From Community to Commerce: What Beauty & Wellness Investors Are Looking for in 2026

Written for Beauty Connect Series

Sirine Benjaafar of Humble Growth on TikTok Shop, omnichannel growth, consumer demand and what makes an emerging beauty brand investable. 

What makes a beauty or wellness brand investable in 2026?  

Increasingly, the answer goes beyond a great product or a major retail win. Investors are looking at how brands build genuine consumer demand, turn community into measurable commercial performance, and create connected growth across DTC, retail, Amazon, social commerce and emerging channels such as TikTok Shop. 

Ahead of Beauty Connect LA 2026, we spoke with Sirine Benjaafar, Principal at Humble Growth and member of the Beauty Connect Investor Advisory Board, about what those shifts mean for the next generation of beauty and wellness brands. 

Drawing on Humble Growth’s investment in and exit from Salt & Stone, Benjaafar shares what separates brands that generate attention from those capable of sustaining it at scale; why community has become an increasingly important signal in investment diligence; and what founders should prove before raising capital. She also explores how social media is reshaping beauty discovery and commerce, why TikTok Shop is becoming a meaningful sales channel, and what genuine omnichannel growth looks like as consumers move more fluidly between content, community and commerce.

Her central argument reflects a consumer who is becoming more demanding on both value and performance: “As consumers are trading down on price while trading up on proof, that creates opportunities for efficacy-driven brands that lead with credibility and value.” For founders, that raises the bar beyond capturing attention. The brands that stand out to investors are those that can contextualize their positioning against these changing consumer demands, build genuine desire and back it with the fundamentals needed to sustain growth at scale. 

Read the full article here: https://www.beautyconnectla.com/humble-growth