DOMINIQUECreative market read · by Shaanks · September 2026

Creative market read

There's more room for Dominique's ads, and it starts under the eye.

This is a map, not an audit. We watched the 8 ads selling Dominique products on your two pages (live on 19 September), read 593 reviews from your site, and studied three bigger makeup brands. Then we wrote five angles and a plan that runs to Black Friday.

8ads of yours, watched
593reviews read
3bigger brands studied
5angles to test

01 · What was live on 19 September

On 19 September, your ads were selling brows and the Juicy Balm.

These are the 8 ads selling Dominique products on 19 September, across the Dominique page and Christen's page. Tap any one to play it.

Play
Brow Frame Pencil · Dominique pageThe pencil shades fanned out to camera.
Play
Brow pencil + gel · Dominique page“How to: eyebrow makeup.”
Play
Brow pencil + gel · Christen's page“Brows change your face!”
Play
Brow pencil + gel · Christen's page“Brows change your face!”
Play
Brow pencil + gel · Christen's page“Brow surgery with makeup.”
Play
Juicy Balm · Dominique pageA glam portrait with the balm on its charm.
Play
Juicy Balm · Dominique pageThe tubes, shot as a launch.
Play
Juicy Balm · Dominique pageThe shades held up in front of the Dominique sign.

Brow is the lane you already own.

Reviews that talk about brows82 of 593
Reviews that talk about the under-eyeat least 42 of 593

In the 593 reviews we read (the newest on each product), 82 talk about brows and at least 42 about the under-eye.

Your site says the same.

Brow Frame Pencil837 reviews
Wide Awake concealer397 reviews

On dominique.com the Brow Frame Pencil carried 837 reviews and the Wide Awake concealer 397 on 19 September. Brows keep running. This page is about what sits next to them.

All 8 went live between 10 and 13 September, and all 8 are videos. Each idea lives in one video, so when an ad holds, it tells you the video worked. A still or a short cut of the same idea, from footage you already have, tells you whether the idea did.

We can only see what was live on your two pages. Ads that ran before 10 September, or on another page or account, may not show up from outside. If you've tried something before, we'd start the call there.

Brows may well deserve the biggest share of the budget. Nothing on this page asks you to move money away from them.

02 · The bigger brands

Three bigger makeup brands, read by the creative.

We read the pictures, not the captions: 37 of Huda Beauty's live ads, 39 of Makeup by Mario's and 43 of Rare Beauty's, catalogue ads left out. Here is a taste of how each one sells.

Huda Beauty37 of its live ads read

Huda Beauty films the work being done on camera, and puts its claims through tests you can watch.

Huda Beauty ad: Lip liner put to the test under a slice of pizza.
Huda BeautyLip liner put to the test under a slice of pizza.
Huda Beauty ad: Each new lip shade shown with the lip oil it pairs with.
Huda BeautyEach new lip shade shown with the lip oil it pairs with.
Makeup by Mario39 of its live ads read

Mario sells technique. The product arrives as the tool, and colour is shown on more than one skin tone.

Makeup by Mario ad: A new cream shadow on two very different faces.
Makeup by MarioA new cream shadow on two very different faces.
Makeup by Mario ad: Every shade swatched on three skin tones, each one named.
Makeup by MarioEvery shade swatched on three skin tones, each one named.
Makeup by Mario ad: The shadow tubes under water droplets.
Makeup by MarioThe shadow tubes under water droplets.
Rare Beauty43 of its live ads read

Rare keeps it clean: product sets on a flat colour, and the offer designed into the picture.

Rare Beauty ad: Lip oil and liner laid out as a pair.
Rare BeautyLip oil and liner laid out as a pair.
Rare Beauty ad: A new fragrance, shot as a campaign.
Rare BeautyA new fragrance, shot as a campaign.
Rare Beauty ad: A first-order discount, printed in the picture.
Rare BeautyA first-order discount, printed in the picture.

One thing all three share: next to their videos, they run still pictures (in the ads we read, catalogue ads left out). Your 8 on 19 September were all video.

03 · What holds across them

Three patterns we saw more than once.

All from ads that are still running. Running tells you an ad survived, not that it won, so read these as patterns, not rankings.

01

The job done by hand, on camera.

What we saw

Of the 37 Huda Beauty ads we read (catalogue ads left out), at least 5 different ones show the under-eye being worked on, on one face. Mario is filmed applying on a model, eyes on the work.

Why it works

It teaches. The viewer learns a move and the product shows up as the tool for it, which lowers the fear that it only works for a pro.

For Dominique

Christen already does this on brows. The same format, pointed at a new job, is the shortest step on this page.

Huda Beauty ad: An under-eye being set, on camera.
Huda BeautyAn under-eye being set, on camera.
Huda Beauty ad: “Perfect undereye snatch”, talked through on camera.
Huda Beauty“Perfect undereye snatch”, talked through on camera.
Video
Makeup by MarioMario at work on a model.
02

One zone, before and after, in the same frame.

What we saw

The ads leave part of the face undone so you can see exactly what changed, and name the steps.

Why it works

Both states sit on one face. There is no cut to trust and no lighting to doubt.

For Dominique

The under-eye is one zone, so it suits this format. Angle A1 below is built on it. One of Christen's brow films already opens on one brow filled and one not yet (“Look at the difference”). A3 brings that frame back as the last shot, so the film ends on the change it opened with.

Video
Huda Beauty“Look at that difference.” One under-eye done, step by step.
Huda Beauty ad: Working the under-eye with a sponge, on camera.
Huda BeautyWorking the under-eye with a sponge, on camera.
Huda Beauty ad: The steps, shown on one face.
Huda BeautyThe steps, shown on one face.
03

The offer designed into the picture.

What we saw

Rare puts a free deluxe sample, or a first-order discount, inside the artwork itself, not only in the caption.

Why it works

Someone who has seen the brand but never bought gets a reason in one glance. A sample of a hero product also sets up the next order.

For Dominique

Worth holding for Black Friday, with a set instead of a percentage (section 07).

Rare Beauty ad: A free blush sample, circled in the picture.
Rare BeautyA free blush sample, circled in the picture.
Rare Beauty ad: The discount as a badge on the set.
Rare BeautyThe discount as a badge on the set.
Rare Beauty ad: The same gift, in story format.
Rare BeautyThe same gift, in story format.

04 · The opening

The room is under the eye.

at least 42 of 593

of the reviews we read name the under-eye, across your concealer, powder and bronzer.

It's the job in Christen's own story. One of the bigger brands was running ads on it on 19 September: Huda Beauty's under-eye films. In a search of live ads for "wide awake concealer" on 19 September, Jones Road was running ads for its own Wide Awake line.

None of the 8 ads selling Dominique products on 19 September is about the under-eye. That's the room, and the clearest next ad for Black Friday.

Your customers write about it. Everything it needs is already yours: the concealer, your customers' words, and the tutorial format Christen uses on brows.

We only pulled your two pages. If a retailer or a creator runs under-eye ads for Dominique, we haven't seen them. And if under-eye ads ran before 10 September and were switched off, we'd ask you about that on the call.

On dominique.com, the concealer drew 23 reviews in the 12 months to 19 September. If concealer demand has slowed, that changes where we'd start, so we'd ask about it on the call too.

On your About page, Christen writes that her under-eye circles were the insecurity she grew up with, and that her mom's concealer is what changed it.

Dominique Wide Awake Full Cover Concealer
From dominique.comThe Wide Awake Full Cover Concealer.
Before and with Wide Awake, half the face, from dominique.com
From dominique.com: before, and with Wide Awake (half the face).

“Completely covers my under eye circles, and it makes me look so young”

A Dominique customer, on the Wide Awake concealer

“It covers my undereye dark circles and doesn't crease!”

A Dominique customer, on the Wide Awake concealer

“I’ve watched Christen and her application and choosing the right color. I’ve gotten so many compliments because it has really corrected under my eyes…”

A Dominique customer, on the Wide Awake concealer

“Love the look of this to brighten dark areas at the lower outside of the undereye areas.”

A Dominique customer, on the Smooth & Blur powder

05 · Five angles

Five angles to test.

Each one adds to what's already running. None of them replaces it.

Every angle comes in at least two shapes: a still, plus a video, a short cut or a swipe-through. When one idea holds up in two shapes, you know the idea is doing the work.

What we'd watch: which idea holds up across all its shapes after two weeks and after a month.

A1

Christen does her own under-eye

The format that already carries your brow ads, pointed at the job in her own story.

Sample hook

“As a teen I took my mom's concealer to school. Here's how I do my under-eyes now.”

What the creative shows

Christen, tutorial style, one eye done and one bare. Wide Awake concealer, then Smooth & Blur powder. Shot like her YouTube tutorials.

A2

Your customers' words on the under-eye

The reason to buy, said by someone who already did.

Sample hook

“Completely covers my under eye circles, and it makes me look so young.”

What the creative shows

The review in large type over a close-up of the concealer going on, credited to a Dominique customer.

This one needs no new filming from Christen.

A3

Brow tutorials, with a before and after ending

Keep the lane you already own. Give it a final frame that proves the change.

Sample hook

“Brows change your face. Here's the proof.”

What the creative shows

The brow films running on 19 September, ending on a split: one brow filled, one not yet, on the same face.

A4

Your shade, shown on real skin

Reassurance for the buyer stuck between two shades.

Sample hook

“See your shade on skin before you order.”

What the creative shows

Neighbouring concealer shades swatched on several skin tones, every shade named in the picture, the way Mario shows colour.

Built to send people on to your Wide Awake Shade Finder.

We don't know yet whether shade costs you orders. The concealer comes in 17 shades, and some reviews say the shade came out darker than it looked online. Your Shade Finder may already answer this, so A4 would test it against the product page.

A5

Black Friday: the look-awake set

Something new to buy in November, built from a collection you already sell.

Sample hook

“Everything for your under-eyes, in one set.”

What the creative shows

Concealer and powder shown as one set, the finished eye in the picture, the offer designed in. Built on the Dominique Wide Awake Collection bundle you already sell, shown as the Dominique Wide Awake set.

The Dominique Wide Awake set: concealer, powder and sponge.
From your Dominique Wide Awake Collection bundle pageThe Dominique Wide Awake set: concealer, powder and sponge.

07 · The road to Black Friday

What we'd put live, in what order.

Now to Oct 15

Open the under-eye

We'd start now. Christen's under-eye tutorial and your customers' words go live next to the brow ads. The brow films pick up their before and after ending.

Each idea goes out in at least two shapes, so each one gets a few tries before November. The brow ads also start sending people to your brow pencil and gel bundle page, so by November we know which page does more.

We can't see your budget, so we'd size each step to it.

A1A2A3

From mid-October

Follow up with shade

People who watched the under-eye ads see their shade on real skin. It answers a question shade buyers have before they order.

A4

From Nov 1

The Black Friday set

The set carries the offer. Whatever people stopped for in October becomes its opening frame.

The set would land on the Dominique Wide Awake Collection bundle page you've already built, so the ad and the page say the same thing. (On 19 September, 6 of the 8 ads linked to the homepage.)

You may already show offers to past visitors in ways we can't see from outside, and your homepage may convert well on the sale. Those are the first two things we'd ask you on the call.

A5

Why a set, and not another sale?

You ran the same offer at least 5 times between January and August 2026, per a public deal tracker. Anyone who shopped one of those sales has already seen it. A set gives Black Friday something new to say.

That's the read

If you want to go deeper on any of it, book a call here.

ShaanksSee our work