Cult Beauty is a British online retailer specialising in prestige cosmetics, independent brands and emerging beauty products. Founded in 2008, it joined the THG group in 2021 and now operates within THG Beauty alongside LOOKFANTASTIC and Dermstore. The site states a portfolio of over 300 brands, 12 of which are exclusive.
Cult Beauty sells directly to end consumers. The site's terms establish that products purchased are intended for private and domestic use and may not be purchased for resale or distribution. It is therefore not a marketplace in which a company can independently open a seller account and list its own products.
Key Characteristics and Services
Cult Beauty is characterised by an editorial and commercial selection process oriented towards product discovery, premium cosmetics and independent brands. The site combines online sales with educational content, reviews, beauty guides, exclusive launches, promotions, beauty boxes and curated edits. Cult Beauty states that it introduces an average of ten exclusive products per month.
Within THG Beauty, Cult Beauty contributes to a network that provides market access to over 1,000 third-party brands through Cult Beauty, LOOKFANTASTIC and Dermstore. THG also has centralised functions for buying, marketing, retail media, product development, manufacturing and e-commerce management.
For an Italian company, the main advantage is the ability to reach international consumers through a recognised beauty retailer, without having to directly manage checkout and order-related customer service. Access, however, depends on evaluation by the buying team rather than mere technical compliance of the product.
Revenue
Cult Beauty does not publish an updated standalone revenue figure. The official financial data available relates to THG Beauty as a whole and also includes LOOKFANTASTIC, Dermstore, owned brands and the division's manufacturing activities.
In FY2025, THG Beauty recorded revenue of £1,107.9 million, adjusted EBITDA of £65.8 million and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 5.9%. THG's total revenue for the same financial year was £1,717 million. These figures cannot be attributed to Cult Beauty alone.
Note: "adjusted EBITDA" is a company-defined adjusted metric (not a legally standardised figure like net profit): it excludes items such as depreciation, impairments and costs linked to one-off events (e.g. the demerger of THG Ingenuity or the disposal of Claremont Ingredients), in order to show the profitability of ordinary operations. It should therefore not be read as final net profit.
Permitted Products
The main categories currently sold include:
- skincare;
- make-up;
- haircare;
- fragrance;
- body care and wellness products;
- sun care and self-tan;
- beauty tools, devices and accessories;
- selected supplements and wellness products.
The presence of a category on the site does not guarantee that any product belonging to that category will be admitted. Cult Beauty does not publish general rules for new supplier applications: the assortment is selected commercially by the buying team.
Fragrances, nail products, aerosols and certain products from specific brands are classified as hazardous goods or HAZMAT and can only be shipped to certain destinations using compatible transport services. Territorial restrictions also apply, arising from individual brands' distribution agreements.
For Italy, the delivery page currently notes restrictions for Davines, Escentric Molecules, Healist, High Beauty, KEVIN.MURPHY, Lanolips, LOUM and simplehuman, as well as the inability to ship CBD products. These are restrictions relating to delivery to Italian consumers, not general criteria for admitting a new Italian brand.
There is no public list of "products permitted for sellers"; there are only commercialised categories and shipping restrictions.
Accessibility for Italian Companies
Italian companies may be considered as suppliers or brand partners. In the official sources consulted, no public seller registration portal, standard application form or self-service system for uploading a catalogue and prices is available.
THG confirms the existence of a global buying team that oversees purchasing for Cult Beauty, LOOKFANTASTIC and Dermstore, and that meets with brand partners, analyses sales data, trends, consumer demand and commercial opportunities. Access must therefore be obtained through a commercial presentation and subsequent interest from the buying team.
Cult Beauty does not publish mandatory application criteria. To increase the chances of being considered, it is advisable to prepare:
- a brand presentation and positioning statement;
- distinctive features compared with brands already listed;
- sales data, markets already served and key products;
- suggested retail prices and a commercial proposal;
- production capacity, stock availability and replenishment lead times;
- distribution rights for the UK and international markets;
- professional images, descriptions and digital content in English;
- supporting evidence for cosmetic and marketing claims.
This is a recommended operational checklist and not an official list published by Cult Beauty.
For cosmetics intended for both the European Union and Great Britain, the two regulatory regimes must be verified separately. In the EU, a Responsible Person within the Union, the product information file, the safety assessment and CPNP notification are required. For Great Britain, obligations relating to the Responsible Person, the Product Information File, safety, labelling and notification via the UK's SCPN service must be met.
The contract will need to establish who takes on the role of importer and UK Responsible Person, and who is responsible for notifications, labelling, documentation and any recalls.
Countries and Markets
The initial list indicates the destinations for which Cult Beauty currently publishes a delivery service. This does not mean that every product can be sold in every destination: availability depends on the brand's territorial agreements, product characteristics, local regulations and carrier limitations.
For an Italian company, the contract with Cult Beauty will need to specify in which countries the retailer is authorised to sell the brand. A brand may therefore be listed on the site but remain purchasable only in a portion of the markets served.
For orders destined for Italy, Cult Beauty states that prices include local EU VAT and that no further customs duties are charged to the consumer on delivery. For numerous non-EU destinations, orders may instead be sent on a DDU basis, with taxes and duties payable by the recipient.
Costs and Fees
Cult Beauty does not publish:
- registration fees;
- standard percentage commissions;
- listing costs;
- seller subscriptions;
- required supplier margins;
- minimum order quantities;
- B2B payment terms;
- standard conditions for returns or unsold stock.
Since the consumer sales contract is concluded directly with Cult Beauty, and the site prohibits purchases intended for resale, it would not be accurate to present Cult Beauty as a marketplace with a standard commission per transaction.
Supply prices, margins, discounts, promotions, samples, marketing contributions, returns, currency and payment terms must be negotiated directly. Their eventual existence cannot be confirmed prior to receiving a proposal or commercial contract.
Payment Systems
For end consumers, the site currently displays the following payment systems:
- Visa and Visa Electron;
- Mastercard and Maestro;
- American Express;
- PayPal;
- Apple Pay;
- Google Pay;
- Klarna;
- Amazon Pay.
Actual availability may depend on the country, billing address, currency and checks carried out at checkout. Klarna and other instalment payment systems are also subject to territorial and eligibility requirements.
Clearpay is documented separately but is reserved for permanent UK residents with a UK billing address, and therefore does not represent an option normally available to an Italian consumer.
The methods by which Cult Beauty pays supplier brands are not published. Currency, payment terms, any withholdings and invoicing procedures must be defined in the B2B contract.
Advertising
Brands within the network can access services from THG Beauty Media, which covers Cult Beauty, LOOKFANTASTIC and Dermstore and states a combined customer base of over 11 million.
The main advertised solutions include:
- product listing pages and sponsored placements;
- display banners;
- off-site campaigns;
- segmentation using proprietary data;
- influencer marketing;
- experiential and above-the-line activities;
- content creation;
- conversion measurement and closed-loop attribution;
- integrated campaigns through Criteo, LiveRamp and Zitcha.
Campaigns are developed on a bespoke basis. No price list or standard minimum investment is published. The official contact for brands and agencies interested in advertising services is thgbeautymedia@thg.com. This address relates to retail media and is not indicated as a channel for requesting brand listing within the assortment.
Logistics Services
Cult Beauty manages checkout, order preparation and delivery to the end consumer. Official pages indicate that international orders are shipped from the UK warehouse and that, depending on the market, local postal services and express couriers such as DHL are used. In the UK and the Channel Islands, dedicated local operators and services are also indicated.
For Italy, Cult Beauty states that EU VAT is included and that no further duties are charged to the consumer on delivery. For non-EU markets, duties, local taxes and customs clearance procedures payable by the recipient may instead apply.
Logistics conditions applied to suppliers are not published. The Italian company will therefore need to agree:
- place and method of stock delivery;
- Incoterms and customs responsibilities;
- initial quantities and replenishment;
- packaging and palletisation;
- management of expiry dates, batches and HAZMAT goods;
- returns, defects, recalls and unsold products;
- insurance and risk transfer.
Customer and Seller Service
Customer service for consumers includes a Help Centre, FAQs, in-account messaging, order tracking, returns assistance and live chat.
As of the verification date, live chat is indicated as available from 9:00 to 17:00 GMT, while the messaging service operates from 8:00 to 19:00 GMT. Phone support is indicated as temporarily unavailable.
No dedicated seller Help Centre or general seller onboarding contact is published. THG confirms, however, that Cult Beauty is supported by a global buying team that manages relationships, purchasing and commercial planning with brand partners. Operational contacts and any account management arrangements must therefore be defined during negotiation and brand onboarding.
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