How Juno & Co.’s $6 Makeup Sponge Went Viral

Juno & Co. sold 250,000 Velvet Microfiber Sponges within 30 days of the product’s launch. “It’s crazy how it just grew,” says Mira Torres, the brand’s co-founder. At first blush, the pale blue sponge appears to be like any other makeup blender on the market. It’s takes a deeper look to realize the material is the point of difference. Juno proclaims it was able to create a sponge that absorbs significantly less product than rival sponges while delivering an airbrushed finish by coating polyurethane with fibers smaller than strands of silk. “Liquid foundations and concealers sit on top of the fabric rather than going into the sponge, so you can use a pea-sized amount of product to cover your whole face,” says Torres. Beauty Independent spoke with the entrepreneur to discover the secrets of the innovative product’s overnight success.

Launch date: June 2018

Units sold: 300,000

Product development: The Velvet Microfiber Sponge was developed based on feedback Torres received on the brand’s first product, Microfiber Fusion Sponge, which came out in November 2017. Prior to founding the company, Torres worked as a social media manager for the beauty subscription service Ipsy, where she saw the power of crowdsourcing first-hand. “When we started plugging the Fusion Sponge, we got our community together and asked how they felt about it,” she says. “They told us they wanted a better tip so they could get into the creases of their face and the contours. They asked for something softer that they could easily hold in their hand and something that they could set down without having to use a holder.” The Velvet Microfiber Sponge was constructed with a flat bottom to stay upright, a slanted side and precision tip for reaching tough places, and a smaller size than the earlier sponge.

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Juno & Co. has sold 300,000 units of its Velvet Microfiber Sponge.

Retail price: A single Velvet Microfiber Sponge retails for $6, and a pack of four is sold for $20. “We want everything that we make to be super affordable because that was the thing that I always hated about makeup is that it was so expensive,” says Torres, a store operations manager at Ulta prior to landing at Ipsy. “When I worked in retail at Ulta, I could see how much things were bought at cost, and I was always like, ‘We’re charging people how much more?’ So, when I made a company, I wanted to make sure that the price points were affordable and practical so everybody could have a piece of it. I personally think that anything under $10 is a great deal, and anything under $8 or $7 is an even better deal. When I factored in shipping and the actual cost to make it, $6 seemed like the most practical price.”

The price point has resonated with consumers, particularly those 18- to 24-years-old, that run across beauty blenders on shelves charging $20. Torres says, “The people who really, really love us are usually girls in college who are trying to find a signature look on a budget or professional women who want to be practical with their money.”

Distribution strategy: Currently, the sponge is only sold on the brand’s website, but the company is in talks to enter several retailers in the fashion and lifestyle space in early 2019. For now, Juno is focused on spreading the word via social media and direct marketing. Torres says, “We send out surveys and emails to people who have purchased this before, and I’m in direct contact with our customers and influencers over social media.”

Major milestones: Two influencers have been pivotal in the rise of the Velvet Microfiber Sponge. The month it launched, YouTube stars Nikkie de Jager, better known as NikkieTutorials, and Kathleen Fuentes, aka KathleenLights, both featured it on their channels, which have 11.2 and 3.9 million subscribers, respectively. Neither of the vloggers were paid for the mention. Torres says, “It put us on everybody’s radar, and we got all these orders in. It was crazy.”

Hiccups along the way to success: The order influx was welcome, but it led to inventory problems. “After the vloggers talked about us, it was really hard to keep up with the volume and demand,” says Torres, elaborating, “We only had X amount of inventory, which we sold out of quickly. People were so pissed.” The brand troubleshot with its manufacturers and moved warehouses to accommodate the enormous amount it was selling. While Torres could never have anticipated blowing through 250,000 units in a month, she advises other startups to try to have enough inventory on hand to keep customers happy.

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YouTube stars Nikkie de Jager, better known as NikkieTutorials, and Kathleen Fuentes, aka KathleenLights, helped put Juno & Co.’s Microfiber Velvet Sponge on the map.

Maintaining momentum: While the Velvet Microfiber Sponge remains Juno’s top performer, sales have slowed since the brand’s banner month. To generate new social media buzz and celebrate its first birthday, Juno is currently hosting the #junospongechallenge encouraging up-and-coming bloggers to produce full-face makeups look with the sponge as their sole application tool. Three winners will receive top-of-the-line blogger equipment kits—think ring lights and cameras—worth $10,000 (first place), $5,000 (second place) and $1,000 (third place) to achieve their influencer dreams. Torres says, “Going viral was the biggest thing for us, and we’re so thankful for everybody who spoke about us and shared us because we definitely wouldn’t have gotten to that 250,000 without them, so this is also our way to give back to the blogger community.” To enter, participants can upload their videos on the Juno site through the end of November.

What’s next: Juno is launching additional versions of the Velvet Microfiber Sponge over the next two months. “We came up with different colors, different shapes and different sizes,” says Torres. “We’ll have sponges shaped for people who are just learning how to apply makeup, some for makeup artists, and some for people who just want to bake.”