Sephora is looking to connect with up-and-coming beauty brands through a new partnership with TikTok.

The Sephora x TikTok Incubator Program will pair TikTok creators with beauty brands from Sephora’s Accelerate program, a diversity, equity and inclusion-focused mentorship program for emerging beauty brands. The incubator will give smaller brands training on social media strategies, including advice from #beautytok creators such as Amy Chang (1.6 million followers), Rocio Lopez-Jimenez (1.5 million followers) and Nyma Tang (164,000 followers). 

As part of the program, TikTok and Sephora will also pair these brands with creators of color. 

Sephora is no stranger to working with creators. Before TikTok, Sephora had deals with YouTubers Mannu Mua and Patrick Starrr. The beauty retailer once carried beauty products by TikTokers Addison Rae and Hyram Yarbo, but took them off shelves when sales didn't live up to the hype surrounding the influencers. 

Three brands from Sephora’s 2021 Accelerate cohort—Topicals, Eadem and Hyper Skin—will kick off the Sephora and TikTok partnership program, and an additional nine brands are slated to go through the incubator. The focus on creator social strategy with newer beauty brands could be a way for Sephora to help get the brands in front of potential customers sooner.

Sephora’s Accelerate program started in 2016, and gives newcomer beauty brands six months of mentorship, merchandising support, grants and investor connections. At the end of the course, brands have the opportunity to launch in Sephora North America stores. The TikTok Incubator Program is an added offering that will be extended to 12 total Sephora Accelerate brands this year. 

On TikTok, the hashtag #beautytok has 35 billion views, and beauty brands including e.l.f. Cosmetics, Sephora, Ulta, Tower 28, Clinique and Milk all have products linked in their TikTok profiles to encourage sales. Recently, some brands even benefited from the beauty de-influencing trend that went viral on TikTok, and often saw creators pointing to dupes or alternatives to over-hyped beauty products.

In general, sales of face and eye makeup have risen 40% and 18%, respectively, in January 2023, compared to the fourth quarter of last year, according to Catalina, a shopper intelligence research firm.

“Brands that have a savvy understanding of creator-led social media and creator relations have a clear advantage in not only conceptualizing beauty content that resonates with their audience, but also in building genuine connections,” said Brent Mitchell, VP of marketing, social and influencer at Sephora.

Digitas will work with Sephora and TikTok on campaigns.