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Viral Fashion and Beauty Carousels: The Hardest of Our 13 Niches
Only 17.6% of fashion and beauty carousels we scored reached 2× their creator’s usual, the lowest of 13 niches. What the 148 outliers did instead.
Fashion and beauty is the hardest niche in our data to beat your own usual in. Of the 460 fashion and beauty carousels we scored, only 17.6% reached 2× their creator’s usual, against 23.8% across all 9,923, and the niche comes last of our 13 at every bar we measure.
The outliers that got through anyway share something you might not expect: several are repeats. One fragrance account posted the same idea twice, three weeks apart, and both scored 30× or more.
Why is fashion and beauty so hard to outperform in?
Every carousel we score is compared with its own creator’s usual: the median likes and comments of up to 20 of that creator’s carousels posted around the same time. Against that bar, fashion and beauty trails the rest of the sample:
- Beat their usual (1×): 45.2%, against 49.3% overall.
- Reached 2×: 17.6%, against 23.8%.
- Reached 3×: 10.2%, against 14.9%.
Each of those is the lowest of our 13 niches. The outliers in the library tell the same story: their median score is 1.6×, against 1.8× to 2.5× in every other niche. Our earlier study of scored carousels found the same niche at the bottom.
Our data can’t say why. One reading, and only that: when most of an account’s posts are outfits or looks, a new one has to differ a lot from the last to stand out against that account’s own usual.
Be careful with the sample, too. The library’s 148 fashion and beauty outliers come from just 21 creators, the fewest of any niche, so a few accounts shape everything below. And as with all our base rates, the figures reflect a mix of the creators we track, not a random slice of Instagram.
The same idea, posted twice
@clay.note.fragrance posted a 7-slide list on 30 August whose first slide read “Alma Gemelu Perfumes I want just for the bottles”. It got 151,564 likes and comments, 37.6× the account’s usual.
On 20 September the account posted the idea again: another 7-slide list, with the first slide “Perfumes I want just for the bottles” and the same caption. It scored 30.0×, with 62,960 likes and comments.
It isn’t the only repeat near the top of the niche. The highest score belongs to a post its creator calls part of a series, and a 3.6× outlier by @izzyutterson is labelled “pt 2” on its first slide. @thestandardclothing_ has at least two outliers in the library, a 13-slide “How Every Duo Should Dress” at 3.6× and a 10-slide outfit list at 2.9× posted in the last seven days.
In raw numbers, the second perfume post got less than half the first one’s likes and comments. Its score stayed high because each post is judged against the account’s usual at the time it went up, and a single big post barely moves that median. More on how the score is worked out.
The fashion and beauty outliers at the top
These are the six highest-scoring carousels in the niche:
- @maripolonskaps: 151.0×, 18,276 likes and comments, 18 slides. No format is assigned and no first slide is transcribed. The caption, “Fits and bits |September series”, marks it as part of a monthly series. The creator’s usual is about 120.
- @wegotnotaste: 41.8×, 347,348 likes and comments, 15 slides, opinion. First slide: “This girl’s crochet pieces are insane.” The caption credits the maker, @tataykatelyn.
- @clay.note.fragrance: 37.6×, 151,564 likes and comments, 7 slides, list, as above.
- @deathtostock: 12.0×, 21,492 likes and comments, 15 slides, opinion. The first slide opens “WTF is an ‘intellectual influencer?’” and continues with the interview behind it.
- @impact: 12.0×, 328,420 likes and comments, 8 slides, list. Caption: “Fun makeup looks are soooo back, and we couldn’t be happier!”
- @aluncreative: 9.8×, 11,863 likes and comments, 12 slides, how-to. A Mother’s Day flower booth; the caption thanks “everyone who came”.
Half of the six aren’t a look or a product at all: a maker spotlight, a trend take and an event recap. Even in a niche this visual, some of the biggest scores went to posts about the culture around the clothes.
Fashion and beauty carousels that beat their creator’s usual
Lists are the default, opinion stands out
Of the 148 outliers, 117 are lists, 79% of the niche, with a median score of 1.5×. Opinion posts number only 12 but have a median of 2.0×.
Across our full sample, lists reached 2× their creator’s usual 25.4% of the time, above the 23.8% average. In fashion and beauty they are simply what most people post, and the median list outlier here sits at 1.5×, against 2.0× for list outliers across the library.
Most of the opinion outliers we can see are trend commentary. Besides @wegotnotaste and @deathtostock, there is “On Brand age as a status symbol fashion, beauty, and media suddenly embraces older women. What’s behind the shift?” (@onbrandmag, 8.6×, 10 slides). Both that one and @deathtostock’s name a shift and promise an explanation. If your feed is mostly lists, an occasional take on what is changing in your corner of fashion is the gap these outliers point to. Our opinion carousel examples show the usual structure.
Short covers, eight slides
Several of the strongest fashion and beauty first slides are very short:
“makeup prompts” — @smrt.cc, 9.3×, 2,582 likes and comments, 10 slides
“Softboy Outfits Ideas” — @classyboy.0, 9.4×, 29,564 likes and comments, 6 slides
“How Every Duo Should Dress” — @thestandardclothing_, 3.6×, 13 slides
“This girl’s crochet pieces are insane.” — @wegotnotaste, 41.8×, 15 slides
Three of those are five words or fewer, which runs against the wider data: across 5,442 transcribed first slides, those of five words or fewer reached 2× their creator’s usual 19.7% of the time, against 25.6% for 6–10 words. Several fashion covers are also mostly capitals, and first slides like that, across the sample, beat their usual 44.3% of the time, against 49.3% for normal case. In a niche this visual, the photo may be doing much of the cover’s work. Averages are nudges, not rules.
On length, the median fashion and beauty outlier has 8 slides, and short posts are rare:
- 2–5 slides: 6%
- 6–8 slides: 48%
- 9–12 slides: 28%
- 13–20 slides: 18%
The very top runs longer than the median: 18, 15, 7, 15, 8 and 12 slides for the six posts above.
Fashion and beauty carousel ideas from the outliers
Each idea uses the structure of a real outlier. Keep the shape and make the rest your own.
- The “just for the” wish list. From @clay.note.fragrance’s 7-slide list. Pick a category and one visible reason to want each item, the bottle, the colour, the texture, and give each item a slide. If it works, run it again with a new set.
- The maker spotlight. From @wegotnotaste’s 15-slide opinion post. A one-line verdict on the cover, then the maker’s work slide by slide, with the maker credited in the caption.
- The trend read. From @onbrandmag’s 10-slide opinion post. Name a shift on the cover, then give the evidence, one example per slide, and end on what it means for your reader.
- The monthly series. From @maripolonskaps’s 18-slide September post. Give your outfits for the month a series name and post it on the same rhythm, so each one is a chapter.
- Pairs that work. From @thestandardclothing_’s 13-slide “How Every Duo Should Dress”. One pairing per slide, two people, two products or two pieces, with a line on why they go together.
For all 148 posts, with every slide, see our fashion and beauty carousel ideas.
Frequently asked questions
What are good fashion carousel ideas for Instagram?
Start from fashion posts that beat their creator’s usual. In our library they include wish lists such as “Perfumes I want just for the bottles” (@clay.note.fragrance, 37.6×), maker spotlights, trend takes, monthly outfit series and pairing guides. Keep the structure and use your own pieces and photos.
Is fashion and beauty a hard niche for Instagram carousels?
In our data, yes. Of 460 fashion and beauty carousels we scored, 45.2% beat their creator’s usual and 17.6% reached 2×, against 49.3% and 23.8% overall: the lowest of our 13 niches at each bar. Outliers still happen, up to 151.0×.
How many slides should a fashion or beauty carousel have?
The median fashion and beauty outlier in our library has 8 slides, and only 6% use five or fewer. The strongest run longer: four of the top six have 12 to 18 slides. Across all niches, 11–15 slide carousels reached 2× their creator’s usual most often (27.7%).
Can you repost a carousel idea that already worked?
Our data has one clear case. @clay.note.fragrance posted “Perfumes I want just for the bottles” on 30 August and again on 20 September, as 7-slide lists with the same caption. They scored 37.6× and 30.0×. One case isn’t a rule, but a frame that worked once is worth testing again.