In the 1400s, God sent swarms of locusts, swarms of frogs, and a litany of lice to punish the people in what is now known as the Plagues of Egypt. In the 21st century, we have had our own plagues. The first was celebrity Scent: You might remember Beyoncé's Heat, Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely, Britney Spears' Fantasy – or one of the twenty individual variations that created the inevitable sweet smoke that enveloped every Boots and Superdrug.
Then came the apps. “The Jeremy Renner app is a must-have,” Jeremy Renner probably said. Then came the subscription services — mini-Goop imitations that let you sign up for updates on the inner workings of Khloe Kardashian and her growing hatred of gluten.
now this famous cosmetic brands. They are everywhere. They are omnipotent. It seems like there is something new coming out every month – and at one point, there was. Celebrity claws have become such in this sector that they now bleed everything from simple blushes and foundations to skincare (think Kylie Skin or SKKN by Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian respectively) and hair care (see: Cécred by Beyoncé and Fenty Hair by Rihanna).
But a lot of these brands are really good. Fenty beauty has become a cosmetics giant (much to the dismay of those who wanted new music from Bad Gal RiRi) and has successfully raised the bar for diverse shade ranges at beauty brands around the world. Florence by Mills, the brainchild of Millie Bobby Brown, is a huge hit with TikTok teens, and Kylie Cosmetics turned Kylie Jenner from Instagram celebrity to near-billionaire.
But not all of them succeed. Some of them are left to gather dust or close down altogether. Let's see which ones broke the mold and which ones were left behind.
1. Thrive: Fenty Beauty
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In 2023, Rihanna's Fenty Beauty was confirmed as the crown jewel of celebrity beauty brands, becoming the highest-grossing celebrity beauty brand of the year, generating £477 million in revenue. In 2023, celebrity beauty brands are estimated to generate over $1 billion in sales, according to NIQ's trend forecast, with Rihanna's revenue making a significant contribution to that total.
The singer was one of the first celebrities to enter the market, launching her beauty business in September 2017. Her success is widely seen as the impetus for an endless stream of other celebrities launching their own brands.
Beauty J.Lo
What a terrible year for Jennifer Lopez. Poor ticket sales and a disastrous album would have been bad enough, but then rumors started swirling around J.Lo and her newly rekindled beau Ben Affleck that she was breaking up. And to top it all off, she was photographed flying coach!
No, but seriously, adding insult to injury was the fall of JLo beauty, a venture so unsuccessful that it was pulled from Sephora earlier this year after being photographed literally collecting dust. Between the 2014-style branding, the questionable USP of olive oil, and a pandemic-era launch, it just didn’t take off.
3. Prosperity: Kylie Cosmetics
Kylie Cosmetics
Remember how I said Rihanna was one of the first? You may not remember, but RiRi actually preceded Kylie Jenner, who launched Kylie Cosmetics back in November 2015. The launch received a ton of publicity due to Jenner’s duplicity about her lip fillers — something she initially denied but later admitted to. Between the conspiracy and the viral “Kylie Jenner lip challenge” trend, it created the perfect PR storm.
Since then, Kylie Cosmetics has found success, first with its beloved lip kits and then with its Kylie Skin line. It was almost responsible for making Jenner a billionaire, although those numbers were later revealed to be inaccurate. Regardless, with an estimated net worth of $710 million, it has indeed made her very rich.
4. Diving: Twenty-Nine Palms by Jared Leto
Getty Images for Twentynine Palms
Speaking of a bad launch, Twentynine Palms, the wellness brainchild of Hollywood actor Jared Leto, lasted just under a year in total. After a star-studded launch party at Chateau Marmont, whose guest list included Andrew Garfield and Alessandro Michele, Leto took to the press to call out the brand, which sold eye creams, serums, and hair products, among other things.
But within months, Leto claimed there had been a breach of contract between him and Twentynine Palms' parent company, Maapilim Ltd. What had started as a pleasant partnership quickly soured, and Jared Leto ended all involvement with Twentynine Palms. Fortunately, consumers didn't have much time to get hooked on any of the products before they were ripped from their grasp.
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Rhode Skin, now known mostly as Rhode, was a late entry for Hailey Bieber, and frankly, no one expected it to be a success. It was June 2022, the buzz around the famous beauty brand had died down, and as Jared Leto’s efforts had shown, success was not guaranteed. But by May 2023, Rhode was reportedly generating millions in revenue and was considered profitable enough to enter the UK market.
“We crossed the eight-figure mark in a six-month period in just 11 days of sales,” CEO Melanie Bender told WWD. “We go out there and do big orders for a young brand like ours, which then allows us to leverage more of those margins that you don’t typically get until you’re, maybe, a L’Oréal or an Estée Lauder.”
Rhode's unique selling proposition has been viral beauty-food comparisons, with Bieber going viral for her “glazed donut” look and a handy lip gloss holder phone case.
Kim Kardashian for KKW Beauty
Getty Images for ULTA Beauty/K
I mean, beyond the obvious (her divorce from the third part of the acronym), it was a little unclear why KKW performed so poorly. Especially compared to its (semi-)sister brand, Kylie Cosmetics, which has been flying ever since it got off the ground. Founded by Kylie Jenner in 2015, we now know that Jenner has Kylie Cosmetics to thank for the bulk of her $710 million net worth. But KKW Beauty, which launched in 2018 and closed in 2021, hasn’t had the same luck.
When Kardashian initially shuttered her beauty venture in 2021, it was assumed she was rebranding to simply drop the “W.” The beauty brand never came back. Kardashian eventually launched a skincare brand, SKKN by Kim, but KKW, as people knew it, was lost to the sands of time. Luckily, Kardashian launched her own shapewear brand, Skims, which has been a huge success, so she’s hardly sad about it.
8. Prosperity: Rem Beauty
Beauty regime
Ariana Grande may be in Wicked promotion mode right now, but her beauty brand, Rem Beauty, is still going strong. Launched in November 2021, REM beauty initially focused on eye makeup, the beauty staple Ariana is best known for, with her signature eyeliner inspiring endless YouTube tutorials. “It covers a lot of my favorite parts of my sound. And REM [stands for] “Rapid eye movement, focusing on dreams and eyes,” Grande told Vogue. “The eyes are our most effective communicators. You can say more by the way you look at someone than you can with words, and there's so much beauty going on there.”
Rem later expanded its repertoire to include foundation, blush, and skincare. The company reported healthy revenue of $88.7 million in 2023, so it's clearly doing well.
9. Diving: Rose Inc. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
Rosie Huntington Whiteley
Dave Bennett
It’s an interesting departure from type. Rose Inc was widely considered pretty good, but when parent company Amyris (which also owned Biossance and JVN haircare with Jonathan Van Ness) went bankrupt in 2023, things went downhill. Amyris sold its beauty brands to AA Investments, a Hong Kong corporation. The fact that Huntington-Whiteley let someone else buy her own brand instead of buying it herself (she and husband Jason Statham have an estimated combined net worth of about $120 million) has raised some eyebrows.
But then Huntington-Whiteley released a statement that seemed to indicate that the decision was out of her hands, especially if she wanted to continue her trademark “authenticity.” Huntington-Whiteley then distanced herself from Rose Inc entirely, and the brand continued to exist separately from the supermodel. How profitable that will be for long… time will tell.
10. Prosperity: Rare Beauty
Getty Images for Rare Beauty
Another celebrity beauty giant is Rare Beauty, founded by Selena Gomez in September 2020. From day one, Gomez pushed for an experienced team to lead Rare, hiring CEO Scott Friedman, chief digital officer Mehdi Mehdi, and director of product development Joyce Kim — all three are NYX Cosmetics alumni.
Rare was almost a guaranteed success, given that Gomez is one of the most popular people on the internet. And she is. But it’s also a beauty brand that gives back: One percent of all Rare Beauty sales go to the Rare Impact Fund, Gomez’s nonprofit that works to increase mental health awareness and services, particularly in disadvantaged communities. The Only Murders in the Building star has made it clear that her goal is to raise $100 million in 10 years.