Makeup’s two shelves reward different things: at Ulta it’s price, at Sephora it’s a makeup artist’s name. These are the fastest-climbing makeup brands at Ulta and Sephora in Q3 2026.
The read at Ulta:
- Four captures of best-seller data across 12 months, Q4’25 to Q3’26
- 7,786 products ranked at Ulta and 2,468 at Sephora this quarter
- Core makeup houses only. A skincare house riding one lip balm is not a makeup brand climbing.
- 33 makeup brands that exited Ulta and Sephora
- The fastest-climbing fragrance brands at Ulta and Sephora
- The fastest-climbing skincare brands at Ulta and Sephora
- What beauty retail buyers want
Summary: Q3 2026 at a glance
- 54 climbers: 40 at Ulta, 14 at Sephora.
- 1 brand climbs both doors: Too Faced, +5 at Ulta and +9 at Sephora.
- Biggest climb: Babe Original at Ulta, +114 places to #64.
- 33 of the 54 climbers sit at a median price under $30.
- 17 rose every quarter: 14 at Ulta, 3 at Sephora.
How we rank the fastest-climbing makeup brands for Q3 2026
- 3+ ranked quarters, and the last step is up.
- Places gained: net move in league rank across the window.
- League: the retailer’s overall makeup board, formula brands with 2+ ranked products. Brush and tool houses and single-product brands rank apart.
- Core makeup houses only: colour cosmetics, lashes and brows, and nail colour count. A lip balm or primer from a skincare house does not.
Top 5 fastest-climbing makeup brands at Ulta and at Sephora, Q3 2026
The read at Ulta:
- Babe Original made the biggest jump, +114 to #64 on 13 ranked products at a $29 median.
- Doll 10 and Rude follow at +73 and +70. Rude climbs at an $18 median.
- MISSHA is the K-beauty climb: +63 to #158, up every quarter, at $18.
- Ulta has 40 climbers in total. 14 rose every quarter.
- m.ph by Mary Phillips is Sephora’s biggest climb, +57 to #25, up every quarter.
- HUNG VANNGO BEAUTY follows at +48, now #41.
- Kulfi rose every quarter, +34 to #47 at a $26 median.
- Sephora has 14 climbers in total. 3 rose every quarter.
Makeup artists are climbing Sephora
- 4 of Sephora’s top 7 climbers carry a makeup artist’s name: m.ph by Mary Phillips, HUNG VANNGO BEAUTY, Westman Atelier and Danessa Myricks Beauty.
- They climb at $30 to $58 medians, above most climbers.
- Authority is doing the work that price does at Ulta.
Price is doing the climbing at Ulta
- 33 of the 54 climbers sit at a median under $30.
- 24 of Ulta’s 40 climbers are under $30.
- Rude, MISSHA and KimChi Chic Beauty climb at $18 to $19.
Fastest-climbing makeup brands Q3 2026: durable or a spike?
- Durable: all 54 hold 3+ ranked quarters.
- Straight lines: 17 climbed every ranked quarter, 14 of them at Ulta.
- Uneven: the other 37 gained ground with a dip on the way.
- Two different tides: Ulta’s formula league runs 118 brands climbing against 106 sliding. Sephora’s runs 60 sliding against 45 climbing.
Fastest-climbing makeup brands Q3 2026 by retailer
- Too Faced is the only brand climbing at both doors: +5 at Ulta, +9 at Sephora.
- Every other climber climbs at one door only.
What this means for your brand
- Pick the open door. Ulta took 27 new formula brands this quarter. Sephora took one.
- Earn authority, not just shelf. Four of Sephora’s top 7 climbers carry an artist’s name.
- Price your Ulta hero under $30. That is where 24 of its 40 climbs happened.
- Track the path, not the snapshot. A single quarter can’t tell a breakout from a spike.
Get the full picture
The Makeup Q3 2026 Ulta + Sephora report covers:- brand ranks at both retailers, with the trajectory since Q4’25
- formula, brush and tool, and single-product leagues
- momentum 2x2s
- climbers, peakers and decliners
- shelf crowding by price tier
- brands common to both retailers
- every exit
Jump Accelerator: I spot and scale emerging beauty brands and retail destinations that stick, fueled by decoded market intelligence.