and social media. More than 3,000 barbershops use SQUIRE, according to the company’s website. It also offers options to create branded apps and websites.
Johnson & Johnson, while notable for its health tech and pharmaceutical products, also manufactures skincare and cosmetic products. Aveeno, Clean & Clear, Johnson’s Baby and Neutrogena are some of the well-known brands J&J owns and operates. Johnson & Johnson also hosts a skincare story category on its website, specifically for skincare news, tips and related health information.
The fashion brand Dior offers an extensive line of perfumes, makeup, skincare and fashion products. The company, which was founded in 1946, takes a science-first approach to developing its beauty products, relying on researchers specializing in molecular biology, dermatology, chemistry, genomics and ethnobotany, across labs in France, China, Japan and South Korea.
Founded in 1978, Aveda offers vegan haircare and skincare, like tonics and scrubs, as well as products for the whole body, like lotions. Aveda focuses heavily on implementing natural and plant-based ingredients into its products, as well as being conscious of environmental responsibility and sustainability in its manufacturing process.
Boy Smells is a fragrance company launched in 2015 as a “side job hustle” in the kitchen of its two founders. The company’s line of products, which include washes, lotions, travel sprays and scents are available in more than 750 retail locations in 35 countries. But for the company, it’s not just about creating a global beauty brand — it’s also creating fragrances which are “embracing masculine and feminine simultaneously in a simple and straightforward way,” according to Boy Smells’ website.
By Humankind’s products include deodorant, body wash and toothpaste, made with a goal to reduce the use of single-use plastics. To do so, the beauty company’s and rely on refillable containers to eliminate plastic waste. For example, its toothpaste comes in tablet form, and its shampoo also comes in bar form, forgoing their traditional plastic bottles.
EADEM develops serums, moisturizers and cleansing balms for women of color. The beauty company uses a mix of natural and synthetic ingredients and all its products are vegan and clinically-tested. Its Smart Melanin technology, which is used in its serums, is able to make dark spots left from pimples or bug bites disappear. The company also publishes essays and stories related to beauty and wellness.
Function of Beauty creates specialized hair products like shampoos and conditioners and other beauty products tailored to meet its customers’ hair needs. The company has created millions of different products, according to its website, where users answer a series of questions to feed Function of Beauty’s algorithm. Its shampoos are also customizable by color for specific benefits. Customers can also name their bottle and choose a fragrance ranging in scents from peach to rose. All of the ingredients the company uses are also vegan and cruelty-free.
K18 Hair specializes in hair masks and shampoos rooted in biomimetic hairscience, which models nature to reconnect proteins in hair. The company’s leave-in treatments like its hair mask are able to repair hair damaged by bleach, color, chemicals and heat in four minutes, according to K18 Hair’s website.
Lash Star specializes in false eyelashes, eyelash extensions, heated eyelash curlers and straighteners so customers can style their lashes. It also offers mascara and other makeup products like eyeliner, as well as beauty tools like lash scissors, adhesives and applicators.
NuFace is a skincare company offering a line of creams, serums and facial toning devices, which build up muscles in a user’s face and work to smooth wrinkles. The company’s skincare devices, which are designed to be used at home, rely on microcurrent technology, which shocks the skin with electric currents to bolster cell growth.
Perfect is a technology company that helps beauty brands like Estée Lauder and Clinique integrate artificial intelligence and augmented reality into their websites, services and products. The company offers virtual try-on tools for makeup, nails and eyewear using augmented reality as well as face diagnostic tools like skin and face analyzers. For individual users, the company has developed a series of mobile applications, such as YouCam makeup and YouCam Nails, for virtual try-on experiences.
Thrive Causemetics creates vegan makeup and skincare products, with solutions focused on eye, lip and overall facial cosmetics. The company’s products are sectioned by specific needs, or can be purchased as part of a custom set or suggested beauty routine. With every product purchased, Thrive Causemetics donates to social causes through its network of over 550 partnered nonprofits.
