“We were immediately intrigued by the inquiries because it is so rare to have a platform have that direct an impact on sales that quickly.”

– Sameer Agarwal, Vice President, North America, Clinique

Clinique first experienced the power of #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt more than two years ago, when customers suddenly began asking about its new BB gel moisturizer, just a few weeks after launch. So when the brand wanted to step into the present-day conversation on body positivity, it turned to the platform, digging through sub-community hashtags like #acnepositivity, #maskne, #skinpositivity, and #normalizeacne, where they found creator Jasmine Sullivan . “We loved that she was a makeup artist who didn’t use foundation,” Agarwal says. “Her content celebrated beauty, not using makeup to hide or cover up, which was the exact message of our campaign ‘Zit Happens.’” Sullivan had started out making tutorial videos on other platforms but switched to TikTok because of the ease of the editing suite. “The algorithm works wonders! It regularly shows my videos to people who want to hear the advice I’m giving and the products I’m recommending,” she says. “I love that I’m not just posting my videos for a set number of followers—I can post it for the world, and whoever is meant to see it will see it.”

"The way you look doesn’t determine the person you are—you can always change what people see, but that doesn’t change your soul."

– Jasmine Sullivan

Q&A with Sameer Agarwal,

Vice President, North America, Clinique. What’s on your For You Page?

I won’t lie, there are a lot of blackhead removal videos. Yes, I am too into skincare. Also a lot of weird construction and engineering hacks, and trick ping-pong shots.

How did this come to be a TikTok-first idea?

We wanted to reach Gen Z, and it was clear that they were spending a lot of time on TikTok. As we dug in, we discovered a very rich and positive conversation on #acnepositivity. We genuinely wanted to find a way to fuel that and be part of it.

How did you find the right creators?

It was really important to us to work with creators who visibly had acne, not just creators who had skincare authority. Since authenticity is key on a platform like TikTok, we thought it would be best to partner with some of the creators who were already leading voices on this topic.

How have your preconceived notions about TikTok changed?

At first we thought TikTok was all about entertainment and hashtag challenges, so we weren’t quite sure how we could play there. However, we have quickly realized that the platform is about so much more than that. It is about creation and entertainment, but also about trusted communities discovering products and sharing information.

What superlative would you give to TikTok?

Most Empowering Platform.

"I won’t lie, there are a lot of blackhead removal videos. Yes, I am too into skincare."

– Sameer Agarwal, Vice President, North America, Clinique