Makeup is a thriving and ever-present market. No surprise that many bloggers and marketers earn their living with makeup and beauty affiliate programs.
Blogging, YouTube, Pinterest, email are all viable channels for reaching an audience for beauty products.
Most cosmetic companies have affiliate programs. From large retailers like Sephora to boutique specialty makeup companies.
We reviewed scores and found these to be the best programs. But, if you have a favorite makeup or beauty line that you are passionate about they likely have an affiliate program.
A great thing about makeup is that there are always new customers coming into the market. And new youthful buyers are great spenders. Makeup is not a one time purchase, it needs to be constantly replenished.
There are also lots of sub-niches with opportunities to specialize and break away from other affiliates.
Let’s take a look at the best makeup affiliate programs.
Go to our affiliate programs page for more program reviews.
100% PURE Affiliate Program
100% PURE® is focused on healthy skin care. They have a full line of skin, cosmetic and bath products. You can enroll in the100% Pure affiliate program at Commission Junction (CJ) All of their products are natural and cruelty free as well as having no artificial colors, fragrance, preservatives or other toxins. Health food for your skin.
100% Pure
Commission Rate: 8%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: 100% Pure Affiliate Info
Afterglow Cosmetics Affiliate Program
Afterglow is a natural cosmetics company. They pride themselves on their toxin-free cosmetics and their healthy positive corporate attitude. Afterglow has a full line of popular makeup for face, eyes and lips as well as tools and brushes, You can join the Afterglow affiliate program at ShareASale.
Afterglow Cosmetics
Commission Rate: 10%
Cookie Length: Lifetime
Affiliate Info: Afterglow Affiliate Page
Alpyn Beauty Affiliate Program
Alpyn Beauty claims to be the first sustainably sourced natural skin care line. They use a wild botanicals grown in the mountains surrounding Jackson Hole, WY. There inspiration is the mountain vistas and light color. They also pay 25% to affiliates! With a 2% conversion rate and and average commission of $20 they are one of the better performing affiliates in the makeup niche.
Alpin Cosmetics
Commission Rate: 25%
Cookie Length: 90 days
Affiliate Info: Alpin at ShareASale
BH Cosmetics Affiliate Program
Los Angeles based BH Cosmetics is all about offering you the best in cruelty-free cosmetics. They focus on affordability and inclusiveness. You can join the BH affiliate program at Rakuten. They have an average sale of $38 and an impressive conversion rate of over 6%. A nice feature is affiliates can direct and deep link to any page and apply their affiliate id.
BH Cosmetics
Commission Rate: 8%
Cookie Length: 90 days
Affiliate Info: BH Cosmetics Affiliate Page
Black Opal Affiliate Program
Black Opal is a cosmetics brand focusing on the beauty needs of women of color. They emphasize their ability to have products for beauty in every shade. Black Opal is used in celebrity makeup artist kits and by A-list celebrities. You can join the Black Opal affiliate program at Rakuten. One interesting detail is you are allowed to bid on their trademarks with ads. If you could find some very low cost branded ads it may work well. The low 6% affiliate rate is an issue however.
Black Opal
Commission Rate: 6%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: Black Opal Affiliate Page
Colorscience Affiliate Program
Colorescience creates an all-in-one luxury makeup, sun care, and skincare line. You can join the Colorscience affiliate program at CJ. They run a good program with lots of promotional materials like banners, logos, product feeds and text links. They also run a number of promotions during the year. A shame that the commission rate is just 5% particularly as a “luxury” product.
Colorscience
Commission Rate: 5%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: Colorscience Affiliate Page
Cult Beauty Affiliate Program
A Beauty affiliate program for your UK visitors is Cult Beauty. They are online retailers of a number of curated makeup brands. You can join the Cult Beauty affiliate program at Rakuten. UK affiliate audiences may also be interested in the e.l.f UK program at Rakuten or the Estee Lauder UK program.
Cult Beauty
Commission Rate: up 10%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: Affiliate Page at Cult Beauty
e.l.f. Cosmetics Affiliate Program
e.l.f. Cosmetics cosmetics and makeup is widely distributed products. You can even find them at CVS and Rite Aid. They emphasize luxurious low-priced cosmetics. You can join the e.l.f affiliate program at Rakuten.
e.l.f. Cosmetics
Commission Rate: 50%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: e.l.f. at Rakuten
Elizabeth Arden Affiliate Program
Elizabeth Arden is a very well known luxury makeup and cosmetics brand. You can join the Elizabeth Arden affiliate program at CJ. Their sale value is very high and the 30-day EPC is over $100.
Elizabeth Arden
Commission Rate: 8%
Cookie Length: 80 days
Affiliate Info: Elizabeth Arden at CJ
Sephora Affiliate Program
I try to chart a course around Sephora when visiting a mall. It is like a magnet that draws your wife and daughters money from their purses. Sephora has many loyal customers who are repeat buyers for their products. The Sephora program is run by Rakuten.
Full Review: Sephora Affiliate Program Review
Sephora
Commission Rate: up to 7%
Cookie Length: 1 day
Affiliate Info: Sephora Affiliate Page
Stila Cosmetics Affiliate Program
Stila Cosmetics is a leading cosmetics brand. They were created in 1994 by a top celebrity makeup artist Jeanine Lobell. they are known for modern and sophisticated approach to beauty. They are must-have products for top beauty editors and celebrity pro-artists. Stila’s goal is to help every woman find the look and feel that is the best version of herself and to have fun doing it!
Stila Cosmetics
Commission Rate: 6%
Cookie Length: 60 days
Affiliate Info: Stila at CJ
Go to our affiliate programs page for more program reviews.
Tula Skincare Affiliate Program
Tula Skincare is the brainchild of Dr. Roshini Raj who emphasizes no use any of the usual chemicals or additives found in other “natural” products. The Tula products are made from probiotics, ceramides, and rice proteins. They are also animal cruelty-free. They pay a generous 20% to affiliates and have a typical order value of over $55. You can join the Tula affiliate program at ShareASale.
Tula
Commission Rate: 20%
Cookie Length: 90 days
Affiliate Info: Tula at ShareASale
Ulta Affiliate Program
Ulta Beauty is one of the best known retailers of women’s beauty products. They compete with Sephora. Their product selection, prices, and shipping policies are very competitive With over 800 stores they have strong brand loyalty. You can join the Ulta Affiliate Program at Impact Radius
Full Review: Ulta Affiliate Program Review
Ulta Cosmetics
Commission Rate: 2%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: Ulta Affiliate Program at Impact Radius
Yves Rocher Affiliate Program
Yves Rocher is a french company with a lot of cache. They are a strong brand with a full line makeup for face, eyes, lips and nails. They are also well known for their skincare and scents. You can join the Yves Rocher affiliate program at CJ.
Yves Rocher
Commission Rate: 15%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: Yves Rocher at CJ
How to Market Makeup Programs
Makeup lends itself very well to modern social and visual content visitors. Pinterest, FaceBook, YouTube and similar channels are great outlets for your marketing.
YouTube Marketing
Many beauty consultants are very successful with YouTube marketing. If you go viral you have the potential of YouTube ad earnings as well as your affiliate sales. There are many topics and formats you can use ..
- How to use makeup
- Unveilings of new products
- Beauty shows of different looks
- Seasonal and other color pallets
Facebook, Blog and Forum Posting
FaceBook — Consider starting your own Facebook page and giving advice or reviews of products and encourage others to do the same. By having your own Facebook page you have a place to promote your content.
Comment and Forum posting — You want to be active and establish authority by being helpful in beauty blogs. Don’t sell or give out affiliate links in these blogs until your value is well established.
Quora and similar — Quora and Medium can be a good source of traffic and backlinks. Medium is a do-follow so a great piece there can be helpful.
Beauty and makeup are very visual niches. This makes Pinterest a great channel for beauty bloggers. Pics of your new favorite colors or looks can drive traffic to your blog and on to your affiliate offers. Best to send the traffic to a related article or landing page on your site … not directly to the affiliate offer. Take the time to inform and warm the Pinterest visitor. The conversions will be better and you can FaceBook pixel them and try to get an email signup.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a good channel for new products, sales announcements, etc. You can get email subscribers by having a video or e-book offer in exchange for subscribing. Always keep the email list fresh with a weekly email. This can be a new product or beauty tip. It is best to automate this using MailChimp, GetResponse or similar email automation tools. Once you are using these tools they become another affiliate revenue opportunity. Tell your audience about the tools and how you use them.
We have reviews on a few of these affiliate programs that you can use.
Content Marketing
This is the backbone of your organic search strategy. You want to create content that is providing relevant content for people’s search queries. But you must also do this in a competitive content environment. There are lots of other beauty bloggers, retailers, beauty and makeup companies with content that predates yours and already has an audience. Smart keyword research and content marketing is key.
You want to avoid the head keywords that have thousands of articles already written about them. “Best lipstick” may have 18,000 monthly searches but there are over 400,000 pages with that keyword in the title. Certainly, keywords in the title is just 1 quick check of a keyword but additional research will show that a new site will never rank for that keyword. Just too much competition. Find low competition long-tail keywords that overlap with your affiliate offers.
A better keyword to organize content around might be ” best lipstick for dry lips” with 1600 monthly searches and a much more favorable competitive landscape. You can even consider KGR type keywords that are very low competition. Though search volumes are often in the 100-300 per month range you will typically rank for more keywords.
Money Posts vs. Info Posts
Have a good mix of just high-value info posts and money posts like “Best Makeup for XYZ”. The info posts are going to have few if any affiliate links in them. These posts are often easier to rank than the money posts and can get more traffic faster. If you are looking at display or other ad based revenue for your site then you may have mainly info posts — lots of them. When looking at keywords for info posts vs. money posts you will see that the money posts, where your traffic to Amazon, for instance, will be driven, have keywords like best, review, price, etc.
Go to our affiliate tips page -- learn how to promote products.
Wrapping Up
Makeup has so much potential. Unlike many niches it lends itself so well to many marketing channels like Facebook, Pinterest, videos, content marketing and email. And it is both a repeat purchase and evergreen.