Indie beauty is growing faster in fragrance than in any other category.
A new indie beauty report from NIQ shows that in 2025, indie fragrance sales grew 46.3 percent versus the year prior, capturing 29 percent of the U.S. fragrance market. The report defines indie beauty brands as those that are independently owned and operated, and whose annual revenue is less than $300 million. Conglomerate-owned fragrance brands saw 11.4 percent growth by comparison, but still comprise the majority of the market.
Fragrance is and has been for years now the fastest-growing category in beauty. Its post-pandemic boom has been driven by several factors, including the democratization of fragrance knowledge via social media platforms like TikTok, as well as a shift away from signature scents in favor of trends like scent layering and wardrobing.
Zooming out, the report indicates that total indie beauty grew 22.3 percent in the 52 weeks ending Nov. 1, reaching $40 billion in U.S. sales. This is a faster growth clip than in 2024, when indie beauty grew 16.1 percent. Conglomerate brands, meanwhile, in 2025 grew 6.1 percent to $85 billion, less than the 7.4 percent growth they logged in 2024.
After fragrance, facial skin care was the next top-growth category for indies (up 23.2 percent) followed by cosmetics/nails and hair care, where indies saw 20.8 percent and 18.5 percent growth, respectively. Conglomerates make up the majority of each of these categories — 59 percent of skin care; 64 percent of cosmetics/nails — but saw sales growth of less than 5 percent in each one.
From a consumer point of view, Asian shoppers are over-indexing with indie brands; Black and Hispanic shoppers engage with them at a relatively similar rate, and white shoppers drive the lowest share of sales in the category. Across age groups, the report shows that indie beauty spend is comparatively balanced among Gen Z, Millennials, Gen Z and Baby Boomers.
