A Quiz Playbook for Cosmetics & Makeup Brands¶
Makeup lives or dies on the match: the wrong shade, undertone, or finish is an instant return and a lost customer. Shoppers can't reliably self-diagnose their undertone from a product grid, so they hesitate or guess. A quiz turns "which shade is me?" into a few quick questions and hands back a confident match: a shade finder, a colour-season result, or a full face in their tones.
This playbook is built from 121 real cosmetics and makeup quizzes running on RevenueHunt.
How to read these benchmarks
Figures come from 121 cosmetics/makeup quizzes built with RevenueHunt (Built for Shopify), measured over the last 180 days and deduplicated to one quiz per store. Numbers are medians unless labelled "top 10%" (the 90th percentile). For the wider category picture, see the State of Product Recommendation Quizzes report.
The benchmark build¶
The top makeup quizzes by revenue share a tight, fast shape, the shortest of the beauty categories:
What the top makeup quizzes have in common
- 5 questions, around 4.4 answer choices each
- A set or palette recommendation, not a single item. 79% of quizzes do this
- Typically 4 products on the results page
- Email gated before results in the top performers
- Picture questions for the visual signals (undertone, eye colour, shade)
Makeup quizzes are short because the match is mostly visual, a few well-chosen picture questions get there faster than a long interview.
How your quiz stacks up¶
Performance percentiles across all 121 cosmetics/makeup quizzes.
| Metric | Bottom 25% | Median | Top 25% | Top 10% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Completion rate | 71% | 74% | 99% | 100% |
| Conversion (quiz→order) | 2% | 6% | 13% | 23% |
| Revenue per completion | $0.78 | $3.84 | $9.27 | $20 |
| Average order value | $41 | $65 | $94 | $150 |
Completion is the makeup weak spot
Median completion is 74%, lower than skincare (88%) or haircare (97%). Makeup quizzes lose people mid-flow more often, usually to questions that are too long or shades that are hard to judge from text. Use picture choices for undertone, eye colour, and shade, and keep to ~5 questions. That's the cheapest completion win in this category.
The questions that matter¶
The most common questions in top makeup quizzes are overwhelmingly visual, they ask shoppers to recognise, not describe:
- What's your skin undertone? Warm, cool, neutral. The single highest-value question for a shade match.
- Select the eye colour closest to your own. A picture question that drives palette and shade recommendations.
- What's your go-to colour palette? Reads their taste, so the result feels chosen for them.
- What are you shopping for? Routes between face, eyes, lips before recommending.
- What does a typical day look like? Natural vs full glam changes the finish and coverage you recommend.
Every one maps to a product, a segment, or a message, the data-worth-collecting test. Lean on picture choice questions wherever the answer is something the shopper can see better than name.
Recommend a coordinated set¶
79% of makeup quizzes recommend a set, not a single product, and it makes sense: makeup is bought in looks. Once you know undertone and palette, you can recommend a coordinated face (base, eyes, lips) that works together.
- Use slots for the steps of a look and let the app rank each by the shopper's answers. See Set up recommendations and the bundles, kits & routines playbook.
- Keep the results page to about 4 products, the benchmark count, so the choice stays easy.
- Tie each pick to an answer ("this shade because your undertone is warm") to build confidence in the match.
Get the email right¶
Makeup quizzes are split on email, leaning toward not gating:
- 45% don't ask for an email · 37% gate it before results · 18% make it optional.
- That reflects a more impulse-led, lower-AOV category (median order $65) where completion is already fragile and merchants are wary of adding friction.
The makeup default
Because completion is the soft spot here, lead with optional email rather than a hard gate: you still capture a large share of finishers, without scaring off the shoppers you're already struggling to keep through to the result. Whatever you choose, send the shade-match result by email so the look is one tap from cart later, connect Klaviyo.
What the top and bottom quizzes look like¶
📈 Best in class
A makeup store (~768 responses/180d) runs a longer, 18-question quiz with branching and a gated email, recommending a set. The result: $26 revenue per completion, 27% conversion, 100% completion. Proof that a long quiz can work, but only when branching keeps each shopper's path short and every answer is mapped.
📉 What kills a makeup quiz
A makeup store (~567 responses/180d) runs a 21-question quiz that gates the email before any result. Conversion: 0%. Two problems compound: it's too long, and it demands an email before delivering value. Shorten toward 5 questions and show the match first.
Turn shade data into repeat revenue¶
Undertone and palette are durable segments, they don't change between purchases:
- Tag undertone, palette, and finish so each shopper becomes a reusable segment.
- Convert and retain by emailing new shades and limited drops in their exact tones, a personal pull, not a blast.
- Sharpen your ads by targeting each colour segment with products made for them.
88% of makeup quiz traffic is mobile, the highest of any beauty category, so picture questions and big tap targets aren't optional.
Do / Don't¶
- Do use picture questions for undertone, eye colour, and shade. The match is visual, and it's the biggest completion lever in this category.
- Do keep it to ~5 questions, the shortest benchmark in beauty, to protect the soft 74% completion rate.
- Do recommend a coordinated set of ~4 products. 79% of quizzes do, and looks sell better than singles.
- Don't gate the email before delivering the match. With completion already fragile, a hard gate is what produces 0% conversion.
- Don't stretch past a handful of questions unless branching keeps each path short, as the best-in-class example does.
Templates & setup¶
- Quiz templates by industry, including shade-finder and colour-match starting points
- Question types, set up picture choice questions
- Set up recommendations to build a coordinated look
- Plan a personality quiz for a "find your colour season" hook
Frequently asked questions¶
What questions should a makeup quiz ask?¶
Skin undertone, eye colour, go-to palette, what they're shopping for, and their everyday look. Make the visual ones (undertone, eye colour, shade) picture questions. Keep it to about 5 questions.
Why is my makeup quiz losing people halfway?¶
Median makeup completion is only 74%, usually because questions are too long or shades are hard to judge from text. Switch visual questions to picture choices and cut the quiz toward 5 questions.
Should a makeup quiz recommend one product or a set?¶
A coordinated set, 79% of quizzes do. Once you know undertone and palette, recommend a face that works together (base, eyes, lips), about 4 products, each tied to an answer.
What's a good conversion rate for a makeup quiz?¶
The median is 6% (completion → order), the top 25% reach 13%, and the top 10% hit 23%. Fixing completion (picture questions, shorter quiz) is usually the fastest way to move it.
Where to go next: maximize each order with the bundles, kits & routines playbook →