Belisa Silva, Contributing Writer11.02.16
When it comes to indie beauty, there is a revolution afoot.
“I feel like it’s the late Nineties all over again—back then so many indie brands were just starting out and it definitely seems like that is happening right now,” says Walter Dwyer, president of global cosmetic packaging supplier Cosmopak USA. Dwyer named Stila, Urban Decay, Hard Candy, Trish McEvoy, Nars and Face Stockholm, as examples of ’90s indies-turned-mainstream-beauty-superstars. “This generation of indie brands will really challenge the concept of what a beauty brand is and can be,” says Dwyer.
The newest crop of indies is highly refined. Focused on specifics, they are directional and targeted, with entire lines built out of solving one particular problem, like lash length or eyebrow taming. Packaging-wise, the new guard of niche brands is detail-oriented and simple, as classic silhouettes and monochromatic colors are favored, as are clean, technologically-driven formulas.
According to experts, it is a sociological shift from passive consumption to active product discovery, fueled largely by social media, that is driving the charge.
“Right now it’s a time of a lot of tumult, in a good way and bad,” says Karen Grant, The NPD Group’s senior global analyst and vice president—and a member of Beauty Packaging’s Board of Advisors. “What’s great about it is it’s making everyone step up their game, which is always good for the consumer. What’s challenging is that the market is growing rapidly, [makeup is up 12 percent] so you can be up 10 percent and be losing market share; the race is so fast, the momentum is so strong. The fact that there are so many indie voices, and so much choice can be confusing, but the dust will settle and we will see who has the legs to continue.”
A Patch of Green
Meanwhile, the green beauty market, a space created by and traditionally filled with indies, has also evolved, as brands who meld natural yet efficacious ingredients with streamlined aesthetics are coming out the winners.
“Millennials want something to identify with and for a lot of them it is the green movement,” says Rose-Marie Swift, founder of indie cosmetics brand, RMS Beauty. “It’s about consciousness. Young people are waking up and realizing what’s in their cosmetics and what’s going on in the world and they are seeking out other options.”
Swift’s brand, which is centered on organic skin-care infused makeup housed in simple Japanese-inspired packaging, has been more in demand than ever before, she says, as even traditional retailers are clamoring for it. According to Swift, the zeitgeist shift means the indie space and its consumer is becoming more sophisticated.
“We’ve gotten away from the granola vision of organic beauty,” says Swift, who adds that big box retailers, especially department stores, must innovate or die trying. “Packing and formulas have gotten better, the whole industry is expanding.”
The Numbers Prove It
According to a June report by Tribe Dynamics, independent brands experienced double digit growth between 2009 and 2014, more than four times the overall cosmetics market.
In addition, judging by the rate at which niche brands like Killian, Le Labo, GLAMGLOW, Rodin, NYX, Too Faced, and Frederic Malle are being acquired by big beauty conglomerates, there is no denying indies are the cool kid on campus. Just this year, indie darling IT Cosmetics was purchased by L’Oréal for $1.2 billion cash, the company’s largest acquisition in eight years.
“Our domestic [beauty] market is approaching $60 billion and everyone is a consumer,” says Pamela Jo Busiek, president and chief executive officer of ICMAD. “Science has come a long way in all categories from hair care, skin care, body care and nail care and the product categories have more depth and increased units and uses. Competition keeps everyone at their best, and a bright future for beauty exists.”
Bright indeed.
According to Grant, the beauty industry is having a moment, and it has indie brands to thank.
“When we add all the new dollars coming into the market, they’re coming from relatively new players,” says Grant. “We are showing right now that the indie brands may be growing by two to three times the rate of the market, and sometimes higher. Today it’s a very new ball game.”
Grant says because of the accelerated pace of acquisitions, it is hard to even properly keep track of which brands are considered to be indie.
Keeping It Real
“The big companies realize that these [indie] brands are resonating exponentially, and it helps them move with the momentum in the marketplace,” says Grant, who combines true independent brands with those that were recently acquired when looking at the overall indie market. “They are truly the drivers, and not just around dollar growth. They are reinvigorating categories that were dormant. Whether it’s brow or liner, because they are so focused in just one category, they are able to do a lot there.”
Grant also warns that conglomerates who do add indies to their portfolio, mustn’t change them too much.
“It’s important that [companies who acquire indies] keep the independent voice,” she says. “The ones who have been most successful are able to keep the brand presence and be different, because once you’ve lost that, what was the point of acquiring them?”
One thing is for sure, thanks to the Internet, customer empowerment is at an all-time high. Younger generations are no longer accepting advertising claims at face-value, and are instead looking to influencer YouTube videos and consumer reviews as metrics for purchasing decisions. Brands are responding by embracing transparency, and by fostering relationships with both beauty bloggers and everyday women alike.
“Today it is possible to launch a new brand on a direct to consumer basis and get visibility without actually opening a retail account,” says Cosmopak’s Dwyer. “The new indie world was building up in 2014 and 2015, but has exploded in 2016 as these brands have now shown they are not going away and are in fact selling out of every item they launch. The success of collaborations (like Becca) or limited-edition items coupled with the continued sell-through of new brands has had a seismic effect on the status quo in our business.”
In fact, it is an indie brand that is leading the way in terms of engagement online. According to Tribe Dynamics, Anastasia Beverly Hills is the fastest growing brand of those beauty brands generating more than $10 million annually. Engaging with more than 400 influencers regularly, Anastasia also takes the No. 1 spot in terms of Instagram, boasting more than 11.5 million followers.
“One of the biggest shifts that you see is brands establishing and fostering relationships with different collaborators,” says Christina Grammenos, general manager of Tribe Dynamics. “Anastasia Beverly Hills is one of the fastest growing brands, because it gives back to the influencers via regramming and reposting content. It’s not about paid advertising; it’s about this effort to earn enthusiasm among people who will spread the word.”
Utilizing Social Media
To wit, smaller scale brands like Jeffree Star, Pat McGrath, Glossier, and ColourPop are utilizing social media as a way to gain independent audiences and generate buzz. Makeup artist Pat McGrath utilizes her ample social channels to launch and promote her in-demand product line with a limited-edition approach, selling out of each product she rolls out. Meanwhile, Kylie Jenner’s Kyle Cosmetics’ Instagram page, which features shots of the reality-star-cum-beauty-maven and influential beauty bloggers alike sporting her in-demand lip kits, has more than 8 million followers, and equally sold-out results.
“These brands have significantly increased visibility in the industry through social media marketing,” says Kelly Alexandre, Kline’s consumer products analyst. “Previously, the major companies used to have an edge over independent brands because of their hefty advertising budgets. However, the playing field has been leveled, and indies are able to effectively market themselves through social media, such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.”
According to Kristin Sun, senior director of marketing and retail for Milk Cosmetics, which takes an inclusive approach to digital communications, social media is a community-builder. As evidenced by brands like Milk, whose marketing efforts mirror the shift in magazine advertising spend, more and more brands are embracing social media and in turn, cutting out the middle man.
“Social platforms in general are a means to build our communities,” says Sun. “Milk Studios is a brand that started a community and that’s an inspiration behind the makeup. We are trying to create a forum for all of our consumers to share how they express themselves with our makeup and how they approach their lives.”
Packaging Trends
The brand, which is gender-neutral, favored a simple route in terms of packaging, a definite trend in today’s influential indies.
“We are a lifestyle brand so we think about integrating makeup into a person’s life, so it’s not really about guys or girls, its more about the lifestyle,” says Dianna Ruth, Milk’s chief executive officer, adding that the look is minimal but also high-tech, with ingredients like antimicrobial silver. “From a packaging standpoint, thinking about quick, mess-free, as well as formulas and payoff.”
Packaging is also a focus for skin care guru, Tata Harper, who has become a powerful indie brand by focusing on differentiation, in her case, fresh formulas housed in elegant green glass flacons.
“It’s definitely an evolution of customers looking for better things that suit them at a different level,” says Harper, whose products are made at her own Vermont farm. “There’s a huge wellness movement happening around the world and we are all trying to live better and make better choices. We deliver on that promise.”
The demand for non-mainstream products has been so strong, in fact, that a new trade show that caters to it specifically has emerged. Launched in 2015, The Indie Beauty Expo (IBE) focuses specifically on indie beauty brands and retailers. With more than 130 exhibitors and thousands of guests, the show is growing at record speed. (See videos from the event.)
“What’s really different about IBE is we just don’t want this to be a show, the same way indie brands don’t just want to be a product,” says Nader Naeymi-Rad, co-founder of the Indie Beauty Expo, adding that the show favors a democratic approach, in which all brands can participate regardless of size. “In the past 25 years there’s been a shift in demand, and a lot of consumers not just women, are shifting. It’s less about blindly buying global brands or fashion brands that stick their name on beauty products. More women are fed up with the old discourse and want to have a different conversation and make informed choices about buying decisions.”
Among this year’s IBE standouts were brands like OY-L, a chemical-free skin care brand that stars naturally healing plants, minerals and essential oils; Phia Organics, which is said to provide wellness benefits through plant vibrations; and Olverum, a body range comprised of a single sku; a fragrant oil whose formula hails from 1931.
“I picked up Olverum exclusively in the U.S.,” says Jessica Richards, owner of indie beauty boutique, Shen Beauty, who revealed that best-selling brands at her store include May Lindstrom, Phace Bioactive and Pommade Divine. “The packaging is so clean and beautiful. It’s also a story I can get behind.”
According to Richards, it is brands like Olverum that are raising the bar in indie beauty, as being a natural brand is no longer enough to get the consumer’s, or the buyer’s attention. Indies must also deliver on efficacy and have a unique story to tell, through both packaging and philosophy alike.
“For me, being a standout indie beauty product is so much more than brands that claim they are wild harvested or organic,” says Richards. “I think today’s indie movement comes from everyone wanting to think small, shop small, live small, especially in a world of being able to have and see everything from the palm of your hand. “I also think that most people (myself included) are starting to realize that big companies are not using the ingredients that really help your skin.”
Korean Influence
Arguably the most skin care-obsessed culture, Korea, is also having an effect on the indie market, according to Peach and Lily founder, Alicia Yoon.
“There are more than 9,000 beauty brands in Korea,” says Yoon. “The beauty conglomerates and large beauty companies own maybe hundreds of brands; so the vast majority of beauty brands in Korea are actually indie brands.”
Yoon reports that Korean brands have long been players in the indie space, and those who succeed focus on delivering must-have packaging and sensorial, efficacious formulas, as well as plenty of social engagement.
“Korean [indie] brands focus on different things to capture customer attention,” says Yoon, adding that a few stand-outs on her site include multifunctional makeup brand, Twenty Four Seven, and fruit-derived skin care brand, Frudia, whose packaging reminds Yoon of farm fresh yogurt. “Some will focus on packaging that is completely unique (custom mold packaging) that stands out and is highly visual and social-media-friendly to help it go viral. Others focus on unique ingredient stories, and still others might focus on intriguing textures like whipped cream textures or ones that change from oil-to-foam.”
For Jean Seo, an indie beauty entrepreneur, whose skin care line is inspired by Korean beauty practices, it’s all about differentiation through details, especially when it comes to packaging.
“The bottles are all custom molds, and even the tubes had to be adjusted and specially coated because of the contents. It took months of painstaking trial and error along with a refusal to settle for anything less than my vision in order to produce the Évolué packaging, which suited the products just perfectly,” says Seo. “The philosophy for my brand is that of clean, pure, and luxurious and effective. I believe natural products that work truly are a luxury, so I put just as much time and energy into developing and testing the packaging as I did the formulas.”
A Unique Point of View
As niche brands continue to crop up, retailers are catching on. In addition to a new guard of indie boutiques like Shen, Credo, and Cos Bar, mainstream beauty outposts are also getting into the action. At Sephora, which rolled out its indie-centric distribution program, Scouted by Sephora, in 2015, brands like Youth To The People, Ilia and IGK are now sold. For its part, Urban Outfitters is becoming something of an indie beauty destination, with brands like Herbivore Botanicals, Mario Badescu, Egyptian Magic and Milk on its roster.
“It keeps it exciting, competitive, and a unique point of difference,” says Ruth, of the increase in indie distribution in today’s retail landscape. “I look at these brands that are our competition, but they have a point of difference, and there is room for all of these brands. Women don’t shop from one brand, they like using various products from various brands to create a look, and I think having innovative brands around the table makes us all better.”
Richards agrees.
“Times are definitely changing since I opened my store in 2010, and growth has been natural and organic because people are shopping that way, she says. “People want something special and customized in every facet of life because they are constantly being fed information. They don’t want big box anymore.”
These are also the sentiments of Annie Jackson, Credo’s vice president of merchandising and planning, who believes women are connecting not just to indie brands, but also to their back stories.
“It’s exciting to be able to offer a platform for these brands, supporting their positions and what they’re all about, [and showcasing] the really cool people behind the brands, which I think is what’s resonating with people the most,” says Jackson. “People want to know who these people are and what was the impetus for creating this brand.”
To wit, Credo offers monthly events where brand founders like Tata Harper and Rose Marie-Swift teach master classes with consumers, giving them a unique, and personal vantage point to the brand and how the products work.
“When she’s out there talking about her brand she could be talking about Credo, and that’s what we believe in,” says Jackson, about a recent skin care event held at Credo’s New York outpost with Tata Harper. “We are all about not having women sacrifice their health for wanting beautiful products that work, and that’s what people have been doing up until now, unknowingly”
Beauty Heroes
For Jeannie Jarnot, the founder of Beauty Heroes, a subscription-based beauty discovery box which focuses on niche products, a focus on safety is at the helm of each and every product she chooses to feature. The box, which delivers one non-toxic product to women each month, includes brands that have a focus on clean, beautiful packaging as well.
“Packaging is a huge part of it, it all needs to work together,” says Jarnot, naming Austrian brand, Max and Me as one whose look is particularly inspiring. “I think that an indie beauty brand is just an extension of the founder’s vision. It takes the essence of the person and puts it into your life. It’s their philosophy on skin care, but it also expresses the founder’s personality and approach. In the end, I want to evoke a feeling.”
According to Jarnot, who has featured brands like Laurel Whole Plant Organics, Captain Blanketship, Red Flower and Pommade Divine to great acclaim by her audience of beauty lovers, sophisticated, directional naturals are the way of the future.
“I tend to look for luxury,” says Jarnot. “The key is being really clear. If it’s not all in alignment, it’s not going to resonate.”
To be sure, as the beauty revolution continues playing out, it is safe to say nothing will ever be the same.
“We are looking at a huge fundamental change in our market, that won’t fully manifest this year, but over the next three to five years, our top ten will be totally different than what we’ve seen,” says Grant, adding that for the major beauty firms, this change is “cool but a little scary. It doesn’t mean the old [brands] will go away but who’s on first, second and third [base] will change. That’s the dynamic that’s going on right now. It’s a very transformational time for our industry. It’s going to be a new era.”
“I feel like it’s the late Nineties all over again—back then so many indie brands were just starting out and it definitely seems like that is happening right now,” says Walter Dwyer, president of global cosmetic packaging supplier Cosmopak USA. Dwyer named Stila, Urban Decay, Hard Candy, Trish McEvoy, Nars and Face Stockholm, as examples of ’90s indies-turned-mainstream-beauty-superstars. “This generation of indie brands will really challenge the concept of what a beauty brand is and can be,” says Dwyer.
The newest crop of indies is highly refined. Focused on specifics, they are directional and targeted, with entire lines built out of solving one particular problem, like lash length or eyebrow taming. Packaging-wise, the new guard of niche brands is detail-oriented and simple, as classic silhouettes and monochromatic colors are favored, as are clean, technologically-driven formulas.
According to experts, it is a sociological shift from passive consumption to active product discovery, fueled largely by social media, that is driving the charge.
“Right now it’s a time of a lot of tumult, in a good way and bad,” says Karen Grant, The NPD Group’s senior global analyst and vice president—and a member of Beauty Packaging’s Board of Advisors. “What’s great about it is it’s making everyone step up their game, which is always good for the consumer. What’s challenging is that the market is growing rapidly, [makeup is up 12 percent] so you can be up 10 percent and be losing market share; the race is so fast, the momentum is so strong. The fact that there are so many indie voices, and so much choice can be confusing, but the dust will settle and we will see who has the legs to continue.”
A Patch of Green
Meanwhile, the green beauty market, a space created by and traditionally filled with indies, has also evolved, as brands who meld natural yet efficacious ingredients with streamlined aesthetics are coming out the winners.
“Millennials want something to identify with and for a lot of them it is the green movement,” says Rose-Marie Swift, founder of indie cosmetics brand, RMS Beauty. “It’s about consciousness. Young people are waking up and realizing what’s in their cosmetics and what’s going on in the world and they are seeking out other options.”
Swift’s brand, which is centered on organic skin-care infused makeup housed in simple Japanese-inspired packaging, has been more in demand than ever before, she says, as even traditional retailers are clamoring for it. According to Swift, the zeitgeist shift means the indie space and its consumer is becoming more sophisticated.
“We’ve gotten away from the granola vision of organic beauty,” says Swift, who adds that big box retailers, especially department stores, must innovate or die trying. “Packing and formulas have gotten better, the whole industry is expanding.”
The Numbers Prove It
According to a June report by Tribe Dynamics, independent brands experienced double digit growth between 2009 and 2014, more than four times the overall cosmetics market.
In addition, judging by the rate at which niche brands like Killian, Le Labo, GLAMGLOW, Rodin, NYX, Too Faced, and Frederic Malle are being acquired by big beauty conglomerates, there is no denying indies are the cool kid on campus. Just this year, indie darling IT Cosmetics was purchased by L’Oréal for $1.2 billion cash, the company’s largest acquisition in eight years.
“Our domestic [beauty] market is approaching $60 billion and everyone is a consumer,” says Pamela Jo Busiek, president and chief executive officer of ICMAD. “Science has come a long way in all categories from hair care, skin care, body care and nail care and the product categories have more depth and increased units and uses. Competition keeps everyone at their best, and a bright future for beauty exists.”
Bright indeed.
According to Grant, the beauty industry is having a moment, and it has indie brands to thank.
“When we add all the new dollars coming into the market, they’re coming from relatively new players,” says Grant. “We are showing right now that the indie brands may be growing by two to three times the rate of the market, and sometimes higher. Today it’s a very new ball game.”
Grant says because of the accelerated pace of acquisitions, it is hard to even properly keep track of which brands are considered to be indie.
Keeping It Real
“The big companies realize that these [indie] brands are resonating exponentially, and it helps them move with the momentum in the marketplace,” says Grant, who combines true independent brands with those that were recently acquired when looking at the overall indie market. “They are truly the drivers, and not just around dollar growth. They are reinvigorating categories that were dormant. Whether it’s brow or liner, because they are so focused in just one category, they are able to do a lot there.”
Grant also warns that conglomerates who do add indies to their portfolio, mustn’t change them too much.
“It’s important that [companies who acquire indies] keep the independent voice,” she says. “The ones who have been most successful are able to keep the brand presence and be different, because once you’ve lost that, what was the point of acquiring them?”
One thing is for sure, thanks to the Internet, customer empowerment is at an all-time high. Younger generations are no longer accepting advertising claims at face-value, and are instead looking to influencer YouTube videos and consumer reviews as metrics for purchasing decisions. Brands are responding by embracing transparency, and by fostering relationships with both beauty bloggers and everyday women alike.
“Today it is possible to launch a new brand on a direct to consumer basis and get visibility without actually opening a retail account,” says Cosmopak’s Dwyer. “The new indie world was building up in 2014 and 2015, but has exploded in 2016 as these brands have now shown they are not going away and are in fact selling out of every item they launch. The success of collaborations (like Becca) or limited-edition items coupled with the continued sell-through of new brands has had a seismic effect on the status quo in our business.”
In fact, it is an indie brand that is leading the way in terms of engagement online. According to Tribe Dynamics, Anastasia Beverly Hills is the fastest growing brand of those beauty brands generating more than $10 million annually. Engaging with more than 400 influencers regularly, Anastasia also takes the No. 1 spot in terms of Instagram, boasting more than 11.5 million followers.
“One of the biggest shifts that you see is brands establishing and fostering relationships with different collaborators,” says Christina Grammenos, general manager of Tribe Dynamics. “Anastasia Beverly Hills is one of the fastest growing brands, because it gives back to the influencers via regramming and reposting content. It’s not about paid advertising; it’s about this effort to earn enthusiasm among people who will spread the word.”
Utilizing Social Media
To wit, smaller scale brands like Jeffree Star, Pat McGrath, Glossier, and ColourPop are utilizing social media as a way to gain independent audiences and generate buzz. Makeup artist Pat McGrath utilizes her ample social channels to launch and promote her in-demand product line with a limited-edition approach, selling out of each product she rolls out. Meanwhile, Kylie Jenner’s Kyle Cosmetics’ Instagram page, which features shots of the reality-star-cum-beauty-maven and influential beauty bloggers alike sporting her in-demand lip kits, has more than 8 million followers, and equally sold-out results.
“These brands have significantly increased visibility in the industry through social media marketing,” says Kelly Alexandre, Kline’s consumer products analyst. “Previously, the major companies used to have an edge over independent brands because of their hefty advertising budgets. However, the playing field has been leveled, and indies are able to effectively market themselves through social media, such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.”
According to Kristin Sun, senior director of marketing and retail for Milk Cosmetics, which takes an inclusive approach to digital communications, social media is a community-builder. As evidenced by brands like Milk, whose marketing efforts mirror the shift in magazine advertising spend, more and more brands are embracing social media and in turn, cutting out the middle man.
“Social platforms in general are a means to build our communities,” says Sun. “Milk Studios is a brand that started a community and that’s an inspiration behind the makeup. We are trying to create a forum for all of our consumers to share how they express themselves with our makeup and how they approach their lives.”
Packaging Trends
The brand, which is gender-neutral, favored a simple route in terms of packaging, a definite trend in today’s influential indies.
“We are a lifestyle brand so we think about integrating makeup into a person’s life, so it’s not really about guys or girls, its more about the lifestyle,” says Dianna Ruth, Milk’s chief executive officer, adding that the look is minimal but also high-tech, with ingredients like antimicrobial silver. “From a packaging standpoint, thinking about quick, mess-free, as well as formulas and payoff.”
Packaging is also a focus for skin care guru, Tata Harper, who has become a powerful indie brand by focusing on differentiation, in her case, fresh formulas housed in elegant green glass flacons.
“It’s definitely an evolution of customers looking for better things that suit them at a different level,” says Harper, whose products are made at her own Vermont farm. “There’s a huge wellness movement happening around the world and we are all trying to live better and make better choices. We deliver on that promise.”
The demand for non-mainstream products has been so strong, in fact, that a new trade show that caters to it specifically has emerged. Launched in 2015, The Indie Beauty Expo (IBE) focuses specifically on indie beauty brands and retailers. With more than 130 exhibitors and thousands of guests, the show is growing at record speed. (See videos from the event.)
“What’s really different about IBE is we just don’t want this to be a show, the same way indie brands don’t just want to be a product,” says Nader Naeymi-Rad, co-founder of the Indie Beauty Expo, adding that the show favors a democratic approach, in which all brands can participate regardless of size. “In the past 25 years there’s been a shift in demand, and a lot of consumers not just women, are shifting. It’s less about blindly buying global brands or fashion brands that stick their name on beauty products. More women are fed up with the old discourse and want to have a different conversation and make informed choices about buying decisions.”
Among this year’s IBE standouts were brands like OY-L, a chemical-free skin care brand that stars naturally healing plants, minerals and essential oils; Phia Organics, which is said to provide wellness benefits through plant vibrations; and Olverum, a body range comprised of a single sku; a fragrant oil whose formula hails from 1931.
“I picked up Olverum exclusively in the U.S.,” says Jessica Richards, owner of indie beauty boutique, Shen Beauty, who revealed that best-selling brands at her store include May Lindstrom, Phace Bioactive and Pommade Divine. “The packaging is so clean and beautiful. It’s also a story I can get behind.”
According to Richards, it is brands like Olverum that are raising the bar in indie beauty, as being a natural brand is no longer enough to get the consumer’s, or the buyer’s attention. Indies must also deliver on efficacy and have a unique story to tell, through both packaging and philosophy alike.
“For me, being a standout indie beauty product is so much more than brands that claim they are wild harvested or organic,” says Richards. “I think today’s indie movement comes from everyone wanting to think small, shop small, live small, especially in a world of being able to have and see everything from the palm of your hand. “I also think that most people (myself included) are starting to realize that big companies are not using the ingredients that really help your skin.”
Korean Influence
Arguably the most skin care-obsessed culture, Korea, is also having an effect on the indie market, according to Peach and Lily founder, Alicia Yoon.
“There are more than 9,000 beauty brands in Korea,” says Yoon. “The beauty conglomerates and large beauty companies own maybe hundreds of brands; so the vast majority of beauty brands in Korea are actually indie brands.”
Yoon reports that Korean brands have long been players in the indie space, and those who succeed focus on delivering must-have packaging and sensorial, efficacious formulas, as well as plenty of social engagement.
“Korean [indie] brands focus on different things to capture customer attention,” says Yoon, adding that a few stand-outs on her site include multifunctional makeup brand, Twenty Four Seven, and fruit-derived skin care brand, Frudia, whose packaging reminds Yoon of farm fresh yogurt. “Some will focus on packaging that is completely unique (custom mold packaging) that stands out and is highly visual and social-media-friendly to help it go viral. Others focus on unique ingredient stories, and still others might focus on intriguing textures like whipped cream textures or ones that change from oil-to-foam.”
For Jean Seo, an indie beauty entrepreneur, whose skin care line is inspired by Korean beauty practices, it’s all about differentiation through details, especially when it comes to packaging.
“The bottles are all custom molds, and even the tubes had to be adjusted and specially coated because of the contents. It took months of painstaking trial and error along with a refusal to settle for anything less than my vision in order to produce the Évolué packaging, which suited the products just perfectly,” says Seo. “The philosophy for my brand is that of clean, pure, and luxurious and effective. I believe natural products that work truly are a luxury, so I put just as much time and energy into developing and testing the packaging as I did the formulas.”
A Unique Point of View
As niche brands continue to crop up, retailers are catching on. In addition to a new guard of indie boutiques like Shen, Credo, and Cos Bar, mainstream beauty outposts are also getting into the action. At Sephora, which rolled out its indie-centric distribution program, Scouted by Sephora, in 2015, brands like Youth To The People, Ilia and IGK are now sold. For its part, Urban Outfitters is becoming something of an indie beauty destination, with brands like Herbivore Botanicals, Mario Badescu, Egyptian Magic and Milk on its roster.
“It keeps it exciting, competitive, and a unique point of difference,” says Ruth, of the increase in indie distribution in today’s retail landscape. “I look at these brands that are our competition, but they have a point of difference, and there is room for all of these brands. Women don’t shop from one brand, they like using various products from various brands to create a look, and I think having innovative brands around the table makes us all better.”
Richards agrees.
“Times are definitely changing since I opened my store in 2010, and growth has been natural and organic because people are shopping that way, she says. “People want something special and customized in every facet of life because they are constantly being fed information. They don’t want big box anymore.”
These are also the sentiments of Annie Jackson, Credo’s vice president of merchandising and planning, who believes women are connecting not just to indie brands, but also to their back stories.
“It’s exciting to be able to offer a platform for these brands, supporting their positions and what they’re all about, [and showcasing] the really cool people behind the brands, which I think is what’s resonating with people the most,” says Jackson. “People want to know who these people are and what was the impetus for creating this brand.”
To wit, Credo offers monthly events where brand founders like Tata Harper and Rose Marie-Swift teach master classes with consumers, giving them a unique, and personal vantage point to the brand and how the products work.
“When she’s out there talking about her brand she could be talking about Credo, and that’s what we believe in,” says Jackson, about a recent skin care event held at Credo’s New York outpost with Tata Harper. “We are all about not having women sacrifice their health for wanting beautiful products that work, and that’s what people have been doing up until now, unknowingly”
Beauty Heroes
For Jeannie Jarnot, the founder of Beauty Heroes, a subscription-based beauty discovery box which focuses on niche products, a focus on safety is at the helm of each and every product she chooses to feature. The box, which delivers one non-toxic product to women each month, includes brands that have a focus on clean, beautiful packaging as well.
“Packaging is a huge part of it, it all needs to work together,” says Jarnot, naming Austrian brand, Max and Me as one whose look is particularly inspiring. “I think that an indie beauty brand is just an extension of the founder’s vision. It takes the essence of the person and puts it into your life. It’s their philosophy on skin care, but it also expresses the founder’s personality and approach. In the end, I want to evoke a feeling.”
According to Jarnot, who has featured brands like Laurel Whole Plant Organics, Captain Blanketship, Red Flower and Pommade Divine to great acclaim by her audience of beauty lovers, sophisticated, directional naturals are the way of the future.
“I tend to look for luxury,” says Jarnot. “The key is being really clear. If it’s not all in alignment, it’s not going to resonate.”
To be sure, as the beauty revolution continues playing out, it is safe to say nothing will ever be the same.
“We are looking at a huge fundamental change in our market, that won’t fully manifest this year, but over the next three to five years, our top ten will be totally different than what we’ve seen,” says Grant, adding that for the major beauty firms, this change is “cool but a little scary. It doesn’t mean the old [brands] will go away but who’s on first, second and third [base] will change. That’s the dynamic that’s going on right now. It’s a very transformational time for our industry. It’s going to be a new era.”
