Recently, it feels like you can’t scroll through TikTok or Instagram without seeing another influencer launch a brand!Â
From skin care and beauty to clothing, the lines between personal content and product promotion have never been blurrier. From starting as casual recommendations from our favourite online personas has become a new era where influencers are no longer selling on behalf of brandsâŠ. they have become the brands.Â
Looking back at my first experience of influencers, a successful influencer worked for brand deals, or even better, being able to offer your viewers a discount code. Fast forward to today, and many influencers are skipping the middleman completely. Why would they sell on behalf of someone when they can sell to their own audience for themselves? We’ve seen people such as Emma Chamberlain create her own personal coffee company, Chamberlain Coffee, while the Kardashians have released everything from lingerie to supplements.Â
Ireland hasn’t missed the memo either. Look at Keilidh Cashell, whose brand Kash Beauty grew from simple TikTok tutorials to an internationally stocked company. The Smooth Company, founded by Irish influencer Aideen Kate Murphy, which has taken TikTok by storm with its signature Smooth Stick. The product quickly went viral for its ability to tame flyaways and frizz, proving that Irish influencers arenât just keeping up with international trends, they are setting them.Â
What’s amazing is that these brands succeed not just because of their products, but because followers already trust the person behind them. Itâs less about buying a tool or lipstick but more about buying into an influencer’s lifestyle, aesthetic, and story.Â
Why these products are selling is simple; influencers feel as if they are friends, and they share so much of their lives with us online. When your âfriendâ launches a lipstick or hair product, buying it almost feels personal⊠as if you are supporting them directly. But this intimacy is also what makes influencer brands so effective at driving consumerism. For young people scrolling on TikTok, itâs nearly impossible to avoid. Every GRWM, tutorial, or âfavourite productsâ videos are full of product promotion. The result? Shopping starts to feel less like a choice and more like a natural extension of content consumption. This blurring of entertainment and advertising makes it easier to justify purchases, even when we donât really need them.Â
On Irish TikTok, influencer-led brands have become part of the everyday feed. Whatâs striking is how normalised the trend has become. Success online doesnât just mean gaining followers anymore; it often looks like launching a business. For some, thatâs inspiring, proof that creators can turn their passions into careers. But for audiences, it means being constantly surrounded by sales pitches dressed up as relatable content. This shift has consequences. It fuels a culture of consumerism where ânewâ is always better and the next drop is impossible to miss out on. For students or young people, the pressure to keep up can mean spending money on products that gather dust after the initial hype fades away.Â
This doesnât mean that influencer brands are inherently bad. Many, like KASH Beauty or The Smooth Company, have earned loyal followings with genuinely innovative products. They also create opportunities – especially for young women – to become entrepreneurs in industries that can be difficult to break into. The problem lies in the saturation. With so many influencers launching brands, the space can feel overwhelming, leaving audiences questioning whether content exists to entertain or simply sell. When every other post is tied to a product line, it risks turning the online world into one giant shop.Â
The rise of influencer brands tells us a lot about how consumer culture has shifted in the digital age. The trust and relatability that once made influencers appealing is now the backbone of entire companies. For Irish TikTok, especially, it has reshaped both what influencers aspire to and how audiences experience content.Â
The question now is whether followers will keep buying in or will they eventually become tired. If every influencer is a brand, then every scroll risks becoming a sales pitch. And at a certain point, even the most loyal audiences might put their wallets away.Â