What’s Lost As Pioneering Entrepreneurial Brands Vanish?

What was a slow trickle has become a tsunami. More and more niche beauty brands are closing as niche retailers struggle, people rearrange their spending post-pandemic and entrepreneurs reevaluate their priorities. The closures beg the question: What’s being lost as once pioneering brands vanish?

Often, the founders of the closed brands were passionate about pushing the beauty industry in new directions. At Athr Beauty, which announced its closure last month, founder Tiila Abbitt was a knowledgeable and fierce advocate for sustainability. At Earthwise Beauty and its sister brand PNW Flower & Gem Essences, founder Ava Zhan used unprocessed and frequently unusual plant oils to develop unique skincare. She revealed in January that her brands would shutter.

Along with Athr Beauty, Earthwise Beauty and PNW Flower & Gem Essences, Arcana, Lilah B., Bite Beauty, Bodhi & Birch, Luneia and Vapour, an early innovator in fusing skincare and makeup, have bitten the dust.

Founded by Gemma Murari, previously head of cosmetics and fragrance at British drugstore chain Superdrug, Luneia launched a month before the United Kingdom’s first COVID lockdown, timing that turned the brand’s retail plans upside down from the beginning. It quickly pivoted to direct-to-consumer, cultivated an engaged digital community and received plenty of glossy press attention. Still, lack of capital in a packed market crowded Luneia out.

Trailblazing entrepreneurs have also exited the beauty industry due to acquisitions. After Aurelia Probiotic Skincare was acquired by Hong Kong company Health & Happiness Group in 2019, founder Claire Vero concentrated on her family and enjoying the fruits of her labor. In 2021, she became non-executive board member at fashion startup Reluxe Fashion.

Alexia Inge, who built Cult Beauty with co-founder Jessica DeLuca over almost two decades into one of the most recognized e-tailers in the world, sold the company to The Hut Group in 2021 and is spending time with her husband and daughter in Kenya. Follain, the clean beauty retailer founded by Tara Foley, was bought by its clean beauty retail competitor Credo last year, although Foley is staying active in the beauty field as managing director at boutique investment bank Consensus Advisors.

Closures and acquisitions haven’t been the only blows to beauty industry talent. Mia Davis, VP of sustainability and impact at Credo and former head of environment, health and safety at Beautycounter, is venturing outside of beauty. Deciem founder Brandon Truaxe shockingly died in 2019 by falling from his 32nd floor condo.

Emerging green, natural and organic beauty brands have been hurt by stores that championed them like Follain, Fig & Flower, CAP Beauty and Content Wellbeing & Beauty changing or disappearing. CAP Beauty and Content Wellbeing & Beauty closed their physical locations, although continue to operate online. Content Wellbeing & Beauty founder Imelda Burke introduced green niche brands, including Tata Harper, May Lindstrom, Ilia and W3ll People, to the UK and grew them significantly. Prior to Credo’s acquisition of Follain, Follain had narrowed its operations to its namesake skincare brand.

In the UK, Brexit has been particularly detrimental to small businesses, and even long-established British brands are being dropped by European retailers due to bureaucratic demands related to forms, logistics and representation. Domestically in the UK, there’s mounting competition from American and European beauty companies. The French retailer Oh My Cream has opened two stores in London featuring European brands like Scandinavian skincare brand Rudolph Care and French solid haircare brand Umaï as well as American gadget brand Solaris and its in-house line.

Now, retailers tend to stock the same luxury beauty brands. Barbara Sturm, Augustinus Bader, 111 Skin and Charlotte Tilbury are ubiquitous. It’s easier for the retailers to follow the merchandise flow rather than stand apart from it. They command significant margins, delay payments, and charge for marketing and prime in-store or online placements. Some go as far as charging the brands for the “privilege” of training their store staff. Few niche brands can afford such trading terms without external funding.

A decade or so ago, the natural, green and organic beauty scene was thriving. Events may have had a slightly hippie feel, but they united consumers, brands and retailers with wonderful conversations and a shared enthusiasm for improving the beauty industry with better products and purposeful businesses. Brands began to openly share suppliers, and advice on getting into retailers and achieving sales margins, which helped them navigate the industry.

Unlike with brands owned by large conglomerates that they purchase from, consumers had opportunities to meet the founders of the emerging natural, green and organic brands, ask them questions, try products and forge emotional connections. The beauty landscape has evolved to be more individualistic. Every brand is out for themselves, and the united, generous and supportive green beauty community is dissolving.

In the past, a number of beauty bloggers dedicated themselves to supporting niche beauty brands. They did a stellar job fostering audiences, solidifying relationships with brands, public relations professionals and retailers, and sharing their opinions with honesty and integrity. But they’re changing their content and sometimes departing blogging altogether.

Smells like a Green Spirit is a blog in the midst of a transformation. Its founder Liz Mimran says, “I am actively working toward redirecting my competences. I am not leaving ‘for good’ so to speak, I just no longer can’t be part of a movement that has completely shifted. I hope to continue to write, share what I love related to beauty, wellbeing, sustainable fashion, engage with people and keep exploring and questioning. However, instead of going the ‘influencer’ route, i.e., do whatever it takes to grow in popularity/relevance, which feels like I’d inevitably go against some of my values, I’ll focus on creating content mindfully, independently, at a human pace, and provide my set of competences to companies and people who align with what I share.”

She continues, “The clean beauty realm today is sadly just a playground for conglomerates and inauthentic, cynical companies jumping on the clean bandwagon for pure profit, where stealing formulas, loading up on greenwashing, and showing zero consideration for nature and people are acceptable. The green beauty movement was supposed to change the beauty industry, it is instead the beauty industry that has changed green beauty. I felt lost and frazzled at times throughout this evolution because I have such fond memories of the original movement as it provided me joy, comfort and a wholesome approach to beauty.”

On a self-discovery journey as he reassesses his aspirations, Elijah Choo, founder of now-defunct Bodhi & Birch, is uncertain about his next step. “I have considered the possibility of a new beauty venture, but that currently remains a thought. It needs to align with my new lifestyle and personal philosophy to create something meaningful and authentic. Otherwise, it will be just a shell.” Murari hasn’t stopped believing that the beauty industry is an exciting and dynamic industry to work in. Instead of working in it at her own brand, she’s working with international brands expanding to the UK.

I believe the beauty industry and consumers are worse off as a consequence of losing brands like Luneia and Bodhi & Birch. The industry has become increasingly transactional. The emphasis has gone from intuitive and mutually beneficial partnerships between brands, retailers and content creators to commercial success being the sole driving force. The beauty industry is causing burnout in its relentless pursuit of results and promoting an endless stream of newness while trying to pretend it’s sustainable.

It’s no wonder why many beauty entrepreneurs and other professionals, knowing the kitchen of the beauty industry, are picking up and applying their talents elsewhere in the hopes they’ll be appreciated and can salvage their personal and mental health. Their values are no longer valued—and much of the joy is gone.