Heba Maksad, who’s been a hairstylist for more than 19 years, has launched vivid haircare brand Vollie with a five-product collection, including three liquid products—$44 hair mask Super Soft, $60 hair oil Dream Defender and $48 hair gloss So Glazed—a $42 comb and $20 shower shelf.
The brand’s name is a nod to volume and is hitting the market at a moment when big hair is big. Maksad says, “Our mission is to empower clients to take up space, find their voice and turn up the volume on their confidence. We’re here to make haircare fun and help clients achieve their ultimate hair goals with salon-quality results right at home.”
Following three years in development and over 100 iterations, high-end refillable deodorant (or its preferred terms “anti-odorant” and “de-perspirant”) brand Rollr has launched with a probiotic and prebiotic formula that users combine with water in glass bottles featuring steel and gemstone applicators. The deodorant comes in three scents—vetiver and lemon, mandarin and cedarwood, and clary sage and rosemary—and is priced at $42, with refills at $18.
Entrepreneur Milo Pinckney developed Rollr in partnership with agency Mother Design and incubator Broody, both in the Mother Family group of businesses. The brand joins a growing number of British brands, including Fussy and Wild, taking the deodorant category upmarket and sustainable.
After growing up with mobility challenges due to psoriatic arthritis that made it difficult to use makeup, 21-year-old Aerin Glazer has launched accessible makeup brand Tilt Beauty with two products—$28 Lashscape Mascara and $26 Stick Hydrating Lip Treatment—with patented grippy packaging to help people with similar challenges hold and apply them. It’s the first makeup brand to achieve the Arthritis Foundation’s Ease of Use Certification.
Tilt Beauty’s site and packaging includes the Braille Institute’s Atkinson Hyperlegible font on its site and packaging to enhance readability for those with impaired eyesight. The mascara and lip treatment are refillable, and refills are priced at $18 and $16, respectively. To develop the brand, Glazer worked with her mother Shari and Steve Levine, former COO at Jones Road Beauty. Glazer’s father Edward is one of the owners of the professional sports teams Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United.
Allison Statter, CEO and founder of marketing and communications agency Blended Strategy Group, has released the eau de parfum XOa. The scent, which contains apricot, mango and mandarin top notes; vanilla, muguet and floral middle notes; and caramel, tonka and vanilla base notes, was developed with fragrance company Tru Fragrance & Beauty.
XOa isn’t Statter’s beauty product debut. In 2022, she released the deodorant brand Nez with her Blended Strategy Group co-founder Sherry Jhawar, who’s no longer at the agency. In the portfolio of investment firm Dream Ventures, Nez appears to be on hiatus. Its website reports it’s “working on a packaging restage.”
Charlotte Matousova, who’s worked in public relations, diplomacy and beauty sales, has launched Lotta Beauty, a skincare brand starting with five products: $65 Grapefruit Gel Cleanser, $99 HA Serum with Peptides, $65 Silk Dream Glaze Moisturizer, $22 Silk Lip Glaze and $85 Vitamin CBE Ferulic Serum.
Dime, the skincare and fragrance brand available in Ulta Beauty, has named Cyndi Isgrig as CEO. A Sandbridge Capital board member, Isgrig was previously CEO and president of Dermstore. Dime sells one of its viral 7 Summers fragrances every four minutes or roughly 131,400 units per year. Aesthetician Baylee founded the brand in 2018 with her husband Ryan Relf and business partner Mitch Casey. Ryan Relf and Casey are also co-founders of beauty contract manufacturer SMPL and venture capital firm Slapjack Capital.
Good Time, a plastic-free haircare and body care brand from eco-friendly toilet paper company Who Gives A Crap, is closing after three years in business. In an email, Who Gives A Crap founder Danny Alexander and GM Hannah Kamran wrote, “It was a difficult decision, but ultimately running two brands put a lot of pressure on our team. We’re reinvesting all of our attention to Who Gives A Crap to have the most impact possible.”
Ouli’s Ointment, which was stocked by clean beauty retailers and e-tailers such as The Detox Market and Integrity Botanicals, has shuttered. Inspired by her Greek roots, makeup artist Stephanie G-M started the brand known for its All Purpose Beauty Ointment in 2016. On Instagram, she wrote, “It’s hard not to feel like it’s a fail having to do this, but I know whatever is on the other side will be an upgrade. I’ve had to follow my heart on this.”
Sly Beauty Cosmetics, a cosmetic bag brand founded by makeup artist Ashley Sylvester in 2019 that sold to over 30,000 customers, is shuttering.
Paxos Skin Care is closing. Founder Maggie Davis was inspired to launch the small-batch skincare and fragrance brand eight years ago after exploring the natural beauty of the Greek island Paxos.
After seven years, founder Max Hemphill has closed Ascension, a clean skincare brand that got its products into Nordstrom and Urban Outfitters and was mentioned in Teen Vogue and Oprah Magazine. In an email to customers, he wrote, “I want to express my deepest gratitude: To my closest friends, who championed and supported me every step of the way. And most importantly, to you—our customers. You helped this young Black man from NJ see endless possibilities, and for that, I am forever grateful.” Hemphill is focusing on his creative agency and production studio serving small- to medium-sized brands.
Gemini Naturals, a brand specializing in temporary color for textured hair that participated in Target’s Takeoff accelerator program in 2022, is closing. Lianne Dobson, a content creator and former physician assistant, founded it in 2018.
Lauren Bloomer, former president of The Good Glamm Group and CEO of Becca Cosmetics, has been appointed CEO of Winky Lux, the playful makeup brand acquired by private equity firm CORE Industrial Partners last year. Co-founder Natalie Mackey is staying on board as creative director.
Scandinavian skincare and scalp care brand Under Your Skin has launched at Credo, its first American retailer where it’s selling nine products, including Density Drops, Density Shampoo and Conditioner, Soothing Scalp Treatment Drops, and Soothing Scalp Treatment Shampoo and Conditioner. Founded in 2018 by mother- daughter duo Christina and Lovisa Hahn, Under Your Skin celebrated its entrance in the United States with a collaboration with New York City matcha destination Cha Cha Matcha last month.
Natural children’s personal care brand Dabble & Dollop has rolled out across Target stores nationwide with nine stockkeeping units, including $12.99 tear-free 3-in-1 Bubble Bath, Body Wash and Shampoo and $14.99 Mini Bath Bombs. Stephanie Leshney, who previously worked with her father at a natural ingredients company supplying beauty and personal care brands, founded Dabble & Dollop in 2019.
Soapbox Soaps, a brand from incubator Impact Driven Brands, has landed at Target. It’s centered on a giveback model in which it donates a bar of soap for every product purchased. Along with Target, the brand is available at Walmart, Rite Aid, City Market and Sally Beauty. On its site, Soapbox’s products are largely priced at $8.99 or $9.99.
Beauty by Imagination, the parent company of Ouidad, Goody and Wet Brush, has partnered with LoveShackFancy on 35 hairbrushes and accessories priced from $7.99 to $17.99 sold in select LoveShackFancy and Target stores as well as on Target’s site. LoveShackFancy is also releasing a $125 fragrance called Love on the Beach, which it describes as having a solar floral scent. The publication Women’s Wear Daily cites industry sources projecting the company’s beauty sales will reach $30 million this year.
Alchimie Forever has launched the $29 Peptide Lip Booster, its first new product since 2021. Industry sources told WWD that the clean skincare brand could hit $4 million in 2025 net sales. Alchimie Forever was started 21 years ago by Ada Polla, daughter of Luigi Polla, a dermatologist and founder of the Geneva aesthetics destination Forever Institut.
SWAT Equity Partners, the New York investment firm started in 2015 and backing beauty and wellness brands such as Jupiter, Mad Rabbit, Winx and Womaness, has rebranded as InviNext Growth Partners and attracted a high-profile partner, Debra Perelman, former CEO of Revlon.
Angela Caglia Skin Care has rolled out across Bluemercury stores and, according to information on the financial site Pitch Book, it raised $3.3 million in venture capital funding in February. In 2023, the brand secured investment from former Sephora CEO Martin Brok.
Sharon Chuter, who launched Uoma Beauty in 2019, has issued a press release announcing that she filed a lawsuit on Feb. 25 against investment firms BrainTrust Fund and MacArthur Beauty, which she alleges have illegally taken control of the inclusive makeup brand. The complaint delves into disputes between BrainTrust and Uoma, including claims that BrainTrust refused to move forward with loans Chuter secured to cover $6.2 million in debt Uoma owed to consumer brand financing company Settle and balked at Chuter’s $15 million offer to buy the brand in 2023. Instead, it divulges BrainTrust offered to buy Chuter’s shares for $288,000 based on a $10 million valuation.
The complaint reveals Uoma raised $4 million in series A funding at a $50 million pre-money valuation in 2022, when it generated $15 million in revenues with break-even earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Chuter provided a $750,000 loan to Uoma under a promissory note in the series A round. In the first five months of 2023, the brand generated $8 million in revenues. At that point, Chuter stepped down from a CEO position at the brand for health reasons. Isgrig, now CEO of Dime, became interim CEO, but she left along with other executives at the brand in July 2023, according to the suit.
In October 2023, BrainTrust founder Kendra Bracken-Ferguson emailed Uoma’s shareholders that it wasn’t able to locate Chuter and couldn’t fundraise to keep the brand afloat, raising the possibility it would default. The email, which is an exhibit in the suit, mentions Chuter has a controlling interest. Chuter learned about MacArthur buying Uoma from a Business of Fashion article in December 2023. The brand previously achieved distribution in Walmart, CVS, Ulta, Selfridges, Nordstrom and QVC.
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