On its ninth birthday, Deciem, the maker of blockbuster beauty brand The Ordinary, took to Instagram to announce that it would be closing four of its smaller brands to focus on its hero business The Ordinary. The company will wind down the operations of HIF, Hylamide, Abnomaly, and The Chemistry Brand, selling remaining products until they are sold out. The Ordinary, Deciem's most successful brand, and Niod, the businesses’ high-end skincare range, will continue operations. 

"As we turn nine, and move towards completing Deciem's first decade, we are refocusing our attention on science-first functional skincare. Niod will always be our platform for pushing the limits of science in skincare. And The Ordinary will continue to raise communication and pricing integrity in the beauty industry."

The post continued, "This new approach will power us to do more of what you love, while allowing us the space to innovate with new brands in the future. As our little company has grown, we've discovered that focus is absolutely necessary in order to give brands the love they deserve." 

The brand started the year with an announcement that it had to raise prices on The Ordinary to sustain its business, but that it wanted to tell its consumers in advance so they could stock up on products at their current price for two weeks.

Deciem made the announcement on Instagram, explaining, "The early days of a start-up are fun, they are also messy. Our pricing inconsistency across markets is a reflection of this beautiful mess. Now that we're growing up, we need to fix this. We need to make things more fair. We are forever committed to pricing our products with integrity and hope you see this advanced communication as a marker of our continued dedication to being transparent with you."

These announcements came just over a year after The Estée Lauder Companies became the majority owner of Deciem. In 2017 the company took a 29 percent stake that valued the business at $2.2 billion, increasing the stake to 76 percent in February 2021, with a full purchase of the brand planned after three years.

Lauder has been rationalizing its portfolio driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, shuttering Becca, Rodin Olio Lusso, and the Aramis and Designer fragrances division, looking to focus investment to growth areas.