Brand Agency London Enters Administration, Seeks Buyer For Ciaté London, Lottie London And Skin Proud

Brand Agency London is trying to find a buyer for its brands Ciaté London, Lottie London and Skin Proud after entering administration. 

As first reported by the publication Cosmetics Business, the British company filed for insolvency on Jan. 9 to restructure debts to avoid liquidation, and the websites of its brands have been deactivated. The filing comes after it amassed 10 million pounds or approximately $12.5 million in debt in the year ended March 2023, when its total net assets were about 204,198 pounds or nearly $260,000. At around the time of the filing, Brand Agency London conducted widespread layoffs. In 2023, it had as many as 56 employees. 

In an interview with Beauty Independent in 2023, Charlotte Knight, the celebrity nail artist who founded Ciaté London in 2009 before launching Lottie London in 2014 and Skin Proud in 2020, said the brands were confronting increased competition for fickle gen Z consumers’ attention. According to the market research firm NIQ, average beauty brand loyalty in the last two years has decreased 20%. Lottie London products remain available online at Walmart, CVS and Lookfantastic. 

“Building brand loyalty with a gen Z is certainly much harder than it is with an older consumer. They also want a lot—and rightly so—but they do demand a lot,” said Knight. “They want the best possible performance, best possible product ingredients…so, definitely with the way the world is and rising costs and inflationary pressures and everything else, it is a challenge.”

To strengthen Brand Agency London in light of the challenges it faced, Knight was interested in selling the company. She said, “If there’s an opportunity for us to merge with another platform, an operator who’s doing similar things to us so you’re effectively utilizing their resources and infrastructure and vice versa, that could be a great opportunity for us…maybe one day we will take one or two of the brands, whenever we feel like a brand has achieved the required scale, to market at the right time.” 

Brand Agency London’s troubles surfaced last November when complaints started flooding its brands’ Instagram accounts about orders not being received and absent customer service. Frustrated, Ciaté London customers sought the help of beauty influencer Jen Garancheski, better known as Jen Luv on YouTube. She sent messages to the brand that bounced back. “The best thing brands can do is just communicate,” said Garancheski in an YouTube video. “Just tell people what’s going on, even if it’s bad. It blows my mind that businesses, especially like Ciaté that’s been around for so long, could end up in this situation.”

As recently as last month, Lottie London was posting on Instagram, where it has nearly 200,000 followers. Along with Brand Agency London’s other brands, it’s been adept at generating buzz with high-profile partnerships. It partnered with the television shows “Outer Banks” and “Vampire Diaries” in 2024 and 2023, respectively. 

Ciaté London teamed up with beauty influencer Chloe Morello on two eyeshadow palettes in 2016 and 2017. The brand has also collaborated with Disney and Pixar on multiple makeup collections, including ones featuring Edna Mode, Jessica Rabbit and Miss Piggy. The Jessica Rabbit collection sold out at Sephora and the brand’s site within two days of its launch in 2019. 

In 2023, beauty industry experts forecast Brand Agency London would generate between $30 million and $50 million in revenues. In addition to Sephora, Ciaté London was previously carried by Mecca. Started in the nail category, it branched into makeup, and among its bestsellers are $24 Wonderwand Mascara, $24 Dewy Stix Bronzing Balm and $22 Watermelon Burst Setting Spray.

Gen Z-oriented Lottie London has had several products go viral on TikTok, including $8.99 Superfake Mascara, $6.99 Stamp Liner Wing Edition, $8.99 Freckle Tint and $10.99 Diamond Bounce. It entered U.S. retail through Ulta’s site, where it told the publication Glossy its sales skyrocketed 85% between 2017 and 2020 before it expanded to Walmart, CVS, Urban Outfitters, Asos and Lookfantastic. 

Hitting the market during the pandemic, gen Z skincare brand Skin Proud was in Asos and CVS. Following its launch, it extended into haircare with Hair Proud and body care with Body Proud, which ran a body positivity campaign on TikTok in 2023. TikTok-favorite Skin Proud products include $15.95 Serious Shade SPF 50 Sunscreen and $14.95 Face Melt Cleansing Balm.