According to a survey by Piper Sandler in Fall 2026, Cerave for skincare and e.l.f. for makeup were the favourite beauty brands of US teens.
The rankings are dominated by two groups: L’Oréal with four brands (Cerave, La Roche Posay, Maybelline and L’Oréal Paris) and 45% of cumulative mindshare and e.l.f. with the e.l.f. brand and Rhode being featured in both the skincare and makeup top ten with 48% of cumulative mindshare. Estée Lauder follows with two brands (The Ordinary and Too Faced) and 9% of cumulative mindshare.
The ranking offers several lessons for brands trying to win younger consumers.
The first is that accessibility builds scale. At 33% mindshare in makeup, e.l.f. exceeds the next four brands combined. CeraVe does the same in skincare at 30%. Affordable products and broad distribution give both brands leverage.
However premium brands still have room to compete. Charlotte Tilbury holds 4% of makeup mindshare, Saie 3% and Too Faced 2%. Teen preference clearly extends beyond the lowest price points. For prestige brands, a recognisable hero product can provide an entry point without requiring the whole portfolio to compete on price.
In skincare, you need to give young consumers a clear reason to trust the product and make efficacy understandable. A specific product promise gives young consumers something concrete to evaluate and share. CeraVe, The Ordinary, La Roche-Posay and Byoma all feature in the top ten and are all derma brands that makes ingredients and skin benefits easy to understand.
Lastly, community and social media are key to reinforce a recognisable product. Bubble, rhode and Medicube each have a place in the skincare top ten. Those are challenger brands that have understood how to leverage social media to their advantage through distinctive packaging, clear benefits and large networks of creators.
To seduce teens, build an everyday product they can afford, make its benefit easy to explain, and give them a reason to choose it again. For premium brands, make the first purchase feel worth saving for.
