Going viral on TikTok Shop can transform a brand overnight – but long-term success requires much more than a trending moment. The British Beauty Council partnered with patron Unsociable, World leading TikTok Shop partner agency and Helm, the club for scale-up founders and CEOs, with industry leaders from The INKEY List, Wonderskin, L’Oreal, Rebel Rebel, The Despatch Company and TikTok Shop to share how brands can turn virality into lasting growth.

The INKEY List: Building a Viral Beauty Brand for the Long Term

The INKEY List co-founder Colette Laxton shared insights on how to build a viral beauty brand for the long term, as their journey began in 2018 before TikTok was around. Laxton explained that every brand should start with its “why”. The INKEY List was born out of frustration with confusing, overpriced skincare and a lack of transparency for consumers. The brand set out to simplify skincare, creating products that were easy to understand and use.

For brands looking to build lasting virality, Laxton emphasised that trust should be treated as the first product launch. The INKEY List’s first hero product, hyaluronic acid, was designed to build that trust. At a time when many consumers couldn’t even pronounce the ingredient, the brand’s transparent approach and accessible price point helped build credibility – even though the company made a loss on every unit sold.

But the strategy worked. By prioritising transparency and accessibility, The INKEY List quickly built trust with its community – something Laxton noted delivered far more value than any major marketing campaign ever could. Establishing that trust early on meant that when it came to launching new products – and eventually selling on TikTok Shop – the brand already had a loyal and engaged audience ready to support it.

Community remains central to the brand today. In 2020, the team launched AskINKEY, a service where consumers can ask any skincare question, before becoming one of the first beauty brands to host live “ask-a-thons” on TikTok. Today, the brand has taken this a step further by involving its community directly in product development – speaking to consumers about the ingredients, concerns and solutions they want to see, and building products alongside them. The INKEY List continues to build the brand from the outside in – for the community and by the community.

Wonderskin’s Recipe for Viral Success: Product, Content, Momentum

Victoire Lariche, Head of Performance Creative at Wonderskin, one of the most viral beauty brands in the world, shared the key drivers behind its success. The approach, she explained, is simple: start with a product that is genuinely viral and organic – but support it with serious paid amplification across various platforms. In a crowded beauty market, brands need something that visually breaks through the noise and captures attention. Crucially, it can’t just look good on camera – it needs to deliver real, visible results. Wonderskin’s viral Lip Mask did exactly that, combining a scroll stopping visual with clear product efficacy.

Victoire also highlighted that TikTok Shop is not just a trading platform, but a discovery conduit, driving awareness and traffic across other channels. Because of this, a multi channel approach is essential. Wonderskin’s Super Brand Day in September 2025 brought this strategy to life, combining TikTok activity with out-of-home advertising on the Tube and in store retail presence – creating a compounding effect that made the brand feel bigger than a TikTok brand.

Finally, she emphasised the importance of staying ahead of the curve. When interest in the brand’s viral blue mask began to slow, Wonderskin kept momentum by launching limited edition shades and unexpected collaborations – including its

Chipotle ‘Lipotle’ partnership – tapping into cultural moments and giving audiences something new to talk about.

Her final advice for brands entering social commerce: start with one strong hero product, support it with compelling content and smart paid media, and build momentum from there.

Rebel Rebel, The Despatch Company, TikTok Shop and Unsociable: Supporting Brands Through Virality

The third panel, featuring Sally Heath (Co-Founder, Rebel Rebel), Matthew Dunne (Founder, The Despatch Company), Finja Zeyß (Account Manager, TikTok shop DE) and moderated by Ben Muir (CEO, Unsociable), explored the best practices brands can put in place to support business vitality on TikTok Shop.

Rebel Rebel has built its success on viral moments, from Revolution launching the first mass beauty concealer in over 50 shades to experimenting with trend-led non makeup products, such as beauty electricals – which went viral immediately. Sally highlighted the importance of being nimble and agile, taking short term risks to maintain momentum, support retailer demand, and open new categories. Viral products can also generate organic content, amplifying campaigns across multiple channels and reinforcing a brand’s presence.

Matthew shared insights from The Despatch Company, which supports brands in managing logistics when products go viral. He emphasised that operational preparation is critical: moving stock efficiently, automating repetitive processes, and building systems that can scale rapidly, prevent delays, customer dissatisfaction, and lost sales.

The panel also highlighted the operational challenges of TikTok Shop. Success requires clear internal communication, collaboration across teams, and a close relationship with TikTok account managers. Forecasting must be flexible and teams need to be channel agnostic to respond quickly to viral opportunities. Technology can help pivot when bottlenecks arise, from printing labels at scale to managing high order volumes.

The panel stressed that viral products have a short-term lifespan, so brands must constantly identify and incubate new opportunities. TikTok Shop presents exciting potential, from cross-channel growth to untapped markets, but it also requires strategic planning, operational excellence, and leveraging relationships.

L’Oréal: How Legacy Brands Can Thrive on TikTok Shop

Insights from Jack Timpany (Director of TikTok Shop, L’Oréal) and Ben Muir (CEO, Unsociable) highlighted how legacy brands can thrive on TikTok Shop. L’Oréal was one of the first major heritage brands to launch on the platform in 2021, navigating early perceptions that it was “just QVC.” With 38 million users on one of the world’s leading entertainment platforms, the potential reach was enormous.

Brands like Garnier are not inherently “TikTok-native,” so the strategy has been about doing things differently and creating content that entertains while engaging the audience. Unlike newer brands such as Wonderskin, Garnier has been around for decades, so the focus was on taking a legacy brand that hadn’t been on-trend for some time and repositioning it for TikTok Shop. L’Oréal built a strong affiliate network, putting products directly into the hands of creators. Live streaming has also proved invaluable, allowing the brand to explain the “why” behind products, connect with customers in real time. Crucially, hosts who resonate with the audience have become one of L’Oréal’s most valuable assets in building trust and engagement.

Jack emphasised that TikTok Live’s are only set to grow, so brands need to embrace them. It should be treated like a flagship store, where every visitor is an opportunity to entertain, engage, and connect. Affiliates are central to this approach – those producing high quality content should be supported and rewarded, ensuring their influence is recognised and valued.

The challenges are clear. TikTok Shop is highly competitive, with over 4,500 UK brands and 800 new entrants that don’t exist in any marketplaces elsewhere. While this democratises access, it also presents a strategic challenge for legacy brands to maintain relevance and authority in a fast moving environment.

Unsociable: Beyond Selling – Building a Brand on TikTok Shop

Unsociable CEO Ben Muir provided insights into how brands can go beyond transactional sales and build lasting presence on TikTok Shop. One of the most contested points when it comes to TikTok Shop is does it sit under the teams of sales or marketing. “In truth, it should be viewed as both,” revealed Muir. TikTok Shop is a commerce platform unlike anything we’ve seen before, and companies need to embrace its unique demands.

In juxtaposition to retailers such as Amazon or eBay, which focus on demand capture, TikTok Shop thrives on demand generation: inspiring discovery, sparking excitement, and turning browsers into buyers. This is why it’s called “discovery commerce” and companies are even creating in-house roles dedicated to this new way of selling. Capitalising on it is as much an art as a strategy, and it begins with the single most important factor: product strategy. However, you also need to build a product for this platform. Whilst often it starts with NPD, success on TikTok Shop is equally about creating a moment on feed.

Unsociable’s playbook for how to build a viral product is simple. The first key to a viral product is to stop the scroll, ensuring content immediately captures attention. Price for value is equally important – a compelling price drives impulse purchases. Exclusivity encourages instant action, giving consumers a reason to buy in the moment, while novelty remains essential: a product that is genuinely new and unseen excites audiences and can go viral even without other factors. Timing also accelerates impact – tapping into seasonal trends or cultural moments, like the Chipotle “Lipotle” collaboration, can amplify reach and engagement. Beyond this, it’s all about narrative. A compelling story turns viewers into customers, and when creators are briefed effectively, that narrative extends beyond TikTok Shop, influencing sales and awareness across all channels.

Creators and affiliates are also central to success. Unsociable outlined a framework for acquisition, briefing, incentivisation, retention, and tracking performance, supported by tools like Cruva and AI automation. Engaging affiliates effectively ensures reach, credibility, and long-term brand advocacy.

So what’s’ the next big opportunity for brands on TikTok Shop? The next big opportunity lies in cross-border brand building. TikTok Shop is proving to be an incredibly powerful entry point for brands launching into new markets. A strong example is Dr Melaxin, which launched on UK TikTok Shop without being present on any other retail channels and generated £2 million in just eight weeks.

This demonstrates how powerful the platform can be for brands with little or no recognition in a market. TikTok Shop doesn’t just drive sales – it also builds brand awareness at the same time, introducing new audiences to products in a highly engaging way.

Because of this, it presents a major opportunity for brands looking to expand into new European markets. It allows companies to enter markets in a way that simply wasn’t possible before, lowering barriers to entry and creating a far more democratic path to international growth. As social commerce continues to evolve, the potential for both global and domestic expansion is only set to grow.