How to go viral in the makeup haul niche on Instagram
What 1,150 viral makeup haul reels have in common: what they show, how they start, what they sound like, and who posts them. Real numbers from Aubrium's library.
An account with 31,470 followers showed a haul from a single makeup brand and opened on the price: "I got all of these under Rs 1200." It got 12.1 million views.
It's far from the only big one. Of the 1,150 viral makeup haul reels in Aubrium's library, 223 crossed a million views. Across all of them, the middle reel came from an account with 15,532 followers. We went through every haul, from 871 creators, asking what it shows, whether a face appears, and how the text, sound, hook and look work. Our pillar page, what kind of reels go viral on Instagram, runs the same checks on every niche. Every niche we looked at is on what goes viral in each niche.
Tutorials (49%) and lists (18%) make up most viral makeup haul reels. 59% show a face, but the faceless ones travelled further. 90% put text on screen, and 57% use a song, more than the 37% across all niches. The middle reel came from an account with 15,532 followers, and 37% of these reels came from accounts under 10,000 followers.
Aubrium's library, 22 October 2026.
What kind of makeup haul reels go viral?
Tutorials lead at 49%, with lists second at 18%.
Only 6% are filed as a plain haul, and those reached 13 times followers. The ones that went further were rarer. Unboxings reached 25 times, and slideshows, 4% of the reels, reached 42 for the middle one, against 14 for tutorials. Stories hit 40, but from only 28 reels.
Do you need to show your face?
No, though 59% of viral makeup haul reels do show one. Hauls without one travelled further: the middle faceless haul reached 28 times its creator's followers, the middle one with a face 12. 34% show no one at all, only the products.
Should makeup haul reels have text on screen?
Yes, nearly all of them. 90% carry text, and 83% use only a line or two. Hauls are full of names and shades, and the 7% that fill the screen with words went furthest, at 23 times followers. The 10% with none came last, at 15.
Trending song or your own sound?
A song, more often than not: 57% pick a track, where the whole library sits at 37%. Songs and borrowed sounds went about as far, 19 and 17 times followers. Reels on their own sound trailed, at 13.
What hooks work for makeup haul reels?
Curiosity gaps open 27% of these reels: something arrived, and the reel is about to show it. 17% skip the hook. Haul hooks run about 10 words, and the short ones did better. POV hooks open only 3%, yet their middle reel reached 43 times followers. Six real haul hooks:
- RelatableText on screen
the only struggles i want
- POVText on screen
Pov: My type of therapy 💅
- Bold claimText and spoken
Let's talk about all the drugstore makeup I would never remove from my makeup bag.
- QuestionText and spoken
Let's see how much product we're getting in the new Road Pocket Pearl.
- Curiosity gapSpoken
Girls, Dot and Key just dropped not 10, not 12, not 15 new tinted sunscreens.
- WarningText and spoken
Do not blink, otherwise you will not believe it.
Polished, or filmed on your phone?
Most hauls are shot clean, 82% of them. The 18% filmed plainly on a phone travelled further: 24 times followers against 15. Pace tells the same story. The 19% that move fast reached 21 times, against 15 for medium-paced reels.
Can a small makeup haul account go viral?
Yes, and the smallest hauls travelled furthest of all. A creator under 2,000 followers saw the middle haul reach 142 times their audience. The figure shrinks band by band, to 10 times for accounts with 50,000 to 100,000 followers. In all, 37% of viral makeup haul reels came from accounts below 10,000 followers.
Your next makeup haul reel, by the numbers
49% are tutorials
The most common way a haul gets shown.
59% show a face
Hauls without one travelled further.
90% put text on screen
Name each product where people can read it.
57% use a song
Their own sound trailed, at 13.
10 words, the middle hook
The shortest hooks went furthest.
49% ask for nothing
They let the products do the asking.
Keep reading
For the opening line on its own, sorted by type, see the best hooks for makeup haul reels. Related reads: what viral lipstick and blush reels have in common, eye makeup hooks and how makeup tutorials go viral.
Questions people ask
What makeup haul content goes viral on Instagram?
Tutorials and lists together: 49% and 18% of viral makeup haul reels in Aubrium's library. Unboxings, 9% of them, reached 25 times their creator's followers for the middle one, against 14 for a tutorial.
Do I need to show my face in a makeup haul?
No. 59% of viral makeup haul reels show one, but hauls with no face went further, 28 times followers to 12.
Should makeup hauls use trending audio?
A song is the usual pick, on 57% of viral makeup haul reels, where the library as a whole sits at 37%. Songs and borrowed sounds went about as far, 19 and 17 times followers.
How many followers do viral makeup haul accounts have?
The middle viral haul came from an account with 15,532 followers. 37% of viral makeup haul reels were posted by accounts below 10,000 followers.
Should a haul reel have a lot of text?
A line or two is the norm, on 83% of viral makeup haul reels. The 7% packed with words went furthest, 23 times their creator's followers.
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.
Format, faces, text, sound and hooks are labels Aubrium's reader puts on every post. Every number here describes reels that already went viral, so none of it is the odds for a new one.
Changelog
- First version.
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