Why Hailey Bieber's billion-dollar deal is about more than just beauty

Yahoo

2 days ago

This week, E.L.F. Beauty acquired model and mega influencer Hailey Bieber's beauty brand Rhode for $800 million in cash and stock, with another $200 million dependent on growth. Rhode, which launched just under three years ago and has just 10 products, reported net sales of $212 million at the end of March. Bieber will stay with Rhode as the chief creative officer and as a strategic adviser to both E.L.F. and Rhode.
The deal shocked much of the cosmetics world. Alexis Androulakis, a beauty industry veteran and one of the creators behind @thelipsticklesbians on TikTok, posted an incredulous video reacting to the sale. 'If you had told me that Rhode would be the first to sell out of all the brands on the docket for sale right now, I would have told you you're out of your mind.' The brands she is referring to, including Glow Recipe, Makeup by Mario, and One/Size, have been in the industry longer, are selling more products and, depending on your chosen metric, are more successful. Companies up for sale aside, Rhode is far from the only beauty line fronted by a celebrity. Rhode's success is due, in equal part, to celebrity, marketing and status.
From social media metrics alone, Bieber's influence is clear: some 55 million followers on Instagram and 15 million on TikTok. She is as true a celebrity as we have in 2025. She is married to a generation-defining pop star, has a gaggle of high-profile friends, stylist-curated fashion, and enough celebrity feuds and marriage issues to keep her relevant. Tarang Amin, the CEO of E.L.F. Beauty, told The New York Times that it was Bieber's influence and loyal, younger fan base that made Rhode so attractive. 'I have not seen another brand where there are communities waiting, or a pop-up event in L.A., willing to camp out overnight for 14 hours in line — not just for product, but to buy into the entire lifestyle.'
It should be mentioned that Rhode — and this deal — does not exist without Glossier, which the brand emulates in aesthetic and product. Founded in 2014 by Emily Weiss, Glossier was the beauty brand of the mid-2010s. Before it emerged, makeup trends tended heavier: cut-crease eye shadow looks and high-contrast contour made popular by Kim Kardashian and YouTube tutorials. Glossier's ethos, 'skin first, makeup second,' was almost shockingly antithetical at the time. None of the limited products initially offered, like the Perfecting Skin Tint, offered full or even buildable coverage.
Glossier felt both revolutionary and exclusionary enough to be aspirational. If you had acne, hyperpigmentation or rosacea, Glossier products where simply not for you. Like the 'clean girl' beauty trend, you could only be a Glossier girl if you already had perfect skin.
And thanks to that concept, centering the health of your skin and your so-called 'natural beauty' is commonplace in today's beauty market, including at Rhode, which sell-defines as a skin care company.
Weiss' marketing strategy, 'born from content; fueled by community,' quickly made her products status symbols as she pioneered influencer marketing. Tubes of Balm Dotcom lip balm and the pink plastic bubble pouches the products came in were intentionally displayed on brunch tablescapes and wellness posts all over Instagram. Instead of leaning into hard sells and traditional ad campaigns, Glossier centered the ever-online young woman consumer.
Bieber, incredibly social media literate with a lucrative awareness of her own influence, has made quick work of elevating Rhode products to status symbols and selling, as E.L.F.'s Amin said, a lifestyle. Whereas Glossier sold an idea, Bieber can sell that and something more material: the promise that buyers might achieve even a whiff of her very aspirational life.
One of her earliest examples of the power of her own influencer marketing was the Rhode Lip Case, a silicone iPhone case with a built-in slot to hold a Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment or Tint. A week or so after posting a selfie featuring the case and allowing acolytes to debate whether the phone case would ever be available to the public, it launched on the Rhode website for $38, including a lip gloss. Bieber has since posted numerous selfies with different colored glosses, all with a similar effect: sales, and lots of them.
Part of the E.L.F. Beauty deal includes a partnership with Sephora, which will make this the first time Rhode products will consistently be available in stores. For beauty brands, an in at Sephora is huge — although it doesn't mean you've made it. Bieber has deliberately limited Rhode's brick-and-mortar exposure, with one of her most successful pop-ups to date her Coachella photo booth. Branded with both Rhode and Kendall Jenner's 818 Tequila logos, the booth allowed patrons to walk away with strips of well-lit photos, a small bottle of tequila and their choice of a Rhode lip product. According to Shop Drop Dail, a website that covers branded concepts, the photo booth 'quickly became one of the most talked-about experiences of the festival, generating over 2.5 million impressions on social media.' It's a true indicator of Bieber's success in employing gentle exclusivity and perceived closeness to celebrity to sell her products.
I had a dermatologist friend once advise me never to use makeup or skin care by a brand that also makes handbags. I've applied the same mandate to celebrity lines. I've only ever tired Rhode's Glazing Milk, a watery pre-makeup layer that claims to provide hydration, and a swipe of a co-worker's Lip Tint. They were both fine, but I didn't buy them after that limited exposure.
But even if Rhode didn't end up replacing legacy products that I've long pledged allegiance to, I am still very much aware of the brand. That is what is most remarkable. Bieber should be commended, not for Rhode's products, but for her ability to capture the zeitgeist, burst through a deeply saturated market, and surpass even other celebrity-fronted brands. I'm open to Rhode, but for now, I'll probably stick with what I've got.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com