VMG Partners has taken a minority stake in The Doux, the mass-market haircare brand known for its texture foam Mousse Def.
Sources tell Beauty Independent the brand reached $38 million in sales and $7.3 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in 2025. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but sources estimate transactions like this one are trading at revenue multiples of 3X to 5X, with the highest multiples reserved for brands like The Doux that have demonstrated traction in retail and strong conviction around their eventual exit.
The deal marks VMG’s second investment in as many weeks in a mass-market beauty brand. The private equity firm recently invested $70 million for a minority stake in sun care brand Vacation, which sources say carried a roughly $210 million valuation. VMG closed a $1 billion consumer-focused fund last year and sold Drunk Elephant to Shiseido in 2019.
While VMG has extensive exposure to prestige beauty through portfolio brands such as Nécessaire, Danessa Myricks and Kosas, its increasing focus on mass-market beauty brands—Tone is another mass-market brand in its portfolio—reflects confidence in the ongoing growth of value-oriented retail. Mass beauty outpaced prestige last year, growing 5% compared to 4% in dollars, according to market research firm Circana.
However, haircare’s growth was greater in prestige than mass, at 8% to 4%. Across mass and prestige, haircare has been an area of significant interest among investors and strategic buyers in the beauty industry. Henkel has inked deals this year for haircare brands Not Your Mother’s and Olaplex, the former at an estimated price of around $927 million and the latter at $1.4 billion.
The Doux entered big-box retail with Target in 2017 before landing at Walmart two years later. The brand has since expanded to Sally Beauty, CVS, CosmoProf, Walgreens, Boots and Superdrug. The funding from VMG will be used to support its business at retail. VMG typically invests $10 million to $100 million in growth-stage brands, according to its website. Kate Barton, former chief growth officer of The Honest Co., has joined The Doux as president.
“The Doux receiving private equity investment further validates that the textured haircare segment is both high-growth and still underpenetrated.”
Maya Smith launched The Doux with 5,000 euros or roughly $6,600 based on the exchange rate at the time as an outgrowth of The HoneyComb, a now-closed salon she opened in 2008 in Germany, where her husband Brian, her co-founder at the brand, was stationed in the U.S. Air Force. The 15-year-old company’s first product was texture cream Bonita Afro Balm, but Mousse Def is the product that catapulted it. Introduced in 2014, Smith mentioned to Beauty Independent in a 2023 interview that Mousse Def was the “No. 1 Black-owned mousse in the category.”
Today, The Doux sells around two dozen products priced from about $10 to $30, with most items in the mid-teens price range. Along with Mousse Def, its core products include Big Poppa Defining Gel, 808 Base Gel and C.R.E.A.M. Twist & Curl Cream. The newest launch is Block Party, a collection designed to combat humidity and frizz.
Textured haircare, a segment valued at over $1.3 billion in the United States, according to category management firm Strategic Solutions International, has had a topsy-turvy experience with mergers and acquisitions. L’Oréal acquired Carol’s Daughter for a reported $60 million to $70 million in 2014, only to divest it last year to founder Lisa Price and Joe Wong, an entrepreneur who’s been amassing L’Oréal carveouts. In 2017, Unilever acquired Sundial Brand, parent company of SheaMoisture, for approximately $1.6 billion. In 2023, Procter & Gamble acquired Mielle Organics in a reportedly $640 million deal.
With The Doux part of VMG’s portfolio, M&A attention is likely to shift to other scaled textured haircare brands such as Pattern Beauty, Camille Rose and Cécred. Throughout the category, brands face mounting competition as new entrants pour in, notably Cardi B’s haircare brand Grow-Good Beauty, developed in partnership with Revolve.
Textured haircare entrepreneurs and executives view VMG’s investment in The Doux as a positive step for the segment. “The Doux receiving private equity investment further validates that the textured haircare segment is both high-growth and still underpenetrated. It reinforces that brands serving textured hair consumers are not niche, but represent a significant, loyal market with strong purchasing power,” says Ameka Coleman, founder of haircare brand Strands of Faith. “It also signals a broader shift toward investors backing brands that have built authentic community connections and demonstrated real demand, rather than relying solely on trend-driven growth.”
Consumers have frequently pushed back against Black-owned brands selling to conglomerates or securing external investment. Aishia Strickland, founder of digital education hub Black Girl Curls, explains that they worry about formulas changing and ties to Black ownership being severed. She says, “Shopping Black-owned brands is important to many consumers, but I do hope…that people can hold space for allowing The Doux to make decisions that serve the greater good of being able to serve their customers to the best of their ability.”
She adds, “The Doux has always been intentional, thoughtful and resourceful throughout the years, and Maya Smith is a creative genius. Having the budget to execute her ideas will be a huge part of their continued growth.”
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