Latin America, one of beauty’s emerging markets, is in a phase of intense growth. As the nuanced market adopts digitization and premiumization, the region is on track to grow 6.2% to $99.5 billion by 2029, according to Euromonitor. But by country, beauty consumer behavior varies: Brazil is currently the world’s third largest beauty market, while Mexico ranks 11th.

Latin America — made up of 33 countries, including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Peru — has a population of over 670 million. It also has a strong social media presence; according to a Resourcera report, Latin America has 365.8 million monthly active users on TikTok alone.

But outside Brazil and Mexico, the beauty consumer is still emerging. “Demographic tailwinds such as the middle class expansion [in Brazil and Mexico] and rising incomes are why brands are turning to the market,” says McKinsey partner Sara Hudson. Economic expansion and job creation are leading to this growing middle class, according to the World Bank Group, as well as over 70 million women joining the workforce since 2011.

International conglomerates are testing the waters. For L’Oréal Group, sales in Latin America grew 8.3% on a like-for-like basis in Q1 2026, driven by haircare, fragrances, and makeup. In Puig’s fiscal 2025 results, the company’s largest contributor to the makeup category was Charlotte Tilbury, which was supported by its entry into Mexico. In Unilever’s Q1 earnings, Latin America delivered 6.2% underlying sales growth with a return to positive volume growth of 2.6%, reflecting improving momentum across key markets such as Brazil and Mexico. However, Latin America sales remained flat for Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, while at Coty, Americas sales (which covered both North and South America) declined 6% on a like-for-like basis, for the same period.

The region is rich with opportunities that brands can tap into. However, entering the Latin America market presents unique challenges, such as understanding the region’s volatile political and economic landscape, while meeting regulatory requirements unique to each of the region’s 33 countries. Is it worth the risk?

Come to Brazil

“Please, come to Brazil” has become a viral meme on social media, where Brazilian fans invite their favorite celebrities and brands to visit the country in the comments section of Instagram or TikTok.

“We, as Brazilians, are truly active on social media,” says Andrea Orcioli, Sephora’s managing director of Latin America. “Any brand that’s coming to the region must have a strong presence on social media. It’s crucial for success to connect with your customers, because it’s a crowded landscape.” Sephora’s Brazil Instagram account is the most-followed regional Sephora account after that of the US — with 3.1 million followers (the US account has 22.6 million).

Last week, Sephora returned to host its two-day international beauty festival, Sephoria, in São Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city with a population of over 12 million. The event sold out its 4,000 tickets in just 40 minutes of it going live last month, beating attendance numbers from its inaugural event in 2024 in Rio de Janeiro. Sephora brought 35 brands that it stocks in Brazil to the event, including The Ordinary, Rare Beauty, Vic Beauté, Skin1004, and Carolina Herrera. The retailer also collaborated with Brazilian athleisure brand Hope on a 14-piece limited-edition collection of T-shirts, jackets, bottles, and caps. “This type of collaboration speaks to Latin American consumers, it’s a balance of global and local brands merging,” says Orcioli.

Brazil is different from its neighboring countries. The country is a trend accelerator rather than a demand market, meaning consumers are driven by social media and viral moments, says Claudia Lloreda, founder and general manager of regional beauty retailer Blush-Bar. Sephora has 45 stores in the country, while four new outposts are on the way later this year. According to McKinsey, Brazil is one of the most beauty-engaged populations, with deodorant (95%), haircare and fragrance (89%), and SPF (80%) being the most popular categories.

Unilever has been reinforcing its presence in the Brazilian haircare market with Dove, by positioning itself as an expert in hair damage through its bond repair technology. “We’re also expanding our portfolio with Dove’s UV Repair & Glow + Ferulic line, a range designed to protect and repair hair from UV damage, responding directly to the needs of consumers in a climate with high sun exposure,” says Thais Hagge, Unilever’s general manager for beauty and wellbeing in Latin America.

Coty has also been strengthening its relationship with Brazil for over a decade now. The brand has acquired local players such as bodycare lines Monange and Paixão, male grooming brand Bozzano, nailcare brand Risqué, and suncare brand Cenoura & Bronze. According to Coty, Risqué is the market leader in nailcare, Bozzano ranks first in the shaving category, and Monange and Paixão are among the leading brands in body lotions and oils. “Brazilian beauty itself is gaining global relevance,” says Nicolas Fischer, EVP of Latin America and South and Sub-Saharan Africa at Coty, noting that fragrance brand Granado has expanded internationally, while Sol de Janeiro, though not a Brazilian brand, has successfully exported the idea of “Brazilian vibes”.

A nuanced consumer approach

Digitization is happening at a slow pace in Latin America, due to socioeconomic inequalities, the cost of digital access, and low investment in research and development (R&D). In countries such as Brazil and Mexico, the advancement of technology and e-commerce is already taking place, but in countries like Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, and others, the switch to e-commerce is slower, with brands still needing to meet these discerning customers in-store. Pharmacies and drug store chains still play a big part in the Latin American beauty consumer’s path to purchase — even in Brazil and Mexico, where Sephora has a big market share.

“Education really matters in our markets. This is not a self-shopping consumer that walks into a store and knows exactly what product they want,” says Lloreda, whose Blush-Bar has outposts in Colombia, Chile, and Mexico with an upcoming opening in Peru. “This is a consumer who wants to understand ingredients, be educated, and have a makeup artist teach her how to use the product.”

Lloreda says that consumers in her home country of Colombia are value-driven and always concerned about price, and that the only way to break through is via in-store services that educate the customer about product ingredients and how to use them. Customer engagement is a priority, and it’s how many are discovering brands such as The Ordinary and Sol de Janeiro. It also helps the consumer tailor their purchases to their specific needs. In Colombia, Lloreda says the consumer is makeup savvy and concerned with oily skin, while in Chile, they are more interested in skincare that deals with dry skin, because of conditions like extreme UV radiation and high winds.

This tailored approach is also needed when it comes to language. Despite the majority of Latin American countries speaking Spanish, companies can’t just create a one-size-fits-all marketing strategy, as the language differs in each country. For example, the word for mascara in Colombia is “pestañina”, whereas in Chile, it’s “rímel”. “This is where customer service comes in. The words that we use need to be precise and locally relevant to that specific country. You need to take local relevance into account when selling in Latin America,” says Lloreda.

Sephora is also catering to Brazil’s diverse demographic, investing heavily in the haircare and bodycare categories to respond to the country’s extensive hair and skin types. “Our model at Sephora is about being local-first, being fully decentralized, and operating locally — understanding the country and its consumption, challenges, and complexities,” says Alexis Rollier, Sephora’s global chief operating officer, noting that localization is so important to connecting with the consumer that the retailer shot separate Mother’s Day campaigns last week for its Brazilian and Mexican markets.

“Latin American consumers bring their cultural traits to their consumption habits, and this needs to be central to the strategy of brands that want to genuinely connect with their communities,” says Unilever’s Hagge, referring to qualities such as family values and premiumization over luxury.

Coty’s Fischer adds that another equally crucial part of breaking into the market is adapting the portfolio to local pricing. The brands Coty has acquired in the region are priced for mass consumers, while a more premium brand like Calvin Klein is the exception, and retains the same price point globally. “Consumers across the region expect quality and strong value for money. The brands that deliver both, consistently, are the ones that earn lasting relevance,” Fischer says.

The success of a brand or product is measured by how it fits into people’s daily lives and price range across the region — countries in Latin America have vastly different disposable incomes, so how the brand story is being told is key to cracking the consumer.

A challenge for all

Latin America has one of the toughest product registration and regulatory requirements when it comes to health and beauty. To enter the region, a brand must separately register its products with the country it is entering. In Mexico, brands have to file a notice of operation form, rather than a detailed document outlining every ingredient specification of a product. In Brazil, there is a more extensive process that asks brands for a quantitative ingredients list, which breaks down the formulation in a product, as well as the information printed on labels. In Colombia and Chile, strict rules are also in place with beauty and personal care products overseen by the National Food and Drug Surveillance Institute (INVIMA), which asks for labels on products to be printed in Spanish and prohibits cosmetic products tested on animals entering the country.

Lloreda says that it is essential for brands and retailers to have a regulatory team member on the ground in Latin America to smooth out the wrinkles. At the same time, it’s an expensive process that calls for someone that knows the way of the land. In the last 10 years, Blush-Bar has invested over $3 million in regulatory costs across the region. It can take up to two years to bring a brand to market, a timely cost and a risk if the business loses momentum in that time.

Another barrier that many companies face is the political landscape in Latin America, with protests, drug trafficking, and gang violence in some countries, as well as local mafia takeovers. “I’ve had to close stores [in Colombia and Mexico] due to protests, violence and challenging contexts many times — it’s not easy to operate in Latin America,” says Lloreda, adding that unlike other markets, political turbulence can be abrupt, especially during presidential elections that often lead to two or three months of protests, alongside the shutting of stores and malls.

“Latin America is not for the faint at heart to do business. I think only brands with a true long-term perspective will do well, because you have to build the brand DNA and connect with the consumer. It takes years of effort and service to really deliver results,” she says.

Despite these challenges, Orcioli refers to the Latin American beauty industry as one of resilience. “When we have moments that are difficult, I would say that beauty is still in the baskets and you can cut a lot of things out, but beauty brings confidence for the people when they’re not feeling so well because of the economy,” Orcioli explains. “At the end of the day, it's a very, very resilient industry in Latin America.”

What the region holds for beauty

“The US is a reference market for Latin America. We’re always a few years behind and we see those trends develop here two or three years later, sometimes more,” Lloreda says. She adds that the Latin American consumer is currently turning its attention to environmentally clean brands, science-backed skincare, K-beauty’s second coming, and premium ranges, such as Rare Beauty, Supergoop, and Sabrina Carpenter’s namesake fragrance line.

Blush-Bar and Sephora have started stocking Korean beauty brands such as Medicube, Skin1004, Biodance, and CosRX Skincare across their stores and DTC channels. “At Blush-Bar, we don’t offer super luxury brands, because the consumer doesn’t have the means to purchase a $400 product,” says Lloreda, adding that Gen Z consumers discover brands through engaging with US creators on social media and TV, discovering what brands are popular with them.

Kory Marchisotto, president of Elf Brands, says that the real opportunity in the region is in building trust and offering products through a democratized price point that prioritize sustainability, vegan ingredients, and are certified by external partners such as Peta and Leaping Bunny. Elf has been accelerating its expansion at Sephora and Ulta Beauty in the region. “Elf Cosmetics ranks among the top three brands within Sephora and Ulta Beauty Mexico in dollar sales, and there are more Elf units sold than any other brand they carry,” Marchisotto says.

Local brands can still succeed, but reaching international scale takes time. Right now, brands with Latin American heritage are flourishing, such as Tata Harper or Rare Beauty. “Brands triumph when they localize formulations, considering climate, skin tones and hair types that reflect the region’s broad diversity, and adapt their price architecture,” says Mikaely Correa, senior analyst at Euromonitor.

Elah Barshi, co-founder of Dominican Republic-based skincare brand Moringaia, alongside her brother Ben-Yama, predicts that the future of Latin American beauty lies in the region’s biodiversity. The siblings started the brand in 2021 to promote reforestation in the Dominican Republic, with the brand name taking its cues from the moringa tree, which is locally known as the “tree of liberty” or a “miracle tree.”

The brand has been scaling through travel tourism in the Dominican Republic by partnering with airports and spas with its formulation of 100%, single-pressed moringa seed oil. “At Moringaia, our longer vision is rooted in regenerative agriculture, growing ingredients responsibly, giving back to the land in the process. We believe the Dominican Republic and the broader region have so much more to offer the world on those terms,” says Elah.