Source: cremedelamer.com
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Black Friday can feel like a competition to see who can offer the biggest discount. But what if your beauty brand can't afford to cut prices by 40% or 50%?
Some of the best Black Friday marketing campaigns in 2025 gave shoppers other reasons to buy their products. Instead of cutting prices as much as possible, beauty brands gave customers more time to shop, offered special gifts, supported good causes, and found creative ways to connect with their audience.
Each brand found a way to attract customers without relying on the deepest discounts.
And there's plenty that smaller beauty businesses can learn from them. Let's take a look at what made these four campaigns stand out and how you can borrow their ideas for Black Friday 2026, even with a small budget.
Key Takeaways
The best Black Friday campaigns give customers something worth shopping for beyond a big discount.
Longer promotions give shoppers more time to choose products without feeling rushed.
Free gifts and special offers can encourage bigger orders while protecting profit margins.
Supporting a meaningful cause or rewarding loyal customers can make a campaign more memorable.
What the Best Black Friday Marketing Campaigns Have In Common
A good Black Friday offer needs to give people a reason to stop scrolling. That could be something they've been waiting to buy. A little extra with their order. Or a campaign that feels different from the usual sales.
Large discounts are becoming a thing of the past. It’s been a while since the cliche of huge retail cuts has worked on the average shopper, especially as prices rise and customer purchasing power lowers.
Looking at the best Black Friday marketing campaigns from 2025, what stands out is how well the offers suited the brands behind them. A luxury skincare brand can make a gift feel special. While a brand with loyal customers can build excitement through its own email campaigns and community.
There's also the question of what happens after Black Friday weekend. A campaign might bring in plenty of orders, but if the discounts eat up most of the profit or customers never return, was it really worth it?
That's something to think about when choosing your own Black Friday campaign ideas. Before settling on an offer, work out what it will cost, who it's meant to attract, and what you'd like those customers to do next.
The four beauty brands we're looking at made different choices, and each offers a useful lesson for smaller businesses planning their November campaigns.
The Ordinary: Slowvember Instead of Black Friday
Source: theordinary.com
Most Black Friday campaigns try to make customers act quickly. The Ordinary went in the opposite direction. They gave customers weeks to think about their purchases instead of rushing them into a one-day sale.
If there’s two words that cover the Ordinary’s Black Friday campaigning, it’s “shop wisely“. A move to educate, support, and promote a more grounded way to stay sane and shop smart around the Black Friday sales rush.
What They Did
In 2025, The Ordinary brought back Slowvember, offering 23% off its products from November 1 to December 7, excluding Black Friday itself. The brand also closed its website and most of its physical stores on Black Friday.
The campaign encouraged people to take their time, learn about the products, and buy what they actually needed.
Source: theordinary.com
Why It Worked
The approach made sense for a brand that already focuses on straightforward skincare and helping customers understand ingredients.
It also gave The Ordinary something different to talk about during a season full of similar Black Friday deals. The discount was still there, but customers didn't have to worry about missing a short sale window.
Slowvember showed how a brand can make its shopping experience part of the campaign itself.
How to Borrow It
A smaller beauty business probably doesn't need a month-long promotion. A week can be enough to try the idea.
Choose one manageable offer and keep it consistent for seven days.
Share skincare tips and product recommendations while the offer runs.
Use the same dates and prices online and in store to avoid confusion.
The takeaway? Try a longer, simpler offer that gives customers time to choose your products.
La Mer: A Gift Instead of a Markdown
Source: cremedelamer.com
A luxury skincare purchase already feels like a treat. La Mer found a way to make it feel even more special without lowering the prices of its main products.
What They Did
According to La Mer's 2025 holiday gift guide, the brand offered a tiered gift with qualifying purchases during its 2025 holiday campaign.
Spend $150: pick five skincare minis. Higher tiers added a full-size moisturizer, then larger gifts, climbing to a full-size night cream at $800.
The gifts were available in limited quantities, giving Black Friday shoppers an extra reason to place an order.
Why It Worked
A gift adds something to the purchase without changing what customers pay for the skincare itself.
For La Mer, that helped maintain the premium feel of the products. Customers could enjoy an extra treat, and those close to a spending threshold had a reason to consider adding another item.
It was a natural fit for a brand whose customers already value the experience of buying luxury skincare.
How to Borrow It
You don't need expensive gifts to make this one of your Black Friday marketing ideas.
If your average order is €35, for example, you could offer a mini serum with purchases over €50.
Pick a gift that complements your main products.
Set a minimum spend slightly above your usual order value.
Include the cost of the gift, packaging, and shipping when calculating your profit.
Check out Selfnamed's sample sets to put together smaller gifts or our collection boxes for limited-edition holiday kits.
Choose one useful gift and set a spending threshold that encourages a larger order without making the promotion too expensive.
Rare Beauty: A Discount Shoppers Earned
Rare Beauty took a familiar Black Friday offer and connected it to something customers already associated with the brand: supporting youth mental health.
What They Did
The 2025 campaign offered shoppers $20 off a $50 purchase when they donated $10 to the Rare Impact Fund.
The fund supports organizations working to improve young people's access to mental health resources. Instead of introducing a new cause for the holiday season, Rare Beauty built the promotion around work it was already doing.
Why It Worked
Black Friday shoppers still had a chance to save money, but their purchase was connected to a cause they might want to support. That made the offer feel more personal.
The connection also felt natural because mental health has been part of Rare Beauty's identity for years. The campaign didn't need a complicated explanation for customers to understand why the brand was supporting the fund.
Source: rareimpactfund.org
How to Borrow It
Think about a cause that already matters to your business or community. It could be a local animal shelter, a youth organization, or a project you genuinely want to help.
Then keep the offer straightforward:
donate a fixed amount from each holiday skincare set sold;
clearly name the organization receiving the money;
explain when the donation will be made and whether there's a limit.
There is no need to promise a huge amount. A small, transparent contribution is easier to manage and more believable than an ambitious campaign you can't afford.
Choose a cause that fits your brand and make the donation terms clear before your Black Friday campaign begins.
Lush: An Audience It Owns
Source: Lush.com
Social media can help people discover a beauty brand, but it isn't always the best way to reach customers when you need them to see an important announcement. Lush has spent years investing in other ways to stay connected.
What They Did
In 2021, Lush stepped away from several major social media platforms on some of its brand accounts. Instead, it focused more attention on channels it could use to reach customers directly, including:
email, sharing product news and offers with subscribers;
its shopping app, helping customers discover and purchase products;
customer loyalty, giving people reasons to stay connected beyond their first order.
“Does Lush do Black Friday sales? ... We’re glad you asked! The short answer is: no. You won’t find us spamming your inbox or lengthy queues at our stores. We believe the best type of value we can give our customers lies in our ingredients, our handmade approach and our ethical commitments. So here’s how we’re all about values for money …”
Why It Worked
When a brand relies on social media, even its followers might miss an important post.
An email list gives Lush a way to speak directly to people who've already shown interest in its products. It can share sneak peeks, launch announcements, and reminders without depending entirely on social media reach.
That direct connection is useful long after Black Friday weekend, too. Staying in touch with customers, sharing relevant product recommendations, and giving them reasons to come back are all part of building strong beauty brand retention strategies.
How to Borrow It
Begin with an email list and invite customers to sign up for early access to your holiday collection.
Plan three messages:
sneak peek: show what's coming and when;
launch: explain the offer and how to shop;
reminder: let customers know when the offer ends.
After the campaign, keep in touch with product tips and useful recommendations.
Takeaway? Start collecting email sign-ups before November so you can tell interested customers about your offer directly, using effective email marketing ideas.
Black Friday Campaign Ideas to Test in 2026
The four beauty brands we've looked at took different approaches to Black Friday. So what could you try with your own brand this year? Selfnamed's BFCM 2026 Guide suggests four ideas worth testing.
1. Let AI Help With Your Emails
AI tools can help you figure out when customers are most likely to open an email. Which products to recommend. And what subject lines might catch their attention.
For your Black Friday campaign, try testing two subject lines or sending product suggestions based on previous purchases. See which version brings more people to your store.
2. Make Sustainability Part of Your Message
Some customers appreciate brands that encourage thoughtful shopping. You could highlight products people will use regularly. Explain your packaging choices. Or encourage customers to finish what they already own before buying more.
This can work especially well if reducing waste is already important to your brand.
3. Give Your Loyal Customers First Access
Planning a small holiday collection? Let your most loyal customers shop it first, rather than opening early access to your entire email list.
You could create limited-edition labels with Selfnamed's Design Studio and offer the collection to returning customers a day before the public launch. If you sell in store, invite your regulars to see it first.
4. Use Videos to Attract Shoppers and Emails to Sell
Short videos are great for showing off a product. Film a moisturizer's texture, a quick skincare routine, or someone opening a holiday gift set.
Then use email to share the details people need before buying, such as what's included, how much it costs, and when the offer ends. Each channel has its own job.
Choose the idea that makes the most sense for your customers and test it during this year's holiday shopping season.
If you’re looking for more inspiration and practical planning advice, download Selfnamed's free BFCM 2026 Guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Slowvember is The Ordinary's way of making Black Friday shopping a little less rushed. In 2025, the brand offered 23% off from November 1 to December 7, except on Black Friday itself, when it closed its website and most stores. Customers had plenty of time to decide what they wanted to buy.
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It depends on what your customers enjoy. Free skincare samples, gift sets, and early access to new products can all make a Black Friday campaign more appealing. You can also use email campaigns to share a preview of your offers and give regular customers something to look forward to during holiday shopping.
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Not at all. A free gift, a special skincare bundle, or first access to a new collection can be just as interesting to your customers. Think about what they'd genuinely appreciate and what your business can comfortably afford.
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