The Polish beauty industry in 2025 is not just a mathematical tale of record-breaking growth, but above all a fascinating picture of the evolution in consumer communication. In a world where the demand for traditional advertising is losing ground, building multi-dimensional touchpoints - from the smartphone screen, to personalised experiences in the drugstore, to factual dialogue about product ingredients and their real-world effectiveness - is becoming crucial. How will the Polish cosmetics sector reach its audience in 2025 using a variety of tools? We analyse key trends, from multi-million dollar influencer collaborations to modern approaches to education and customer loyalty.
Before looking at communication tools, it is worth looking at the foundations that give Polish brands the space to be so dynamic. According to the latest report „Cosmetic Poland 2025”, the Polish cosmetics industry will achieve record growth in 2025 at the level of 16.8% year-on-year. This result outclasses mature Western economies such as Germany and France.
With a market value estimated at over 25 billion, Poland has strengthened its position as the fifth largest cosmetics supplier in the European Union. Forecasts indicate that by 2030, Poles' spending on cosmetics will increase by a further 28%, bringing us closer to the European leaders in terms of annual per capita spending, which only confirms the legitimacy of following the sector's development in the coming years.
This financial strength translates into boldness in marketing - Polish companies not only produce quality cosmetics, but are able to tell the story about them in a way that engages audiences at every stage of the purchase path, which is crucial in the process of building such a strong industry.
Influencer marketing 2025: A new hierarchy of touch points
In 2025, influencers have ceased to be merely an „outreach channel” and have become strategic partners for brands. The beauty sector today operates multiple models of collaboration with online creatives, who are increasingly becoming opinion leaders in the context of purchasing decisions.
One of the basic and fastest tools in cooperation with influencers are short-term, often one-off collaborations conducted on their social media channels. PR packs, passing on discount codes to their followers or storytelling testimonials or reels are examples of such activities in the beauty sector. Such activities are often undertaken in the case of new cosmetic product launches or themed collaborations (e.g. the NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP brand in collaboration with the Netflix series „Wednesday” for the premiere of season 2 of the production), when a „wow” effect and immediate translation of interest into a shopping basket is needed. Although these activities can generate high reach with the right influencers, their effects are severely limited in time and quickly lose interest among the audience.
In addition, cosmetics brands are increasingly developing an ambassador model, which in practice means that their highest value is quality, not quantity. Longer contracts make it possible to build authentic and valuable partnerships - thanks to the long-term positioning of a given influencer with the brand's products, his or her audience can see that the cosmetics must work if their favourite influencer uses them regularly and is satisfied with them, which translates into the highest trust indicators.
An example of this is the several-year collaboration between influencer Deynn and Polish brand Apis, which resulted in the Beauty By Deynn series created by the creator (currently unavailable on the shop's official website due to the end of the collaboration).
Cross-marketing and the power of drugstores
A high-profile trend in the cosmetics industry is cross collaboration, which combines the power of an influencer, a manufacturer and a large retailer. A Polish brand that is successfully using this scheme on a huge scale is Bell. This year alone, it used this scheme in a collaboration with a Kartonia (Wiktoria Bochniak), Peachee (Martyna Grzenkowicz) and Weronika Jaguś. With the brand's presence in the Biedronka shop chain, the deal has proven to be a great business move for all parties. Bell gains the faces of Gen Z generation icons, influencers take advantage of the know-how brands and receive a technologically refined product with its own branding, while the retail chain generates a gigantic traffic of young customers in its outlets. Marketing and product promotion Furthermore, it takes place at a number of different touchpoints with huge reach for influencers (social media channels), the brand (social media channels, website, dedicated digital campaigns) and the popular discount store (newspapers, outdoor displays, app notifications).
E-commerce versus stationary sales
Despite the rapid growth of the e-commerce sector, in-store drugstores in 2025 still act as a key point of contact, offering what a smartphone screen cannot fully convey: an immediate sensory experience and physical accessibility „at your fingertips”.
A good example of this is Rossmann, which is growing into a powerful, precisely choreographed communication platform that goes far beyond the ordinary shop. The chain very effectively manages customer attention around the clock - from a sophisticated mobile app with gamification elements (engaging challenges, games, personalised promotions), to boldly expanding its offerings to include luxury segments and consumer-demanded Korean skincare.
The Polish cosmetics market in the face of the growing role of drugstores as brands
Importantly, Rossmann builds its narrative around the idea of calmness and celebrating a „moment for yourself”. Their communication shows that the drugstore is a place where consumers can slow down and find space for self-care, while being confident that they can find absolutely everything they want, from necessities to niche novelties.
This strategy is complemented by initiatives that build loyalty through positive, health-promoting associations, such as Rossmann's now iconic run. The mechanism whereby real physical activity translates into specific discounts is a marketing masterstroke that makes the brand a natural companion to the everyday, balanced lifestyle of the modern consumer.
Events as an experience: A tailor-made strategy
In 2025, the beauty industry has intensively pursued a strategy of responding to higher customer expectations for the approach and experience of personal care.
The year 2025 was also full of major events organised by the cosmetics industry. Examples include the activities of luxury brands such as YSL and L'Oréal Paris.
In September this year, the L'Oréal Paris brand decided to organise for the first time in Poland the Values Show, whose prototype is the Parisian Le Défilé L'Oréal Paris that opens the Paris Fashion Week every year. Polish brand ambassadors appeared on the Warsaw catwalk: Julia Wieniawa, Grażyna Torbicka, Magda Boczarska, as well as friends of the brand, activists and customers - each sharing her own story of feminine strength. The show was an incredibly poignant manifesto of feminine strength and diversity - values that L'Oréal Paris has been celebrating for years.
The entire event, together with a summary of its effects, was widely echoed both in the media space and in social media. Publications about the event appeared on key portals, including Vogue Polska, Pudelek.pl, wiadomoscikosmetyczne.pl, Onet.pl or SuperExpress.pl It follows that the skilful combination of the brand's values with a coherent formula, the presence of leading Polish celebrities and the accompanying attractions confirmed the changing rules of the game on the cosmetics market - consumers expect brands to have physical contact with their values, idea and mission packaged in an appropriate atmosphere and original formula.
Brand experience as a carrier of brand value
In 2025, the beauty industry has intensively pursued a strategy of responding to higher customer expectations for the approach and experience of personal care.
Networks such as Douglas in collaboration with the Kiehl's brand literally go out to their consumers in stationary shops, shopping malls or public spaces, offering them a skin analysis using advanced equipment, an expert's selection of the right cosmetics for their skin's needs or a recommendation of make-up products. This shift from simple sales to consultancy makes the brand a partner in health and beauty care, rather than just a supplier of goods that answers all questions and dispels all doubts of customers.
In addition, both YSL and Douglas organised events this year that were a direct invitation to learn more about the experiences the brand offers its consumers. Both the leading faces of the Polish cosmetics scene and „ordinary” consumers could visit a dedicated space where, in addition to free samples and boxes, additional attractions awaited them, care innovations, the production process, lectures or the opportunity to receive a skin condition analysis and expert advice in relation to the cosmetics they were using. Through such offline activities, brands achieve an important goal - gaining an engaged customer.
The era of truth: „Corrections” and the meritocracy of small brands
Interestingly, in 2025, it was no longer just budget that mattered, but above all effectiveness. Smaller, Polish brands were doing very well, as consumers, supported by reliable creatives, began to pay more attention to cosmetic ingredients. A symbol of this change is the activity of influencers Liliana Grochowska, In the cosmetics category, she is regarded as a reliable source of information among influencers. As proof of her authenticity, she hosts a podcast called „The Fix”, in which she analyses the actual performance of products with the help of experts who jointly answer her listeners' questions without marketing gimmicks.
This sends a clear signal to the market: in 2025, nothing will be defensible if it simply doesn't work, and price no longer plays that much of a role. The new phenomenon is that education has become the new luxury. Recipients increasingly appreciate factual reviews and a scientific approach to cosmetics. Both giants and niche Polish brands already know that in the beauty world, the ultimate judge is efficacy confirmed by an informed community.
Main lessons for the cosmetics industry
Reaching the consumer in 2025 is a parallel balancing act between fast trend from TikTokaz and deep, expert knowledge. The beauty industry in Poland successfully bridges these worlds, proving that the key to consumers' hearts (and wallets) is authenticity, technology and real solutions to their skin problems.
