The best hooks for makeup haul reels, from 1,150 that went viral

"I ordered a mirror from Chanel and this is what I got". That was posted by an account with 1,142 followers, and it reached nearly 4 million views.

Haul reels are lists of things bought, tried and rated, so the first line has to make one more product feel worth a look. We read the opening line of all 1,150 viral makeup haul reels in Aubrium's library, from 871 creators, to see which kinds of hook keep coming back and which went furthest. The same question, asked of every niche at once, is on our page of the best hooks for Instagram reels. And what goes viral in each niche lists every niche we looked at, hauls included.

Aubrium's library, 22 October 2026.

What kind of hook works best for makeup haul reels?

Curiosity gaps are the most common; POV hooks went furthest.

27% of these reels open on a curiosity gap, the classic haul tease: something arrived, and you'll see it in a second. Bold claims open 15%, and they travelled least of the big three, at 12 times followers. POV hooks open only 3% of these reels, 33 in all, but the middle one reached 43 times. Warnings and number lists came next, at 24 and 26.

16 makeup haul hooks that went viral

We picked these 16 by hand to cover seven kinds of hook. The views and the creator's followers sit beside each one, and the type filter lets you compare like with like.

How long should a makeup haul hook be?

Short. The middle hook is 10 words, yet the shortest ones, 1 to 4 words, travelled furthest.

Those very short hooks are rare, 8% of them, and the middle one reached 25 times its creator's followers. From 5 words up, every band sat between 9 and 14 times, and the longest did worst. A haul can name its products later. The first line only has to give a reason to stay.

Should you say the hook or show it?

Show it. 50% of viral makeup haul reels put the hook on screen as text alone, and those went furthest.

The middle text-only hook reached 25 times its creator's followers. Hauls are chatty, and 28% both say the line and show it. Those reached 11, the same as hooks that were only spoken.

How do viral makeup haul hooks start?

"This" is the haul's favourite first word: 48 of 542 English hooks start with it, and "I" starts 40. "Let's" makes the top four at 19, which is the sound of a haul getting started.

• this 48
• I 40
• the 22
• let's 19
• POV 18
• you 13
• these 12
• if 10
• my 9
• makeup 8
• rating 8
• so 8

The first word of 542 English hooks on viral makeup haul reels, and how many start with it.

Four ways a haul hook can open, each taken from a real one:

Keep reading

The viral hauls themselves, their formats, faces, text and sound, are on how makeup haul reels go viral. Next door: lipstick and blush hooks, eye makeup hooks and the openers on viral makeup tutorials.

Questions people ask

How we did this

We looked at every makeup haul reel in Aubrium's library on 22 October 2026: 1,150 reels from 871 creators with 1,000 to 100,000 followers, each of which reached at least twice its creator's follower count and at least 10,000 views. We counted every reel filed in Aubrium's makeup haul niche; a reel can sit in more than one niche.

Hook types, delivery and on-screen text are labels Aubrium's reader puts on every post. Hook length and first words count the 542 reels with an English hook in words. Every number here describes reels that already went viral, so none of it is the odds for a new one.

Changelog

• 2026-10-22First version.