Latest news with #Beautycounter
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Bankrupt beauty brand to return after $1 billion collapse
As a 31-year-old, I'm starting to enter that grey area when it comes to skincare. The products aimed at my age group either promise to preserve a youthful glow or boldly market anti-aging claims that don't always land. And as I glance ahead to my mid-30s and beyond, I'm noticing how few brands really speak to women in this phase of life. Related: The Birkin and LL Bean mashup you didn't know you needed That's why one particular comeback caught my eye. A beauty brand that once held a $1 billion valuation - before it abruptly collapsed into bankruptcy - is making a return this summer. But it won't be the same brand you remember. Its founder is bringing it back with a bold new focus: women 35 and up. And this time, the mission feels personal. For women like me, caught between skincare marketing aimed at 20-somethings and older demographics, that mission is worth watching. According to Beauty Independent, the company formerly known as Beautycounter will officially relaunch on June 25 - this time, simply as Counter. Founder and CEO Gregg Renfrew, who bought the brand's assets out of bankruptcy last year, is rolling out a soft launch this summer, with a bigger public push planned in the fall. "We're going to do it with respect and with a high level of humility," Renfrew said at a recent event. The new Counter lineup will feature about 50 products (down from 245), focused on clean skincare products and makeup. Gone (for now) are the mass retail partnerships with Ulta and Target. Counter is doubling down on direct-to-consumer, with a flagship store in Nantucket and more branded locations planned. It will also revive its community-based selling model, this time branded as "brand partners." Related: Sephora unveils new brand partnership Gen Z will love "As a woman in her fifties, we are largely ignored, yet we have the spending power," Renfrew said. The goal: make Counter the go-to brand for women 35+, a group often overlooked in the beauty industry. But this comeback isn't just about targeting an underserved age group. It's about raising the bar for clean beauty and how beauty brands do business. "We've always talked about making the impossible possible," Renfrew said. "The whole essence of us was going counter to industry norms, counter to how people always do business." That means a renewed focus on transparency and higher standards, especially as "clean beauty" has become a crowded, sometimes murky space. Counter's comeback is about more than a new name and a smaller product lineup. It's about applying the hard lessons learned from Beautycounter's spectacular rise and fall in the beauty industry. Founded in 2013 to lead the clean beauty movement, Beautycounter built a cult following with its "Never List" - an evolving list of banned ingredients linked to health risks. But after private equity giant Carlyle Group acquired the brand for $1 billion in 2021, the business faltered. A controversial compensation shift alienated many sales reps. A deal with Ulta meant to broaden the brand's reach ultimately undercut its core community-driven model. By April 2024, Beautycounter had entered foreclosure. Renfrew's effort to reacquire the brand wasn't just about nostalgia; it was about giving the company a second chance to do things differently. Now, she's betting on a leaner assortment, a sharper audience focus, and a more sustainable retail strategy. And with clean beauty now mainstream, Counter aims to raise the bar. "Our opportunity is to go in and set the standards, educate people on the standards, and hold ourselves accountable," Renfrew said. For an underserved group of beauty consumers, Counter's return might be the shift they've been waiting for. Related: Steve Madden files wild lawsuit against Adidas The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Business of Fashion
01-06-2025
- Business
- Business of Fashion
Beautycounter Set to Return With New Name and Look
On hiatus for over a year, Beautycounter is making its comeback. The multilevel marketing brand's relaunch is slated for June 25 after it was purchased by founder Gregg Renfrew out of foreclosure in April 2024 with investors from the firm G2G. Renamed Counter, the beauty label will have a new design with updated formulations on original best-selling products. While details on its business model remain scarce, the sales structure will take on an updated format called 'community commerce,' according to a representative for the brand. A pioneer in the clean beauty movement, Beautycounter was acquired by private equity firm Carlyle Group in 2021 with a $1 billion valuation. But by 2024, it closed after a 2023 launch at Ulta Beauty left its legion of over 60,000 direct sellers disillusioned with the increased competition from a major retailer. The brand's return, originally slated for May 2024, will include a lineup of 50 products with new formulations of original best-sellers including its vitamin C serum, Countertime serum and Dew Skin tinted moisturiser. ADVERTISEMENT Counter will not have any retailer partners and it does not have any concrete reopening plans for its former seasonal pop-up store in Nantucket, according to the representative. Learn more: Beautycounter's Biggest Obstacle to a Relaunch: Its Own Salespeople In 2021, the pioneering clean beauty brand sold for $1 billion. Three years later, it was bought out of foreclosure by its founder, without a clear timeline for relaunching.
Los Angeles Times
18-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Is ‘Waterless' the Next Big Thing in Clean Beauty?
The beauty industry relies heavily on water, with traditional skincare products containing up to 90% water as a filler Waterless beauty is currently the fastest-growing segment within the beauty industry and is expected to grow to 17.21 billion U.S. dollars by 2028, according to Grand View Research. Santa Monica-based Olive Tree People is pioneering the waterless beauty movement as the fastest-growing waterless beauty brand in the U.S. – outperforming clean beauty brands like Beautycounter by growing 600% faster in its second year and popular celebrity beauty brands like JLO Beauty by Jennifer Lopez (which averages sales of $75 million per year compared to Olive Tree People's $105 million in their second year). In a world that is still learning what exactly waterless beauty is, Olive Tree People strives to educate – leading to more than 50,000 women joining the brand as waterless beauty consultants to educate the 168.6 million women in the U.S. on the beauty choices they are making. If a formula contains water as its first ingredient, it comes with preservatives and filler oils. That's why waterless beauty is the way forward – and compared to other waterless beauty brands, Olive Tree People is a true pioneer. Rather than focusing on solid or solely oil-based product formulations like other waterless brands, Olive Tree People is leading the next chapter in clean beauty by replacing water with its potent formulations powered by liquid olive leaf extract and hydroxytyrosol – a groundbreaking antioxidant that replaces the water phase in skincare. Founded by olive tree farmer and entrepreneur Thomas Lommel, Olive Tree People cultivates and eco-certifies wild mountain olive trees to produce its exclusive Holistic Beauty Molecule (hydroxytyrosol), delivering skincare that is 70% more effective than conventional water-based products. This globally unique Holistic Beauty Molecule, which is only found indigenously in their mountain olive trees, replaces 100% of the 70% water phase that is otherwise common in skin care products. This commitment goes beyond sustainability – it's a necessity for the future of beauty. Olive Tree People started its mission with a holistic methodology it coined as 'Beautiful Cycle,' which is also the messaging behind the company's slogan 'From Tree to Beauty.' As well as transforming skincare, Olive Tree People is actively addressing global water scarcity through its OLIVEDA for Africa initiative as the last stage in the Beautiful Cycle. The brand's Beautiful Cycle mission starts with acquiring land with wild mountain olive trees, which are then cultivated and eco-certified. These trees then supply the unique Holistic Beauty Molecule (hydroxytyrosol) found in the olive leaf extract, which can protect the cells of the trees for up to 4,000 years and has wonderful antioxidant benefits for humans. This Beauty Molecule replaces the 70% water found in conventional beauty products, making them 70% more efficient. The water not used in products is brought to the people of Africa by building water wells in an effort to counteract the 4.4 billion people globally who have no access to clean drinking water, according to the latest statistics reported by Deutsche Welle. For every 100 hectares of olive trees grown in Spain, Olive Tree People funds the construction of a well in Africa – providing clean water to over 15,000 residents in Senegal and beyond. With 31,000 eco-certified olive trees thriving on OLIVEDA land, this initiative has provided clean water access to around 15,000 residents across Senegal and other nations. More than a philosophical trend, Olive Tree People has recently opened its first flagship store in Venice. Its newly opened flagship store in the U.S. is setting new standards by creating a world of experience that is unique worldwide. It brings the history of the Olive Tree People's brands – OLIVEDA, LA Dope, Olive Rose, Olive Mush, Is That Matty and Olive: Reconnected – to life, as well as the life-changing power of olive trees, around the legendary Olive Tree House of Oliveda founder Lommel. 'We are not only Waterless Beauty but also the first company to work with the frequencies of our wild mountain olive trees in Spain and make them accessible to everyone worldwide,' said Lommel. 'For the first time in history, our flagship store at 1335 Abbot Kinney in Venice will offer visitors a unique opportunity to step inside a 3,000-year-old mountain olive tree and experience what it feels like to be one with nature again while simultaneously reconnecting with its unique nature and thus connecting with the infinite life force of Mother Nature.' Another important part of the flagship store, according to Lommel, will be to make the holistic cycle that has been practiced for 21 years tangible. 'This is in order to understand that Olive Tree People – through its more than 50,000 waterless beauty consultants in the U.S. – wants to educate 168.6 million women on the difference between conventional and waterless beauty,' said Lommel. 'The holistic cycle explains that we replace the 70% water found in conventional products with the power of our mountain olive tree cell elixir and the polyphenol hydroxytyrosol it contains. We replace the mostly refined oils with our bioactive Arbequina oil. Additionally, for over 21 years, we have been the largest nature conservationists in the region, protecting more than 31,000 ancient mountain olive trees – reviving them and receiving from them what we need to make waterless beauty a reality. Since 2013, we have been bringing the water that we do not process in our mountain olive trees to the people in Africa by building our own water wells on-site.' With water scarcity on the rise, Olive Tree People is leading the charge in a waterless beauty revolution, proving that skincare can be both high performance and planet friendly.
