“Phlur is online only, and allows you to try its unisex fragrances at home so you can smell how they develop on your skin over the day. It claims to offer a product on par with the niche, high-end labels you find at upscale shops such as Barney’s New York—only much cheaper.” Read more at Quartz.
Read More“Whereas older generations of consumers pledged loyalty to one or two department store beauty counters, today's young women are comfortable going on Sephora.com to purchase a product they only just learned about from a YouTube vlogger. Now, a group of savvy entrepreneurs is taking advantage of this evolving landscape by launching direct-to-consumer beauty and grooming brands like Glossier, Stowaway, Bevel, Onomie and Context (to name just a few) that speak to the millennial consumer.” Read more at Adweek.
Read More“The beauty retailer is kicking off a new program this year called Sephora Accelerate, which will put 10 early-stage start-ups through a bootcamp at its San Francisco headquarters, provide them with mentorship and give them a stage to present at a demo day in August.” Read more at Fashionista.com.
Read More“The new kids on the beauty block are affordable, pretty, and very effective. From a beauty-editor-curated line to a debut collection massive enough to stock an entire Sephora, the newest brand launches are armed with an insider’s pedigree tuned to cater to the most discerning costumer. Who are they? Continue below for a primer on the best brands to check out this Fall and what you should buy from each one.” Read more at NYMag.com.
Read More“In a world where start-ups are gaining notoriety by quickly capitalizing on the idea of new innovation and technology, entrepreneur Vicky Tsai has built a multimillion dollar brand doing the exact opposite. Tsai is founder of San Francisco-based Tatcha, a luxury skin-care line based not on new trends, but on centuries-old geisha culture and tradition from Japan. She was ranked No. 21 on Inc. magazine’s Inc. 5000 List for 2015. The list features the fastest-growing private companies in America.” Read more at CNBC.com.
Read More“‘We always bit off a lot,’ says Birchbox co-founder and CEO Katia Beauchamp, sitting in a conference room at the startup’s Manhattan headquarters with a fistful of eye and lip pencils spread within arm’s reach. These were the fruits of Birchbox’s latest self-assigned challenge: developing and selling its own color cosmetics. The goods, some of which are live on Birchbox’s site now, are branded under the name Love of Color.” Read more at Fashionista.com.
Read More“For decades, the beauty industry has been run by a handful of large, publicly-traded behemoths. In recent years, women entrepreneurs have started modern, tech-enabled companies aimed at filling gaps in a market that’s both enormous — worth $60 billion a year in the U.S. — and staid. They’re making inroads: Lauren Remington Platt’s on-demand hair and makeup company Vênsette, Melody McCloskey’s appointment booking firm StyleSeat and Emily Weiss’s thoroughly modern cosmetics startup Glossier have raised well over $50 million between them.” Read more at Forbes.
Read More“This September, Birchbox is 5 years old. And in the last 5 years, it’s grown exponentially: the company has raised over $70 million in funding, operates in six countries, has nearly 300 employees, over 800 brand partners, and nearly a million subscribers. Yet in Birchbox’s initial years, it wasn’t such a straight shot to success. A number of companies (i.e. Ipsy, Glossybox) emerged, offering similar beauty boxes in the mail — all with a similar selection of samples from top brands.” Read more at Forbes.
Read More“Move over Mary Kay. There’s a new and more hip, direct beauty seller in town. Model, talk show host and entrepreneur Tyra Banks is expanding a test of direct selling for Tyra Beauty. This week, Banks is opening up enrollment for what she calls ‘Beautytainers’ to sell the line of face, lip and eye products. This follows a successful beta test that started with 200 representatives in March and has swelled to more than 1,000 during the pre-launch period.” Read more at WWD.
Read More“The range contains 17 skin care products — cleansers, a facial mist, moisturizers, wipes, etc. — and a whopping 66 makeup products, including foundations. The most expensive item, the moisturizer, rings up at $34. Honest Beauty offers every single product a self-respecting beauty line needs to have these days: a do-everything balm, lip crayons, things inspired by Asian beauty products (like a fantastic powder cleanser in single-serve packets and a konjac sponge), fluid facial sunscreens, a lash primer/mascara combo and a face primer that works well under makeup or on its own.” Read more at Fashionista.com.
Read More“When Into The Gloss blogger Emily Weiss launched Glossier, her digital-first beauty brand, last October, she knew she wanted to ground the business in feedback from consumers. Over the past year, Weiss has gleaned plenty of insights — from Instagram comments, emails and online surveys — that she has been able to leverage as she develops her brand, product offering and customer experience. Take, for instance, consumers living outside of the US, who were unable to order products. ‘The number one question we get is about international shipping,” Weiss says. “It pained me.’” Read more at Business of Fashion.
Read More“Just over two years ago, an Australian e-commerce company called Frank Body developed an entire line of skincare products that include coffee as a primary ingredient. As buzz about the brand spread around the world through Instagram and Facebook, Americans began flocking to buy Frank Body scrubs and balms; today, the U.S. is Frank Body’s biggest market. The company says it is on track to make $21 million in sales this year, up from $2.8 million two years ago.” Read more at Fast Company.
Read More“Manuel, who got his start as a makeup artist, was hands-on in developing the products in his custom range, which was manufactured in Italy. He said he was in the room working with lab technicians in developing the products. The most enjoyable part of the process was in developing unique formulations for the line, most notably a foundation resembling a loose powder which transforms into liquid, Manuel said.” Read more at CTV.
Read More“When a story about the startup Glambot—a company that sells used makeup—popped up yesterday, the reactions from our team were a mix of disbelief and disgust, ranging from ‘EW. NO.’ to ‘How is that even legal?’ To give you some background, Glambot is a service that will take your used makeup—be it a half-full eyeshadow you got sick of or an untouched foundation that was the wrong shade and you were just too lazy to take back to Sephora—sanitize it, repackage it in a cute, vaguely tech-inspired container, and then sell it at a discount.” Read more at Refinery29.
Read More“When it comes to girl bosses, it doesn’t get much more bossy (in that good, Beyonce-condoned way) than Emily Weiss, who, with Into the Gloss, pretty much informed every beauty cabinet decision made post-2010, and then gave us exactly what we needed with Glossier’s must-have products (we’ll never use another primer again, btw).” Read more at The Coveteur.
Read More“Date perfumes before marrying them. That’s the motto of Scentbird, a digitally driven, New York-based fragrance-sampling brand that recognizes—and feeds—millennial women’s constant need for newness and change. The company gives subscribers a quiz and then for $14.95, sends a month’s supply of a designer perfume curated for their tastes, mood and occasion.” Read more at Observer.com.
Read More“After years as the top global direct sales company, Avon slipped out of that spot in 2014. So, are we looking at the end of the era in which women purchased beauty products from friends and neighbors who sold door-to-door? Not necessarily. There are a number of young, upstart companies that are trying to succeed using the Avon model—albeit with modern twists such as selling via social media.” Read more at Fortune.
Read More“‘What is Rob Lowe’s secret’ is a sort of Hollywood parlor game, and now he’s finally spilling it: it’s, uh...a tasteful line of Rob Lowe-developed skincare products? File this under strange but true: for the last six years, he’s worked behind the scenes on Profile4Men, a set of five cleansers, serums, and shaving goops out this month.” Read more at GQ.
Read More“Beauty sampling company Ipsy—owned by YouTube vlogger success Michelle Phan—has reached a million subscribers, surpassing Birchbox’s 800,000 as of April 2014. For $10 a month subscribers will receive glam bags curated with a selection of beauty samples from Ipsy partners: Bobbi Brown, NYX, Clinique, Too Faced, Make Up For Ever, and Elizabeth Arden among others.” Read more at L2.
Read More“When you think of the founder and CEO of fashion’s most respected beauty site, a studio art major with only $700 to spare probably isn’t the first person who comes to mind. Then again, Emily Weiss is not most people.” Read more at The Huffington Post.
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