In the 1400s, God sent clouds of locusts, swarms of frogs and a litany of lice to punish the humans in what is now known as The Plagues of Egypt. In the 21st century, we’ve had our own fair share of plagues. The first was the celebrity fragrance. You might remember Beyoncé’s Heat, Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely, Britney Spears’ Fantasy – or any of their twenty individual incarnations, which formed an inescapably sweet scent that clouded 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 knockoffs that let you sign up for updates on Khloe Kardashian’s inner life and growing hatred of gluten.
Now it’s the celebrity beauty brands. They’re everywhere. They’re all-powerful. It feels like there’s a new one launching every month — and at one point, there probably was. The celebrity claw-like grip on the industry has gotten so tight that they’re now bleeding away from simple blush and foundation into skincare (i.e. Kylie Skin or SKKN, from Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian, respectively) and haircare (see: Beyoncé’s Cécred and Rihanna’s Fenty Hair).
But many of these brands are actually good. Fenty Beauty has become a makeup giant (much to the chagrin of those who want new music from Bad Gal RiRi) and has successfully raised the bar for diverse shade ranges across beauty brands everywhere. Florence by Mills, the brainchild of Millie Bobby Brown, is a huge hit with TikTok teens, and Kylie Cosmetics has taken Kylie Jenner from mere Instagram celebrity to near-billionaire status.
But not all succeed. Some are left to gather dust, or close down altogether. Let’s take a look at which ones broke the mold, and which ones were left behind.
1. Blooming: Fenty Beauty
In 2023, Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty was confirmed as the diamond in the tiara of celebrity beauty brands, becoming the highest-grossing celebrity beauty brand of the year with sales of £477m. It is estimated that celebrity beauty brands will have made over $1bn in sales in 2023, according to trend forecaster NIQ, with Rihanna’s sales contributing significantly to that total.
The singer was one of the first celebrities to enter the market, launching her own beauty company in September 2017. Her success is widely credited with sparking the endless stream of celebrities launching their own brands.
2. Diving: JLo Beauty
What a terrible year for Jennifer Lopez. Poor ticket sales and a flop album would have been enough, but then rumors of a split started swirling around JLo and her recently rekindled boyfriend, Ben Affleck. And to top it all off, she was photographed in economy class!
No, but seriously, the insult was compounded by the demise of JLo Beauty, a venture so unsuccessful that it was pulled from Sephora earlier this year after it literally gathered dust in a photo. Between its 2014 branding, divisive olive oil USP, and pandemic-era launch, it just didn’t catch on.
3. Blooming: Kylie Cosmetics
Remember when I said Rihanna was one of the first? You may not remember, but RiRi was actually preceded by 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 trend of the “Kylie Jenner lip challenge,” it made for the perfect PR storm.
Kylie Cosmetics has since enjoyed success, first with her beloved lip kits, and later with her Kylie Skin line. It was almost responsible for making Jenner a billionaire, although those numbers were later proven to be false. Either way, with an estimated net worth of $710 million, it has made her very wealthy indeed.
4. Diving: Twentynine Palms by Jared Leto
Speaking of failed launches, Twentynine Palms, the “wellness” brainchild of Hollywood actor Jared Leto, lasted just under a year in total. After a star-studded Chateau Marmont launch party that included Andrew Garfield and Alessandro Michele on the guest list, Leto went all-out on publicity for the brand, which sold eye creams, serums, and hair products.
But within months, Leto alleged a breach of contract between him and Twentynine Palms’ parent company, Maapilim Ltd. What started as a fun partnership quickly spiraled out of control, and Jared Leto pulled the plug on everything associated with Twentynine Palms. Fortunately, consumers didn’t have much time to get hooked on the products before they were ripped from their clutches.
5. Flowering: Rhode
Rhode Skin, now known simply as Rhode, was a late entry into the game by Hailey Bieber and, to be honest, no one expected its triumph. It was June 2022, the hype surrounding the celebrity beauty brand had fizzled out and, as Jared Leto’s efforts at marketing show, success was far from guaranteed. But by May 2023, it was reported that Rhode was raking in millions in revenue and was deemed profitable enough to expand into the UK market.
“We’ve done eight figures in a six-month period with just 11 days of sales,” CEO Melanie Bender told WWD. “We’re going in and placing big orders for a young brand like ours, which allows us to capture more of those cost savings that you normally don’t get unless you’re a L’Oréal or an Estée Lauder.”
Rhode’s USP is her viral beauty and food comparisons, with Bieber going viral for her “glazed donut” looks, as well as her handy lip gloss holder for her phone.
7. Diving: KKW Beauty
I mean, aside from the obvious (her one-third divorce from the acronym), it’s been a little confusing as to why KKW has been doing so poorly. Especially when compared to its (half) sister brand, Kylie Cosmetics, which has been flying since its inception. Founded by Kylie Jenner in 2015, we now know that Jenner has Kylie Cosmetics to thank for a large portion of her $710 million fortune. But KKW Beauty, which launched in 2018 and closed in 2021, hasn’t had the same luck.
When Kardashian initially shut down her beauty company in 2021, it was assumed that she was rebranding to simply drop the “W.” The beauty brand never returned. Kardashian did eventually start a skincare brand, SKKN by Kim, but KKW, as people knew it, was lost to time. Luckily, Kardashian went on to start her shapewear brand Skims, which has been a huge success, so she’s not exactly sad about it.
8. Flowering: Rem Beauty
Ariana Grande may be in full Wicked promotional mode right now, but her beauty brand Rem Beauty is still alive and kicking. Launched in November 2021, REM Beauty originally focused on eye makeup, the beauty staple Ariana is best known for, with her signature winged eyeliner inspiring an endless stream of YouTube tutorials. “It encompasses a lot of my favorite parts of my sound. And also REM [stands for] “Rapid eye movements, focused on dreams and the eyes,” Grande told Vogue. “Eyes are our most effective communicators. You can say more with the way you look at someone than you can sometimes say with words, and there’s so much beauty in that.”
Rem later expanded its repertoire to foundation, blush and skincare. It reported a healthy $88.7 million in sales in 2023, so things are clearly going well.
9. Diving: Rose Inc by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
This one’s an interesting departure from the norm. Rose Inc was widely regarded as doing pretty well, 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-based company. The fact that Huntington-Whiteley had her own brand bought out by someone else, rather than buying it herself (she and husband Jason Statham have an estimated combined net worth of around $120 million), 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 with her trademark “authenticity.” Huntington-Whiteley subsequently distanced herself from Rose Inc entirely and the brand has continued on without ties to the supermodel. How long that remains profitable… only time will tell.
10. Blooming: rare beauty
Another celebrity beauty brand is Rare Beauty, founded by Selena Gomez in September 2020. From day one, Gomez insisted that Rare be led by an experienced team. He recruited CEO Scott Friedman, Chief Digital Officer Mehdi Mehdi, and Chief Product Development Officer Joyce Kim — all three former NYX Cosmetics employees.
Rare was almost a guaranteed success, considering Gomez is one of the most followed people on the internet. And it is. But it’s also a beauty brand that gives back: One percent of all Rare Beauty sales goes to the Rare Impact Fund, Gomez’s nonprofit organization that works to increase mental health awareness and services, particularly in underserved communities. The Only Murders in the Building star has been clear about her goal of raising $100 million in 10 years.