We all know beauty ambassadors, posts, and products are incredibly popular on Facebook and Instagram.

Now a study from Facebook IQ drills down into beauty conversations across the platforms.

Beauty and the Bestie

The wonderfully titled Selfies and Snail Slime study from Facebook analysed the conversations of over 3500 female beauty shoppers across the UK, France, Germany, and the UAE.

First up, chatter around beauty is booming. Over the past year Facebook has seen a 18% increase in mentions of beauty, and a 20% boost in mentions of makeup.

Eye Spy

The language around beauty conversations is also evolving. Case in point: mentions around ‘natural beauty’ rose 38% on Facebook, mentions of ‘Snail Slime’ increased by a staggering 533%!

On Instagram, users who favour the #selfie hashtag are more likely to purchase beauty products.

Mobile and mortar

The path towards purchase winds across many touchpoints.

While 60% of  beauty shoppers admit they could not live without their smartphone, almost half (45%) agree their mobile device is rapidly becoming their most important shopping tool.

That figure rises to 55% for millennials.

Shopping time

Yet bricks and mortar stores are still a hit with the beauty crowd. Facebook found 68% of respondents admit they purchase exclusively instore, but go online when they want inspiration.

Three quarters of beauty shoppers have been influenced by digital at some point in the path to purchase. Interestingly, the higher the value of the product, the more likely shopper were to do online research.

To find out more or read the full report visit insights.fb.com.