Source: The Business of Fashion
As beauty brands shift from passive product placement to active format design, they're outsourcing R&D to viral video mechanics—creating tools and finishes that perform for 15-second camera angles rather than the mirror. Platform affordances now dictate consumer product innovation instead of market demand or professional makeup artistry. The business opportunity is real, but legacy beauty is becoming dependent on creator labor and algorithmic distribution, which poses obvious sustainability risks if TikTok's dominance shifts.