Nighttime-focused beauty brand Moonlit Skincare is sleeping its way to the top of the retail distribution game with launches at Ipsy, Riley Rose and Ricky’s next year.
Launched by best friends Stephy Kim and Kriszta Matyi earlier this year, the brand will bring its Midnight Shift Oil to the Riley Rose e-commerce site in early 2018 and the retailer’s brick-and-mortar locations shortly thereafter. A recent visit to the Galleria Mall, Los Angeles outpost of Riley Rose confirmed for Kim that the beauty and lifestyle concept store was an ideal retail partner for her fledgling brand.
“When I met the buyer for Riley Rose, she was very clear that the store was not a Forever 21 beauty section,” recalls Kim, who is Moonlit’s CEO as well as co-founder. “I thought our price point might be too high for them, but, once I visited the Galleria location, I knew if I decided to move forward with [a] brick and mortar [partner], Riley Rose is the one. It embodies Moonlit’s demographic 100%. Riley Rose is so much more than just bottles. It’s fun to bring lifestyle elements into the mix.”
Moonlit will also be hitting retail shelves at New York-based beauty emporium Ricky’s in early 2018. Midnight Shift Oil will be available in four Ricky’s locations, including the Miami outpost in South Beach and the New York location in SoHo.
Rounding out its 2018 retail partnerships, Moonlit is set to launch several initiatives with Ipsy. Kim and Matyi first connected with the Ipsy buying team at Indie Beauty Expo’s New York edition in August. The pair met the Riley Rose buyer at IBE as well.
“They were very enthusiastic from their end. We’re a friendly, approachable and non-intimidating brand, and Ipsy is, too,” says Kim. “Also, we are talking to a customer who really wants to take care of herself. The Ipsy girl is also into that.”
Demographic similarities aside, Kim was initially apprehensive of the 100,000 minimums she had heard that the 3-million member strong Ipsy has required of brands to participate in its main offering, the Glam Bag, in the past. Kim was happy to discover Ipsy recently rolled out indie-friendly options. “They really have a lot of different programs: an e-commerce initiative, Ipsy Shopper, the limited-time Ipsy Offers, both where the minimum order quantities are lower [than 100,000]. I would be interested in doing the Glam Bag [in the future], but we want to do a test run first.”
As Moonlit satisfies demand from its nascent retail partners, Kim and Matyi are carving out time to release new Moonlit products next year, including an overnight pillow and face mist and an overnight spot treatment. Let’s hope the hectic schedule doesn’t impact the duo’s beauty sleep too much.
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