Hey EastBiBi!!

Today’s newsletter will be a tad bit different because I wanted to share something really special with you all. So, as some of you know, I’m a journalist. I write for a few online publications, and one of my favorites is The Robin Report.

Well, sometimes my articles don’t make the cut for publishing. I still want to share the articles, so I thought it would be a great idea to share them here every once in a while.

Enjoy!

Let’s be honest, nobody asked Serena for makeup, but that doesn’t mean she can’t still earn it. 

Celebrity-founded beauty brands reached more than $1.1B in U.S. sales in 2023, according to NIQ tracking of 43 celebrity brands.  It’s also worth noting that the makeup category is currently being dominated by fragrance. 

This is why I wasn’t shocked to see WYN Beauty’s products ON SALE at ULTA. I do admit that 75% off all products sounded a bit crazy.

Right now, it may feel as if celebrity-backed beauty brands are collapsing. But I can assure you, they’re not. The industry is just “maturing.” 

Shoppers still buy what works, but remember, they’re getting smarter. The old days of having a big name and face to sell products are gone. That means no more easy wins for celebrities looking to diversify their brands.

WYN launched with accessible price points, thoughtful shade ranges, and that neon-tennis visual. But the story stopped at the color. If you promise “active beauty,” we expect athlete-grade performance.

There were no third-party wear tests, or even, at the very least, content with athletes and trainers, not just models in studio light.

Outside of chartreuse, the athlete narrative wasn’t carried through the product, claims, education, or retail experience. That’s the gap.

When you’re as BIG as Serena, you have to come correct, especially when you’re stacked against brands like Fenty Beauty and Haus Labs.

Fenty is a house brand that was founded with complexion inclusion in mind. The brand keeps shades consistent across launches and stays disciplined about where and how it sells. This is their foundation and they rarely deviate from that. This is important because when the market cools, as it inevitably will, shoppers trust the products no matter who the face of the brand is.

Lady GaGa’s Haus Labs is a case study in “fix it and relaunch.” They could’ve shuttered after making the absolute worst decision to launch a luxury makeup line on Amazon. Instead, they left a misfit channel, improved their formulas, and rebuilt at Sephora where people could experience the brand. Consumers were very forgiving of the first decision because of their well-executed pivot.

WYN has to earn relevance the hard way: athlete-first, product-led. Speak like an athletic brand and sell like a beauty company.

Start with one undeniable hero, which is, in my opinion, the skin tint, and prove its worth to the consumer. It would also help to commission third-party sweat/heat/humidity testing and run time-stamped “pre-/post-workout” demos. 

The most important step they can take is to put the brand in real athletic communities. One huge hit would be a partnership with the WNBA, but they can gain small wins with run clubs and trainers.

Celebrity beauty isn’t over; it’s just apparent that fame can’t fix a weak “why.” The labels that last behave like real beauty companies: operationally tight, distribution-smart, and obsessed with how the product feels at 4 p.m., not 4 minutes after application. That’s why Fenty compounds, Haus Labs redeemed, and where WYN has more work to do.