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AI adoption is no longer the challenge—trusted context is. Most organizations have AI tools, but many still rely on disconnected, stale, or unverified data, limiting the quality and trustworthiness of AI-generated outputs. Meltwater MCP brings trusted, real-time intelligence into AI assistants.

Your Best Context is Already in the Room

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics?
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.
Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.
Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

Consumer and media discussions of TikTok Shop have surged significantly since late 2025, according to new data from Meltwater Explore+. Despite being a relative newcomer in the ecommerce platform landscape, TikTok Shop is now a genuine force to be reckoned with, generating about a fifth of all social commerce sales in the US in 2025. 

That revenue growth has helped attract bigger brands, with Samsung, Philips, Glossier, Crocs, and more all setting up their own storefronts on the platform over the past couple of years. More recently, Ulta made headlines when it became the first major beauty retailer to set up a TikTok Shop, followed by Mac Cosmetics soon after, signaling a new era in the platform’s commercial legitimacy. 

Our Meltwater Consumer Intelligence & Trend Detection analysis revealed just how much the buzz around TikTok Shop has really grown, along with what this increased popularity means for marketers and brands. The findings point to a platform largely shaped by creators and audience behavior, not to mention the algorithm, rather than traditional brand marketing alone.

Mentions of TikTok Shop increased by 110% in just six months

Why unbranded content dominates TikTok Shop discussion and demonstrable products win

Which platforms have the most meaningful TikTok Shop discussions?

How Meltwater Consumer Intelligence and Influencer Marketing helps brands win with TikTok Shop

FAQ: Brand Visibility and Perception with TikTok Shop

<table style="width:100%; border-collapse:collapse; font-family:Arial, sans-serif; font-size:14px;">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td style="padding:12px; border:1px solid #ccc; font-weight:bold; width:30%;">Capability</td>
      <td style="padding:12px; border:1px solid #ccc;">Explore+</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td style="padding:12px; border:1px solid #ccc; font-weight:bold;">Analysis window</td>
      <td style="padding:12px; border:1px solid #ccc;">November 1, 2025 – April 30, 2026</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td style="padding:12px; border:1px solid #ccc; font-weight:bold;">Data sources</td>
      <td style="padding:12px; border:1px solid #ccc;">
        30 sources, including broadcast television and radio, online and print news, blogs, comments, reviews, forums, podcasts, TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, Pinterest, X, Douyin, Red, YouTube, and more.
      </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td style="padding:12px; border:1px solid #ccc; font-weight:bold;">Brands / entities tracked</td>
      <td style="padding:12px; border:1px solid #ccc;">TikTok Shop</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td style="padding:12px; border:1px solid #ccc; font-weight:bold; vertical-align:top;">Key term definitions</td>
      <td style="padding:12px; border:1px solid #ccc;">
        <p><strong>Engagement</strong>: the number of shares, comments, likes, retweets, replies, direct messages, etc.</p>
        <p><strong>Mentions</strong>: the number of instances when key words and phrases appeared within a piece or collection of content</p>
        <p><strong>Share of Voice (SOV)</strong>: the percentage, or share, of total mentions attributed to a particular brand, market, or entity</p>
        <p><strong>Estimated Media Value (EMV)</strong>: a metric quantifying the ROI of influencer marketing by showing what it would cost to achieve the same reach and engagement through paid media</p>
        <p><strong>Subreddit</strong>: a user-created community on Reddit dedicated to a particular interest or topic</p>
      </td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Mentions of TikTok Shop increased by 110% in just six months 

Discussions of TikTok Shop more than doubled across traditional, digital, and social media sources between November 2025 and April 2026, compared to the six months prior. During the same time period, however, overall engagement actions fell by nearly a third, even despite a 24% surge in January 2026.

Still, the global conversation around TikTok Shop has grown dramatically in recent months, suggesting three factors:

increased popularity, with more buyers trusting the platform for shopping

higher saturation, with more sellers competing for attention 

more scrutiny, with wider audiences evaluating the platform’s ecommerce experience

Why this matters: For brands, the opportunities to be found in TikTok Shop are growing more numerous and competitive. Standing out will rest on creative differentiation, particularly the visual demonstrability of featured products, along with strong influencer partnerships that lead with creativity.

1.83 million — TikTok Shop mentions from November 1, 2025 to April 30, 2026

+36.7% — Mentions increase in March 2026, higher than any other month

149 million — Engagement actions at their peak in January 2026

Only 7.5% of the top 160 TikTok Shop posts mentioned a specific brand. Instead, the overwhelming majority of the top performing posts are completely brandless. About 24% mentioned a general product type, but nearly 70% had no commercial specificity whatsoever. Instead, they featured unrelated content, like dance and humor videos, using the hashtag #tiktokshop solely for algorithmic reach.

However, those leading posts that did feature specific brands drew engagement with clearly, quickly demonstrable items with some kind of wow factor. One standout example comes from family content creator @familytalesdiary. Her post using SheGlam’s hair curler to do her daughter’s hair generated over 2.04 million engagement actions. 

The post worked through a combination of authentic, unfiltered presentation and clearly conveyed efficacy. No glam squad or curated set, just a real mom doing her daughter’s hair in the bathroom and getting great results. As a result, the post generated over $5 million in EMV for the Shein-owned cosmetics brand.

Why it matters: TikTok Shop audiences reward product-led moments, not brand presence. Creator posts succeed when products are instantly, visually demonstrable; extra points for an element of surprise or emotional resonance. In this ecosystem, brand presence may lend posts some element of trust, but only after attention is already won.  

TikTok Shop brand and product category stats:

68.8% — of the top 160 posts mentioning TikTok Shop didn’t feature a product or brand 

32% — of the 25 highest-performing posts featured toys and novelties

20% — of the 25 highest-performing posts featured beauty and hair products

16% — of the 25 highest-performing posts featured gadgets

Mainland China saw the most dramatic surge in TikTok Shop mentions, with its share of the global conversation increasing by 77% from November 2025 to April 2026. That rise outpaced other strong increases, like Germany’s 55% growth and Brazil’s 48%. So while the United States is still by far the leading market for TikTok Shop mentions by volume, the conversation has grown more dispersed. 

Notably, in Mainland China, where the ecommerce platform doesn’t even operate (its regional equivalent being Douyin Shop), the conversation focus is on supply chains, cross-border order fulfillment, and other seller and exporter concerns. 

The strong growth of TikTok Shop mentions in Brazil is particularly striking given otherwise low representation in South and Latin America. As a result, the nation stands to be one of the most promising for brands and creators looking to claim early mover advantage in the region. Across the Atlantic and the Equator, Germany emerged as the standout market, contrasting with France, whose SOV sank by 27%. Overall, Europe remains early-stage with uneven adoption across the region. 

Why it matters: TikTok Shop visibility and awareness is dispersing rapidly beyond its anchor audience in the US, with Brazil and Germany being the standout markets to watch. Brands that establish creator relationships and localized strategies early will be better positioned as adoption keeps accelerating around the world.

TikTok is the leading platform for consumer discussions about TikTok Shop, accounting for about half of all mentions from November 2025 to April 2026. However, that dominance is a recent phenomenon. In November, TikTok represented 33% of all TikTok Shop mentions. By April, it represented 67%.

As TikTok’s share of Shop conversations grew, every other platform’s declined, with X going from 20% SOV in November to only about 5% in April. To be clear, it’s not that X’s audience stopped talking about TikTok Shop. It’s that the discussion on TikTok itself has grown so much that it has dwarfed conversations happening everywhere else. 

Still, X’s audience of early tech adopters, journalists, and media-adjacent commentators are worth paying attention to for their role in shaping brand perception. More than other platforms, it is a hub of enthusiasm for TikTok Shop, with 76% positive sentiment. 

By the same token, Reddit is also a platform to keep an eye on despite its relatively low SOV of about 4%.  Unlike X’s optimism, Reddit discussion had one of the highest negative sentiment rates at 16%. Its active communities of TikTok Shop buyers and sellers concentrated in focused subreddits aren’t breathless cheerleaders of the ecommerce platform. Instead, each one offers brands important insight into the TikTok experience “on the ground”: 

r/TikTokShop (~15% of Reddit mentions) is the core buyer/seller community. Its mix of product wins with complaints about counterfeits, delivery issues, and misleading listings offers brands the clearest view of real user experience.

r/tiktokshopreferrals (~6%) focuses on affiliate links and referral codes, highlighting how central creator incentives have become to TikTok Shop’s ecosystem.

r/DigitalIncomePath (~5%) features discussion of TikTok Shop from the perspective of creators interested in the monetization opportunity, surfacing practical concerns around commissions, collaborations, and product reliability. 

r/TiktokHelpers (3.5%) and r/TikTokMonetizing (1.4%) surface ongoing technical challenges of monetization, from setting up shops and managing fulfillment to mastering the algorithm. 

Why it matters: The most meaningful TikTok Shop conversations aren’t happening just on TikTok. Brands need cross-platform intelligence strategies to understand sentiment, behavior, and motivations of sellers and buyers alike, along with emerging trends and risks.

Use Case 1: Identifying emerging TikTok Shop audiences and markets

Jump on emerging opportunities before your competitors do.

Identify rising regional conversations and breakout growth markets

Detect emerging product trends and audience behaviors before they peak

Analyze platform-specific sentiment and creator activity across global markets

The result: Faster, smarter market expansion strategies informed by real consumer and creator behavior.

Use Case 2: Understanding what content resonates, and what doesn’t

Analyze which messaging and content wins over audiences.

Explore+ delivers actionable insights with:

Real-time monitoring across social, news, forums, reviews, and creator content

AI-powered sentiment and narrative detection to surface emerging risks and opportunities

Competitive benchmarking to track share of voice, engagement, and audience perception

The result: Always-on intelligence that helps you stay ahead of market trends and consumer preferences.

Use Case 3: Finding the best TikTok creators to work with

Build partnerships with influencers that can deliver on your goals.

Meltwater influencer marketing streamlines campaigns with:

AI-powered creator discovery based on audience fit, engagement, and brand alignment

Performance tracking across EMV, engagement, and conversion metrics

Relationship management tools for scaling creator partnerships efficiently

The result: More powerful creator collaborations that drive visibility and trust alongside sales.

Want to understand how your brand is showing up in TikTok Shop conversations? Explore how Meltwater Consumer Intelligence and Influencer Marketing can help you track trends, identify creators, and stay ahead of shifting consumer behavior.

With global conversation rising and growing more dynamic, TikTok Shop has become a legitimate ecommerce powerhouse. Success on the platform goes hand in hand with social media virality, making it a critical venue for brands courting cultural relevance as much as sales.

As established, global brands continue to join TikTok Shop over the next year, its popularity and consumer trust will only continue to grow. Brands that develop their marketing and creator partnership strategies now will be best positioned to adapt to consumer shopping behavior evolutions later, both on TikTok and beyond.

What does TikTok Shop’s growth mean for brands?

TikTok Shop is becoming a major ecommerce discovery engine for brands. According to Meltwater Explore+ analysis, mentions of TikTok Shop increased by 110% between November 2025 and April 2026, signaling rapidly growing consumer awareness, competition, and creator activity across the platform.

Which product categories perform best on TikTok Shop?

Visually demonstrable products dominate TikTok Shop engagement. Meltwater Explore+ data shows that toys, novelties, beauty products, hair tools, and gadgets consistently drove the highest-performing creator content because their value could be understood instantly on video.

Why does unbranded TikTok Shop content outperform branded posts?

Audiences engage more with creator-first storytelling than overt brand promotion. According to Meltwater Explore+ analysis, nearly 69% of top TikTok Shop posts featured no specific brand or product at all, relying instead on entertainment to capture attention.

Which platforms have the most meaningful TikTok Shop conversations?

TikTok drives the largest share of TikTok Shop discussion volume, but Reddit and X provide additional context around the consumer and seller experience. Meltwater Explore+ data shows that Reddit communities surface buyer frustrations, creator monetization concerns, and fulfillment challenges, while X hosts highly positive conversations among tech-forward audiences.

What markets are emerging fastest for TikTok Shop?

Brazil and Germany are two of the fast-growing TikTok Shop conversation markets outside the US. Meltwater Explore+ analysis found TikTok Shop mention growth increased by 48% in Brazil and 55% in Germany during the six-month analysis window.

How does creator content affect TikTok Shop success?

Creator partnerships strongly influence TikTok Shop visibility and purchase behavior. Meltwater influencer marketing analysis shows that authentic, emotionally resonant creator videos can generate significantly higher engagement and Estimated Media Value than polished branded campaigns.

Why does Meltwater Explore+ matter for TikTok Shop strategy?

Meltwater Explore+ helps brands identify emerging TikTok Shop trends before competitors do. By combining social listening, consumer intelligence, sentiment analysis, and creator monitoring across platforms, brands can better understand audience behavior and adapt their ecommerce strategy in real time.

How should brands prepare for the future of TikTok Shop?

Brands should invest early in creator partnerships, social commerce intelligence, and localized strategies. Meltwater Explore+ data suggests TikTok Shop is evolving into a mainstream retail ecosystem where cultural relevance and audience trust will increasingly determine ecommerce success.

Discover what the rise of TikTok Shop, key trends, and user behavior mean for consumer brands. 

How Popular Is TikTok Shop? Data Insights & Trends 2026

Reddit has grown from a niche forum site to a digital powerhouse, nearly doubling its user base from 2022 to 2025. And while netizens have long trusted it for uncompromised answers to highly specific questions, now LLMs do too. Models like ChatGPT and Google Gemini use it to inform their outputs and consumer recommendations, making Reddit conversations increasingly consequential for brands looking for high-value, organic sources of consumer intelligence. 

For the beauty sector in particular, Reddit can’t be ignored. Some of the most popular communities on the platform, known as subreddits, are dedicated to cosmetics, with tens of thousands of strong opinions, preferences, concerns, and praises flooding them each week. Brands don’t have to guess what consumers want, they are making their needs known, unprompted, giving brands valuable insight into how they choose, evaluate, and perceive products. 

To learn more about beauty Reddit and demonstrate how brands can turn unfiltered consumer conversations into action, we used Explore+ to dive into the biggest trends from the past six months, focusing specifically on three cosmetic items: lipstick, blush, and mascara. What emerged were clear snapshots of consumer expectations and frustrations, community building, and golden opportunities for brands ready to listen. With that, here are seven of the biggest trends that defined beauty Reddit in early 2026 and what they mean for brands.

Methodology: This analysis is based on social listening data collected from 18 Reddit beauty communities (including r/MakeupAddiction, r/makeuptips, r/Makeup, r/beauty, and specialist forums such as r/OliveMUA and r/AsianBeauty) over a six-month period from October 2025 to March 2026. A structured Boolean query was used to capture relevant makeup conversations across three categories: lipstick, blush, and mascara. The analysis focuses on monthly volume and engagement trends to identify shifts in demand and conversation depth, using sentiment classification to track changes in consumer perception over time and topic clustering to surface recurring themes, emerging narratives, and brand-specific signals. Click here to learn more about how to get an analysis like this tailored to the needs and goals of your brand. 

The Seven Trends Defining Beauty Reddit Right Now:

r/MakeupAddiction: The Beauty Subreddit to Watch

The APAC Redditors Shaping Global Beauty Conversations

MAC: Dominating Lipstick and Delivering on Shade Inclusivity

Long-Lasting, But Easy to Remove: The Holy Grail for Mascara and Lipstick Users

Drugstore Brands and Low Expectations for Mascaras

Bold Blush: Here to Stay, But Where Do You Put It?

More Blush Anxieties: The Product That Takes Too Long to Use Up

r/MakeupAddiction is known as Reddit’s biggest beauty community and the conversational data proves it — about 43% of all beauty conversation occurred in the popular subreddit. That dominance continued on the product category level, with r/MakeupAddiction driving:

With over a third of product-level beauty conversation occurring in this one subreddit alone, it’s a key one for marketers and analysts interested in keeping tabs on the latest consumer-driven trends.

The Asia-Pacific consumer and brand presence shines through in the beauty community, as shown in the ring chart in the previous section. r/AsianBeauty (3.1% SOV), a subreddit focused on Asian brands, r/beautytalkph (3.2% SOV), catering to Redditors in the Philippines, and r/AustralianMakeup (2.4%), focused on Australia and New Zealand, have conversation volumes that rival popular ones without geographic specification like r/beauty and r/MakeupEducation (2.9% SOV each). 

This chart from the Digital 2026 report shows that, on average, 12.1% of internet users go on Reddit each month, with APAC countries like New Zealand, the Philippines, Australia, and Singapore having much higher usage rates. 

Geographically, this highlights how closely Reddit’s beauty community reflects the platform’s wider user base. Though Reddit usage is commonly thought to be concentrated on North America, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Australia only slightly trail the U.S. and Canada as the platform’s leading markets. According to the Digital 2026: Global Overview Report, about 32% of adult internet users in each country visit the site at least once a month.  

While Reddit still has plenty of room for growth in Asia, especially in Japan, the platform’s influence in the region is growing, even as many marketers let it go unnoticed.  

APAC beauty brands that establish Reddit strategies now have a competitive advantage that will only grow as usage increases and geographically focused subreddits gain members.

Using Mira, Meltwater’s in-platform AI teammate, we identified the four brands leading discussions of lipstick and other lip cosmetics on Reddit: MAC, NYX, Maybelline, and Sephora. Together, they show how both drugstore and mid-range brands are of interest to this specialized community, not just one as shown in other products like mascara. 

<p class="large text-center">MAC generated about 42% of tracked lip product brand mentions.<p>

MAC came out on top by overall mentions, with users actively seeking dupes, archiving formulas, and commiserating over product discontinuations or changes. The brand was also a big name in discussions about color choices, specifically shades suited for consumers with olive and cool undertones. 

This post from r/OliveMUA suggests multiple, purple shades of MAC blushes that maintain their coloring when applied on skin with olive undertones. 

25% of MAC’s mentions related to blush came from r/OliveMUA, a subreddit with 89,000 weekly visitors whose description highlights that “Olive undertones are often misunderstood and underrepresented in the beauty industry.”

MAC’s dominance in the lipstick corner of beauty Reddit is an example of how a brand’s relevance can flourish when its products meet nuanced, underserved needs. The demand for inclusive shades isn’t going anywhere; only brands that show up with solutions that work can win over these large segments of frustrated consumers.

Tip: Shorten your time to insights with the help of Mira, Meltwater’s in-platform AI assistant.

The trade-off consumers face between product longevity and easy removal was a common theme across our mascara and lipstick analyses, with Maybelline products emerging as the lightning rods in each.

Maybelline’s Super Stay lipstick collection was one that users continuously discussed by name and praised for its affordability and availability. However, its category-leading longevity divides consumers. 

This post about removing Maybelline Super Stay generated thousands of upvotes (i.e. Reddit likes) and more than 500 comments in six months within the r/MakeupEducation subreddit. 

While some posts highlight Super Stay’s endurance through daily activities, others, like the one shown above, spark discussion around effective removal. The top comment recommending wiping it away with oil was upvoted over 700 times, showing just how common an issue this is among Super Stay users, along with a seemingly effective, user-generated hack. 

Super Stay is an understatement.  — Reddit user

Similarly, Maybelline’s Sky High mascara emerged as a popular, love-it-or-hate-it product. It helped Maybelline achieve the highest SOV among the mascara brands we analyzed at 36.3%, as well as the highest engagement rate at 30.3%. However, safe, effective removal was again a much-discussed pain point.

As the fervor around both products show, Redditors are still on the hunt for lipstick and mascara that can strike the right balance between longevity and easy removal. 

Brands that nail that seemingly contradictory capability, as well as the messaging around it, have the chance to lead the next wave of performance-focused, health-minded beauty.

This post asking for mascara recommendations specifically calls out drugstore brands.

Redditors discuss mascara less than blush or lip products. A makeup staple, it appears frequently alongside other brands in posts about routines, but rarely as the focal point. And when consumers do focus on mascaras, drugstore brands take center stage. That may be because users are consistently on the hunt for mascaras that don’t clump up, smudge, or flake, with no standout options at any price tier. 

Unlike with lip and blush products, where premium prices suggest better performance, consumers don’t want to splurge on a product they aren’t confident can meet their basic needs. As a result, Maybelline, L'Oréal, e.l.f., and NYX are highly visible while premium options are largely absent. 

<p class="large text-center">Maybelline had the highest SOV of tracked mascara brand mentions at 36.3%.<p>

Overall, consumers have clear needs but don’t expect much from their mascaras. More so than with lipstick and blush, there is ample room for a high-performance product or alternative to shake up the category and take consumers by surprise.

Tip: Get insights like these tailored to your brand with queries targeting relevant communities and topics. Schedule a demo to see how it works in real time. 

February was a quiet month for discussions around lipsticks, blushes, and mascaras. All three saw a post-holiday season hush before rising again in March. There was, however, one exception: Blush engagement increased by 11% in February 2026 despite declining mentions, driven in part by users posting their bold, blush-heavy looks. 

One of the most popular posts proclaiming “Bring back colourful full beats 2026” and featuring Rare Beauty’s Soft Pinch Liquid Blush and Buttermelt Pressed Powder Blush blushes won more than 1500 upvotes. 

<p class="large text-center">28% of blush discussion happened in r/makeuptips.<p>

However, that increased blush usage calls attention to the persistent questions of how to apply it and exactly where to put it on the face, a challenge that is largely nonexistent for mascaras and most lip products. That may be why r/makeuptips, a subreddit dedicated to trading product education and advice, made up more than a quarter of all blush mentions, the highest SOV of the product categories we analyzed. 

As bold, expressive looks take the place of the minimalist “clean girl” trend, brands that can demystify placement with tutorials, formats, applicators, and more, have ample opportunity to win over legions of makeup newbies.

Learn how global brands like Shiseido use Meltwater to evaluate customer perceptions and marketing impact worldwide.

Even with bold blush taking over, the trend is still not enough to solve consumers’ persistent complaint that using up a single unit of blush takes way too long. As a result, investing in blush can feel wasteful and expensive. This is especially a factor when it comes to liquid and cream blushes, which expire much sooner than powder ones. 

Social Listening

How Popular Is TikTok Shop? Data Insights & Trends 2026

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How to Track Influencers Instagram Stories

Social Media Reputation Management Guide

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