Maëlys Rides Body Care’s Momentum With Retail Growth

With Ulta Beauty focused on catering to skin below the chin, Maëlys is making the most of the opportunity by expanding at the beauty specialty retailer.

The brand has become one of a dozen brands—and the only body care specialist—in Ulta’s Target shop-in-shops’ new Brands We Love assortment. Other brands in it spanning makeup, skincare and haircare are Divi, Live Tinted, Nudestix, Florence by Mills, Bondi Boost, Ouidad, Murad, StriVectin, Smashbox, Stila and Polite Society.

Meanwhile, in March, Maëlys launched its first-ever ingestible, Liquid Collagen + Biotin, across Ulta and Ulta inside Target. The brand entered Ulta’s shop-in-shops at Target last summer based on its strong performance at Ulta stores, where it rolled out at all doors in 2022 after being sold on the retailer’s website. 

Maëlys’ sales are up 460% year-over-year, with a majority of the brand’s sales traction driven by its hero products, Get-Dreamy Overnight Toning Body Whip, B-Tight Lift & Firm Booty Mask, B-Glossy Smoothing Body Serum and B-Flat Belly Firming Cream. The bestsellers have experienced 5X sales growth from January to April this year and 12X sales growth in-store year-over-year, according to Maëlys CEO Rom Ginzburg. The brand’s prices run from $29 to $69, and its bestsellers are in the $49 to $59 range.

In 2022, Maëlys disclosed it surpassed $125 million in sales. The brand launched in 2017 and received investment from Grove Collaborative backer Norwest Venture Partners in 2021. 

Maëlys’ recent growth comes as the body care subcategory has outshone skincare. According to market research firm Circana, prestige skincare sales dipped 3% in dollars, but were up 1% in units in the first quarter this year. By contrast, sales of body care products such as body sprays, serums, deodorants and hand soaps rose a double-digit percentage. 

“Consumers are starting to connect with what they need in their body care routines as much as they do for their facial skincare,” says Ginzburg. “This is something that we’ve been preaching for the past six years now, and it’s getting more momentum from the consumer perspective.” He adds the GLP-1 boom is also boosting sales of Maëlys’ products designed to tone and tighten skin on the body. 

At Ulta’s installations inside Target, Maëlys started with four stockkeeping units, but has extended its selection to nine in the Brands We Love section. It will remain in that selection through October this year. Ulta has 610 shop-in-shops at Target. Target and Ulta had planned to expand the concept to 800 stores, but the expansion has been paused. 

Orchestrated by Mallory Goodman, SVP of brand at Maëlys and ex-VP of brand at Glow Recipe, Maëlys has supported its business at stores with events and activations for consumers and influencers. The brand is pulling digital levers, too, especially TikTok. In market research firm NielsenIQ’s Body Care Category Overview 2025, it’s listed among the top-selling body care brands on the platform. 

Ginzburg notes that TikTok success depends on a 360-degree approach. “You have to have a very strong organic presence. Without that, good luck,” he says. “You have to leverage relationships with influencers and, of course, use the affiliate model that TikTok is really pushing for. You have to do paid media like any other social media channel. And then, on top of that, you have to have Lives. When you’re doing this combination of organic and paid with affiliate and it all clicks together, it can really explode. That’s what we’re seeing.”

Ginzburg tips his hat to TikTok, which he says has partnered with Maëlys closely since the introduction of TikTok Shop in 2024. “I will not tell you that it exploded from day one, but we have been patient,” says Ginzburg. “We are looking at it as a strategic channel and hard work and strategy pays off.” 

The investment Maëlys has poured into TikTok has been significant. In February, Maëlys was chosen by the platform for a week-long campaign spotlighting select brands, and he estimates the brand spent about $500,000 to participate in the initiative. “This week by itself gave us another push and increased awareness that is now paying off big time as well,” he says. “We did invest a lot of money, but, again, we’re seeing all the fruits as we speak.”