AS Beauty Shutters Cover FX And Mally Beauty

AS Beauty has shuttered Cover FX and Mally Beauty, marking a pullback from two legacy makeup brands amid intense competition and cost pressures in the beauty industry.

Cover FX built a following by championing inclusive complexion shade ranges years before Fenty Beauty’s 40-shade launch pushed the industry to reckon with diversity in foundation. Known for products like Custom Cover Drops and Power Play Foundation, the brand was founded in 1999 by Victor Casale, a former chief chemist and managing director at MAC Cosmetics, and Lee Graff, who ran a Toronto clinic specializing in skin issues. Casale launched sustainable makeup brand MOB Beauty in 2021.

Not involved with Cover FX for years, Graff says, “Creating a brand that changed people’s lives in such a positive way will always remain a huge accomplishment in my life. There will be many people who will feel a huge loss given how effective and important Cover FX was to them.”

Started in 2005 by celebrity makeup artist Mally Roncal, who’s worked with Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Rihanna, Celine Dion, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lopez, Mally Beauty became closely associated with QVC, where Roncal’s on-air presence helped turn “TV-ready” finishes and long-wear eye products like the Evercolor Shadow Sticks into the brand’s signature. Mally Beauty positioned professional-quality makeup as accessible to everyday shoppers.

In an Instagram post, Cover FX wrote, “As the beauty industry faces new challenges, from tariffs to a shifting global market, we’ve made the heartfelt decision to begin winding down the Cover FX business. While this chapter closes, our gratitude for this community and the impact we’ve made together will always remain.” Mally Beauty echoed the message, writing, “As the industry faces new challenges—from tariffs to market shifts—we’ve made the heartfelt decision to wind down the Mally Beauty business.”

The closures aren’t a complete surprise to industry observers and consumers. Reddit users, for example, had flagged frequent discounts and prolonged stockouts at Cover FX even prior to President Donald Trump’s tariff regime. Still, the decisions have landed hard with fans.

In reaction to Cover FX’s closure post, makeup artists Brett Freedman, Rose Siard and Kevin James Bennett expressed sadness. Hairstylist Ted Gibson, influencer Patrice Grell Yursik, aka Afrobella, and public relations professional Nicole Pearl responded to Mally Beauty’s closure post with messages of encouragement. Pearl writes, “Your makeup was/is ICONIC. Learned so much from you. Congrats on all that you’ve accomplished.”

Contacted by Beauty Independent, celebrity makeup artist Jamie Greenberg, founder of the brand Jamie Makeup, describes herself as “crushed” by the news of Cover FX’s closure. In 2018, the brand tapped Greenberg to promote and educate on its primer products.

“I’ve been crushed for the past couple of years, though, because the brand has gotten silent. Their primers and their blush highlighters were some of the best in the business. They were ahead of the curve and really well-made,” she says. “Although I love new, shiny things and marketing, sometimes the products just never get the love they deserve, unfortunately. People jump on trends before quality. This brand will be missed.”

“This brand will be missed.”

AS Beauty acquired Mally Beauty in 2021 from Beauty Visions, a private investment firm associated with TPR Holdings, after Mallygirl, the precursor to Mally Beauty, entered involuntary bankruptcy in 2015. Guthy-Renker Ventures obtained a minority stake three years later.

AS Beauty acquired Cover FX from L Catterton Partners in 2022. According to Women’s Wear Daily, Cover FX’s gross sales slid from $65 million in 2018 to $20 million at the beginning of 2022. In 2024, AS Beauty executed a broad overhaul that led to a prompt spike in sales, but it was met with criticism from loyal customers who complained about it shrinking the diverse shade ranges that were its calling card.

At one point, Cover FX was carried by leading retailers like Sephora, Shoppers Drug Mart and Ulta Beauty. It departed Sephora in 2021 around the time Rare Beauty entered, providing a stark illustration of the carousel of makeup brands as retailers and consumers look for the next big thing. In 2022, it left Ulta Beauty as well.

“As with all brands, Sephora and Ulta weren’t just sales channels for Cover FX. The national retailers are credibility and consumer experience engines,” says Ina Subramanian, founder of brand and growth studio MatriArc. “Being able to trial or test the full shade spectrum in person would have reinforced the brand’s authority and inclusivity. When that disappeared, the brand lost a visible proof point of what it had always stood for, and this is very hard to rebuild solely online through Amazon and DTC.”

Speaking of the rebrand, she adds, “A stronger preemptive move might have been to lean even harder into what made the brand beloved in the first place. Rather than relying on the quiet new look, Cover FX had an opportunity to lead with an owned narrative clearly explaining the reset, reaffirming its role as a complexion authority and anchoring the brand through fresh education and artistry.”

AS Beauty was founded in 2019 by Alan Shamah and Joey Shamah, co-founders of E.l.f. Cosmetics, along with business partners Victor Azrak and Ralph Azrak, as a portfolio company collecting existing brands it could reenergize with greater attention and shared infrastructure. Its current portfolio contains the brands Laura Geller Beauty, Bliss World and Julep Beauty.

AS Beauty’s decisions to close Cover FX and Mally Beauty are happening as prestige makeup sales haven’t matched prestige beauty growth overall. Data from market research firm Circana shows that, in the first nine months of 2025, prestige makeup sales were up 3% to $7.9 billion. On the whole, the prestige beauty market was up 4% to $24.1 billion.

However, AS Beauty has had success with Laura Geller. The brand has established a strong direct-to-consumer business and has reignited a relationship with Sephora, an almost impossible task for a beauty brand at the cutthroat retailer. Its reemergence at Sephora reflects the chain’s strategy to woo shoppers aged 40 and above.

Whether in private equity portfolios or at major conglomerates, there are many beauty brands on the market that could be reenergized under new ownership. By clearing its brand stable of weaker assets, AS Beauty could make room for future acquisitions it deems to have better chances for turnarounds. WWD pegs AS Beauty as a “$500 million-plus” business.