Beauty Experts Launch Brands, Discuss Challenges
Beauty founders are increasingly turning personal expertise into commercial products. Mary Phillips, a makeup artist known for working with celebrities like Penelope Cruz and Hailey Bieber, launched M.ph Beauty in 2025. She translated her signature underpainting technique into a line of lip liners, lipsticks, and a contour and highlighting palette. Phillips credits a viral tutorial by creator Tara Sigari for helping her realize it was time to build her own brand.
Launching Before the Spotlight
Phillips said she knew she had to act when she began receiving thousands of videos. “I was just getting, like, thousands and thousands of videos, and I knew that was the moment,” she said. However, professional success does not always translate directly to business success. Phillips, Dr. Shereene Idriss, and Mara Roszak discussed these challenges during a panel at Glossy POP NYC. Roszak, the founder and CEO of Rōz Hair, noted that she spent 20 years as a hairstylist without understanding how to build a business. She initially thought she needed a co-founder but eventually succeeded on her own.
Dr. Idriss, founder and CEO of the Dr. Idriss skin-care line, emphasized the importance of preparation. She believes the best time to start is before a launch, when nobody knows you are coming. “The best stage is before you launch, because nobody knows you’re launching,” Idriss explained. “We were in development for, like, two and a half years, and it just felt like a silent pregnancy.” She described this period as the best time to take a step back, noting that once a product is out of the gates, the luxury of time disappears.
Phillips admitted she had hoarded her techniques for years, often surprising her clients with results they had never experienced. She explained that makeup artists rarely see what other artists are doing, a dynamic that has changed with the internet. Before Instagram, she was unaware of the work happening in other studios. Roszak encouraged new entrepreneurs to reach out to anyone who can teach them something, arguing that self-doubt is often the only barrier to starting a business.
Brands are not the only entities expanding their physical presence. The French niche perfume brand Maison Crivelli opened its first store on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. The brand, founded in 2018, joins a growing list of fragrance companies operating on the high-end shopping street. Separately, the Caudalie Group has taken a majority stake in Talm. This acquisition marks the company’s first major move since launching the post-partum and pregnancy-friendly skin-care brand in 2021. Kenza Keller, the founder of Talm, will remain as CEO of the business.
Expanding Beyond the Founder
Building a brand often requires bringing in leadership from outside the original team. Swan Beauty appointed Dr. Michelle Henry as its chief medical advisor. Henry is a board-certified dermatologist who will partner with the smart mirror company to create educational content regarding skin care. In another executive move, Dermalogica named Vivianna Blanch as its global chief marketing officer. Blanch brings experience from roles at LVMH and L’Oréal, where she most recently served as svp of U.S. marketing and international at Benefit Cosmetics.
The industry is also seeing significant consolidation. Puig announced it will take full ownership of Isdin in a deal valued at €1.2 billion. The Spanish conglomerate plans to assume Corporación Químico-Farmacéutica Esteve’s 50% stake in the sunscreen brand. This acquisition will grant Puig 100% ownership of Isdin. Talm launched in 2021 with a focus on products safe for post-partum and pregnancy.
Physical retail locations continue to open across the globe. In the United States, Sephora hosted over 2,000 attendees at the U.S. Open Finals Fan Fest weekend. The makeup retailer signed on as the first beauty retail partner of the New York City tennis tournament.
