Google Ads for beauty and cosmetics brands
In LocaliQ's 2026 benchmarks, beauty and personal care search clicks cost $4.62 and 10.35% of them converted, at $39.25 per conversion. A $48 makeup order rarely pays that back on its own, so cosmetics brands plan CAC around the second and third foundation or mascara order, and build the feed one shade at a time so each variant can match the search for it.
Beauty search costs in 2026
| Category | Data period | Cost per click | Click-through rate | Conversion rate | Cost per conversion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beauty & Personal Care[1] | Apr 2025 to Mar 2026 | $4.62 | 6.75% | 10.35% | $39.25 |
| All industries[1] | Apr 2025 to Mar 2026 | $5.42 | 6.64% | 8.18% | $66.69 |
LocaliQ's beauty and personal care row is the closest public category to a cosmetics brand, and it also covers salons and other beauty businesses.[1] No source we could read at the source separates makeup stores from that group.
What moves ROAS for a makeup brand
- Repeat orders. A customer who finds their foundation shade tends to buy it again, which changes what a first sale is worth.
- Shade coverage in the feed. Each shade listed as its own variant can match searches like "concealer for deep skin" or a named undertone.
- Basket size. Lipstick alone is a small order. Bundles and sets raise the order value that pays for the click.
- Video. Shoppers want to see texture and finish on skin, and a tutorial does that better than a pack shot.
- Brand search share. Brands that went viral on social often get most Google sales from people searching the brand name. Keep those sales in their own campaign so non-brand results are honest.
First-order and repeat-order CAC for a sample brand
A made-up cosmetics brand sells a foundation, concealer and mascara line. Its average order is $48 at a 70% gross margin, and a typical customer orders twice a year.
$48 average order, 70% gross margin
At the category benchmark the first order lands below break-even, and the second order turns the customer profitable. That only holds if repeat buyers are tracked, so measure revenue by customer cohort and set a lower first-order ROAS target for non-brand campaigns than for brand search.
Run your own margin through the ROAS calculator.
Campaign mix for a cosmetics brand
Start with the campaigns that reach people already searching, then add video once purchases are tracked reliably.
| Campaign | Built from | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Performance Max (feed) | Asset groups by face, eyes, lips and sets | The main sales campaign. Give each asset group swatches and on-skin shots for that product type. |
| Standard Shopping | Hero SKUs with the widest shade range | Shows which shade and concern searches buy, which tells you where the feed needs work. |
| Search, brand | Brand name, brand plus product name | Usually the cheapest sales in the account. Report it apart from everything else. |
| Search, non-brand | Product plus skin type or finish ("matte foundation for oily skin") | Phrase and exact match. Send each ad group to a page with a shade finder or swatches. |
| Demand Gen and YouTube | Tutorials, application demos and creator videos | For new customers once Shopping is profitable. Reuse a proven social video before shooting a new one. |
Feed and title tips for cosmetics
Merchant Center titles can run to 150 characters, but shoppers usually see 70 or fewer, so open with the product type and the shade.[2] If a product has a GTIN, submit it; Google says products with a GTIN sent without one may get less visibility.[3]
- Make every shade a variant with its own image, color value and title.
- Add finish and coverage (matte, dewy, sheer, full) to the title, since shoppers search by both.
- Name the skin type or concern the product is made for when the label supports it.
- Put size in milliliters or grams, which helps shoppers compare minis with full sizes.
- Keep claims cosmetic. Treatment words belong to the skincare and drug rules covered on the skincare page.
Product title examples
Up to 150 characters; shoppers usually see the first 70 or fewer[2]
- Foundation: Matte Liquid Foundation, Shade 220 Warm Beige, Medium to Full Coverage, Oil Free, 30 ml87
- Concealer: Creamy Under Eye Concealer for Dark Circles, Shade Deep Neutral, Satin Finish, 6 ml83
- Mascara: Lengthening Tubing Mascara, Black, Smudge Resistant, Removes With Warm Water, 8 ml82
Search keywords for a makeup brand
Product plus finish, skin type or shade range is where non-brand search pays. Replace these with your own products.
Product and finish
matte liquid foundationdewy skin tintcream blush stick
Skin type and shade
foundation for oily skinconcealer for deep skin tonesfoundation for olive undertones
Problem
smudge proof mascaralong lasting lipsticksetting powder that doesn't crease
Brand
[brand name][brand name] foundation shades[brand name] reviews
Negative keywords for cosmetics brands
Add these at account level and grow the list from the search terms report every week. Close variants aren't covered by negatives, so include plurals.[6]
free samplesdupediyhomemaderecipemakeup artist jobsmakeup schoolcoursewholesaleprivate labelmanufacturerexpiredhalloween makeupface painthow to remove
Ad copy examples
Responsive search ad assets for the sample brand. Headlines stop at 30 characters and descriptions at 90.[7] Use your real shade count and return terms.
Non-brand: matte foundation
Headlines (up to 30 characters)
- Matte Foundation, 40 Shades27
- Built for Oily Skin19
- Find Your Shade in 2 Minutes28
- Lasts Through a Workday23
- Swap Your Shade Free20
Descriptions (up to 90 characters)
- Oil-free matte foundation in 40 shades with warm, cool and neutral undertones.78
- Take the 2-minute shade quiz. Wrong match? Swap it for another shade at no charge.82
Brand: holiday sets
Headlines (up to 30 characters)
- [Brand] Official Store22
- Holiday Gift Sets Are Here26
- Lip and Cheek Minis19
- Gift Sets From $3518
- Bestsellers in One Set22
Descriptions (up to 90 characters)
- Our bestselling lip and cheek shades boxed and ready to give. Limited holiday sets.83
- Pick a set, add a gift note, and we'll wrap it. Mini sizes for stocking stuffers too.85
Put prices and offers in the text assets and on the product page, and keep them out of images, where they go stale.
Beauty seasons and budgets
Gift sets drive November and December, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday as the biggest days for most brands. Valentine's Day lifts lip products, spring brings wedding and prom searches, and new launches create their own spikes when a shade range drops.
For a launch or a sale lasting 1 to 7 days, a seasonality adjustment tells Smart Bidding to expect a higher conversion rate. Google recommends them only for short events and says they help less beyond 14 days.[5]
Policy notes for beauty ads
On YouTube, Display and Display & Video 360, Google doesn't show beauty and cosmetics ads to children.[4] Plan audiences and creative for adult buyers, and expect video campaigns to skip viewers Google treats as children. Skin treatment claims fall under separate rules, covered on the skincare page.
How RunAds runs Google Ads for beauty brands
What the agent does for you
- Builds Shopping, Performance Max and Search campaigns from your store, split by product type and shade range.
- Finds shades and SKUs with weak titles or missing attributes and proposes fixes for you to approve.
- Writes the ads, turns your best social videos into Demand Gen and YouTube assets, and shows you the full launch first.
- Reviews the account every day, cuts search terms that spend without sales, and reports brand and non-brand ROAS separately.
Compare niches in the ecommerce guide, check your margin in the ROAS calculator, or see pricing.
Credit packs from $25, 5 credits per $1 of ad spend.
Common questions
How much do Google Ads cost for a makeup brand?
The budget is yours to set. For planning, LocaliQ's 2026 search benchmarks show beauty and personal care at $4.62 per click and $39.25 per conversion, with 10.35% of clicks converting. That row covers beauty businesses broadly and doesn't separate cosmetics brands or Shopping campaigns.
Should each makeup shade be its own product in Merchant Center?
Yes, as a variant with its own ID, image, color value and title. Someone searching for a specific shade of concealer should land on that shade. One listing for twenty shades shows a single swatch and matches the color searches poorly.
Does YouTube work for beauty brands?
Tutorials and application videos are the format shoppers already search for on YouTube, so a short demo of the product going on often works well in Demand Gen. Google doesn't show beauty and cosmetics ads to children on YouTube, so plan your audience as adults.
What ROAS does a cosmetics brand need?
First-order break-even is 1 divided by gross margin, so a 70% margin needs about 1.43x. Many makeup brands accept a lower first-order ROAS because customers come back for the same shade, as long as repeat revenue over a year covers the CAC.
Can RunAds manage Google Ads for my beauty brand?
Yes. RunAds is an AI agent that builds your Shopping, Performance Max, Search and YouTube campaigns, writes the ads and checks results daily. Nothing launches until you approve it, and creating an account is free.
Sources
- NEW 2026 Search Advertising Benchmarks (+Tips), LocaliQ (with WordStream), by Stephanie Heitman. Last updated June 1, 2026.Google Ads and Microsoft Ads search campaigns across 23 industries. The page labels each figure an average.
- Title [title] and structured title [structured_title], Google Merchant Center Help. Checked Nov 6, 2026.Titles can run 1 to 150 characters; shoppers usually see the first 70 or fewer. No prices, sale dates, shipping details or all-caps emphasis in titles.
- Product data specification, Google Merchant Center Help. Checked Nov 6, 2026.Color, size, gender and age group are required for apparel targeted to Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US. GTIN is strongly recommended where one exists; products with a GTIN submitted without one may have limited visibility.
- Shopping ads protections for children and teens, Google Merchant Center Help. Checked Nov 6, 2026.On YouTube, Display and DV360, ads for categories such as beauty and cosmetics, food and drink, supplements, alcohol and weapons are not shown to children; teens are excluded from categories such as weapons, weight loss, alcohol and adult content.
- About seasonality adjustments, Google Ads Help. Checked Nov 6, 2026.For short events of 1 to 7 days where you expect a large conversion rate change; less effective beyond 14 days, because Smart Bidding already handles regular seasonality.
- About negative keywords, Google Ads Help. Checked Nov 6, 2026.Negative keywords don't match close variants, so synonyms and singular or plural forms have to be added separately. Casing and misspellings are covered automatically.
- About responsive search ads, Google Ads Help. Checked Oct 30, 2026.3 to 15 headlines of up to 30 characters, 2 to 4 descriptions of up to 90 characters; include at least one keyword in your headlines.
Every outside number on this page links to its source above, with the date we checked it. RunAds has not published its own account data here.
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