Beauty doesn't come cheap. A single Bobbi Brown powder brush retails for $60, while a set of six “essential” brushes will set you back $185. Kevyn Aucoin's 14-brush collection, beloved by beauty editors, sells at Barneys New York for a cool $650.

Then there's the EcoTools line from Gurnee-based Paris Presents Inc. The brushes would look right at home behind a counter at Bloomingdale's but go for as little as $4 at mass merchants such as Walgreens, CVS and Ulta. And while the goods are a step down or two in quality, employing synthetic bristles rather than animal hair, they sell. Last year the north suburban company posted a 35 percent increase in annual revenue, which now tops an estimated $100 million.

Among consumer packaged goods companies in the U.S., Paris Presents is the second-fastest-growing with sales between $100 million and $1 billion, according to a new study by Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. and Boston Consulting Group. (No. 1 is New York-based fruit-and-nut bar company Kind LLC, based on sales and market share growth.)

“We have a good pipeline of new products, and we're investing extensively in marketing around education,” says CEO Patrick O'Brien, 55, a three-decade veteran of S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. who joined Paris Presents in 2012. He declines to provide exact revenue figures.

By investment in education, Mr. O'Brien is referring largely to Paris Presents' partnership with a pair of popular British beauty bloggers, Samantha and Nicola Chapman. The sister act began posting video tutorials from their living rooms in 2008. Their YouTube channel, Pixiwoo, has been viewed almost 200 million times. Recognizing the skyrocketing influence of self-made YouTube makeup experts, Paris Presents approached them to create a line of brushes.

Since launching in 2011 with 10 products, the 30-something sisters' Real Techniques has expanded to 18 brushes and brush sets and become Paris Presents' fastest-growing division. Real Techniques' website features dozens of videos, ranging from “contouring 101” to something called an “iconic Madonna” makeup tutorial—all created with the line's brightly colored, aluminum-handled brushes, which cost between $6 and $13.

Under Mr. O'Brien (at right), the company also refreshed its long-standing EcoTools brand last year to look higher-end and more natural, with bamboo handles similar to those sold by prestige brands. Sales have increased 50 percent since then. Another potential hit: a “skin perfecting” EcoTools brush that made its debut in January at $8. The angled tool purports to apply tinted moisturizers known as beauty balms better than fingers.

“Paris Presents seems to have cracked the code pretty well” by boosting sales from existing products while adding new ones, says Dan Wald, a partner at Boston Consulting Group who studied the company. “They're getting a lot of awareness from digital marketing, and (Mr. O'Brien) has brought some extreme focus and strong marketing execution.”

Founded in Chicago in 1947 as a general distributor to drugstores, department stores and hospital gift shops, Paris Presents narrowed its focus to cosmetics accessories and bath items a decade ago. By then, women had begun moving up from cheap plastic compacts with sponge applicators to pricey makeup brushes, says Stacey Roney, a former cosmetics buyer for Nordstrom Inc. and co-founder of Chicago-based online magazine Glossed and Found. “Women realized they could achieve more even coverage and a far more polished look with the proper tools.”

Paris Presents has 100 employees and a 200,000-square-foot warehouse at its headquarters. In addition to EcoTools and Real Techniques, the company owns Body Benefits by Body Image, a line of loofahs and exfoliating shower gloves, along with several private-label brands. Products are sold in more than 50,000 stores in 55 countries. Mr. O'Brien wants to double its sales. To that end, he says he's looking to expand in Europe and sees a huge opportunity in Asia as well.