Rachel Brown

United States

Editor-in-Chief at Beauty Independent

Editor in Chief, Beauty Independent

Articles

Nailing Platform Strategies Is Paramount Now That The "Beauty Floor Is Digital"

4 days ago | beautyindependent.com | Rachel Brown

With TikTok Shop and Amazon gaining market share in beauty, Cristina Nuñez, co-founder and general partner of True Beauty Ventures, wrote in a recent Substack post, “Today’s beauty floor is digital.”According to an analysis by TD Cowen, TikTok is projected to reach 4% of beauty market share in 2030, up from 2% today, while Amazon is forecast to hit 15%, up from 9% today. Ulta is predicted to slide from 10% to 9% and Sephora remain steady at 7%.
Beauty Industry Vet’s Gray Hair Brand Silverist Enters Retail At Credo

6 days ago | beautyindependent.com | Rachel Brown

Silverist, the haircare brand born out of beauty industry veteran Evelyn Wang’s mission to serve people with gray hair, including herself, is bringing that mission to retail with a Credo rollout. The retail debut comes not quite a year after Silverist’s August 2024 launch and follows the brand rapidly achieving a six-figure sales total and doubling its forecast within months. In its 15 stores and online, Credo is carrying Silverist’s three products priced at $32 each—9.29-oz.
Rhode's DTC Sales Bonanza Gives Brands The Wrong Idea. A DTC Expert Level Sets.

6 days ago | beautyindependent.com | Rachel Brown

In its first year alone, Rhode, the gen Z-loved 3-year-old brand founded by Hailey Bieber that E.l.f. Beauty just scooped up for $1 billion, generated $100 million in sales in direct-to-consumer distribution. In nearly eight years of forecasting for DTC brands, Nishi Shah, partner and co-founder of marketing analytics firm MarketCents Inc. and former VP of marketing for Guthy-Renker, has never worked for one that’s had that kind of haul in its first year.
XRC Ventures On Why Science-Backed Skincare Is "The Most Compelling Category" For Beauty Investors

1 week ago | beautyindependent.com | Rachel Brown

Out of all the product categories in beauty today, Diana Melencio, general partner at venture capital firm XRC Ventures’ Brand Capital Fund, calls science-backed skincare “the most compelling category for early-stage investors.” In a challenging funding environment in which brands must have several proof points to get investors to part with money, she explains science offers skincare brands “a moat, true differentiation outside of marketing.” According to a new first quarter 2025 Consumer VC...
Conscious Beauty Collective Changes Name To Power Beauty Collab And Business Model To Shop-In-Shops

1 week ago | beautyindependent.com | Rachel Brown

Conscious Beauty Collective has transitioned to a new name—Power Beauty Collab—and a new business model that curates selections of clean indie beauty and wellness brands for stores, salons, spas and fitness studios.
Do Founders Have To Build Their Brands In Public?

1 week ago | beautyindependent.com | Rachel Brown

In an interview with Beauty Independent in April and a Substack post a month later, Ali Kriegsman, brand advisor, author of the book, “How To Build A Goddamn Empire,” and co-founder of Bulletin, discusses what she describes as the mounting pressure for founders to be “both an operator and an influencer.”She told us, “It’s much harder to convert consumers without putting yourself out there, telling your story and getting them to believe in you and understand why you built the brand.
Founder Annie Lawless Jacobs Returns As Lawless Beauty CEO

2 weeks ago | beautyindependent.com | Rachel Brown

Annie Lawless Jacobs is retaking the CEO reins at the namesake clean makeup brand she started nearly eight years ago, where she plans to reinforce its strengths as the prestige makeup category battles slumping sales, consumer caution and tariffs. The Lawless Beauty founder is returning to a role she held for the initial six years of the brand until stepping back from day-to-day operations to concentrate on the creative side of the business.
The Tricky Marketing Transition From Driving DTC Sales To Supporting Retail Success

2 weeks ago | beautyindependent.com | Rachel Brown

We’ve done two recent No Stupid Questions stories on marketing costs related to new products. As a follow-up to those stories, Brand Botany founder Lesley McIntosh, a fractional CMO and advisor to emerging beauty brands, suggested we examine the marketing strategies of brands going from direct-to-consumer distribution to retail.
Indie Beauty Dish: Brand Closures, Launches And Retail Expansions From April 2025

2 weeks ago | beautyindependent.com | Rachel Brown

Kiss Products-owned Joah Beauty may be shuttering. A month ago, an eagle-eyed Redditor spotted that the accessible K-Beauty-inspired brand’s website was offering 50% off all products and proclaimed it was the “last chance to shop Joah Beauty.”Beauty Independent reached out to several people at Kiss about Joah Beauty’s status and didn’t receive a response.
What Does It Take For A Beauty Brand To Get Acquired?

3 weeks ago | beautyindependent.com | Rachel Brown

In a recent post for his Substack Making Cents, Drew Fallon, CEO and co-founder of AI-powered financial platform Iris, broke down four attributes he argues a consumer packaged goods brand has to have today to get acquired, including the strategic appeal of the category the brand sits in, durability, scale and growth, and distribution.