Summary: In this comprehensive, data-driven guide to naming and branding in the beauty industry, we presented 13 questions to a representative audience of American consumers. We gained insight into the most credible domain names for beauty brands, which names build the strongest connection with customers and the key branding trends in this industry.

Key takeaways:

• .com is the most credible extension, and .shop is the strongest alternative.
• The .beauty extension harms credibility.
• Add-on words in domain names harm credibility with 89% of consumers.
• Single English words generate the most interest in your brand.
• 47% place more trust in brands with single English word names.
• Warmth and care, confidence and boldness are important emotions to evoke in your name.
• Just 13% say that they connect with fun and playful names.
• 33% say brand mission is very important.
• Bright, bold branding is the most impactful branding trend; branding with AI is the least impactful.
• 77% say it’s important for a beauty brand to express an understanding of customers’ lifestyle and values.

Objective: New beauty brands enter a competitive market, one in which they must differentiate themselves from competitors, and connect with their customers’ lifestyles and aspirations to find success. Branding decisions are key to these objects, and our goal is to help new and rebranding beauty companies understand customer perception of names, domain names and brand positioning.

Audience: A representative panel of American consumers aged 18 – 64. We asked a qualifying question to ensure our panel was engaged with beauty brands: all respondents “frequently” or “occasionally” purchased beauty and skincare products.

Our Results

Domain Name

Previous research has revealed that domain name is an important factor for 77% of consumers when engaging with brands online. In 2025, every business needs an online presence and beauty brands can use domain names to emphasize credibility, enhance awareness, and stand out from competitors.

• .com is the most credible extension, but .shop is a strong alternative.
• .beauty domains will harm your credibility.
• Add-on words in domain names (such as ‘app’ or ‘get’) harm credibility with 89% of consumers.

Rank the following domain extensions from most to least credible for a beauty brand.

For a beauty brand’s website, which domain name is more credible?

How does an add-on prefix or suffix word in a domain name (e.g., getgoddess.com or goddessapp.com, vs. goddess.com) impact your perception of a beauty brand’s credibility when shopping online?

For a deep dive into data-driven domain choice, explore our core research on domain names here.

Naming a Beauty Brand

From Lush to L’Oréal via Glossier, beauty brands can use their name to emphasize their purpose, values and even price point to their customers. Your brand name plays a key role in building a connection with your customers, as well as indicating your potential to investors. Our core research on business names takes a deep dive into this phenomenon — including the names venture capitalists tend to invest in.

• Memorability is customers’ key criteria for a beauty brand name.
• Single English words generate the most interest in your brand.
• 47% place more trust in brands with single English words.
• Warmth and care, confidence and boldness are important emotions to evoke in your name.
• Just 13% say that they connect with fun and playful names.

​​Rank the following aspects of a beauty brand name based on their importance to you. 1 is the most important, and 5 is the least important.

Rank the following name types based on how curious they make you about a beauty brand. 1 is most curious, 5 is least curious.

Which naming style builds more trust when you’re hearing about a beauty brand?

Do you prefer a beauty brand name that describes the product/service or a more creative name?

What emotions should a brand beauty name evoke for you to feel connected to the brand? Choose up to two.

Brand Identity

From your origin story to your brand mission, every beauty brand needs to have a coherent identity that connects with its customers’ aspirations and values. Meanwhile, tapping into the most influential branding trends can have a big impact on customers’ feelings about your brand and build significant brand awareness. Explore further with our core research on branding in 2025.

• 74% say it’s important for a beauty brand to have a brand mission.
• 33% say brand mission is very important.
• Bright, bold branding is the most impactful branding trend; branding with AI is the least impactful.
• 77% say it’s important for a beauty brand to express an understanding of customers’ lifestyle and values.

How important is it for a beauty brand to have a clearly articulated social, ethical or environmental mission?

Rank the following branding trends from most to least impactful for a beauty brand.

Rank the following in order of how important they are in building a relationship with a beauty brand.

How important is it that a beauty brand expresses an understanding of your lifestyle and values?

How likely are you to buy a product or service that you want from a beauty brand that does not align with your values?

Conclusion

Beauty brands can seek a strong connection with their customers by evoking warmth, care and confidence in their branding, and leaning on bright, bold colors in their design. While it’s important for 77% of consumers that beauty brands have a social or ethical mission, mission-branding is less impactful in this industry than others we’ve explored, including health and wellness. It’s essential for beauty brands to understand their audience’s aspirations and values, and to build a brand identity that connects with their expectations.

We found that single-word names and .com extensions form the strongest platform for a beauty brand. Get started by exploring Atom’s curated collection of powerful beauty brand domains.

If you’re interested in digging deeper into our findings, or asking your own questions on consumer, branding and worklife topics, contact thom@atomradar.com to learn more.

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About The Author

Thom Davies

Thom Davies is a researcher at AtomRadar and content strategist for Atom.com. His background in quantitative and qualitative analysis is the foundation for data-led brand strategy.

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