Launched: 2022
Founder:
Key Executives:
2024 Full Year Expected Revenue Range: <$10M, according to industry estimates.
Offline points of distribution globally projected for 2024: 20-50
Primary Category: Color Cosmetics / Makeup
Other Categories:
Key Markets:
Retail Partnerships:
Primary Distribution Channel: DTC
Other Distribution Channels: brick-and-mortar
Funding Rounds: Self-funded / None
Notable Investors / Funding Partners: David De Giglio
My inspiration for the brand came from years consulting in the industry. ISAMAYA is a new approach to makeup, one that stretches the limitations of beauty, offering a series of technical and innovative performance products that make you look and feel good. Unlike normal beauty brands, ISAMAYA follows the format of the fashion Industry creating drops, different moods, and creating a new storytelling space for a community of beauty enthusiasts to be part of.
Insight shared by: Isamaya Ffrench, Founder
What are you key business initiatives for 2024?
After launching several makeup capsules, ISAMAYA will debut a core line towards the end of 2024, featuring a modern lineup of innovative skincare/makeup hybrids housed in timeless, clean and edgy chrome packaging. This collection will include clever, easy-to-use everyday products and wellness tools, and we will keep feeding new drops in over time. Our founder, Isamaya, is going to spend most of 2024 developing the business in the US, which is where most of our customer base is.
What are you most proud of having accomplished?
We are proud of having created a brand that has a totally different approach and visual aesthetic, cutting through the noise of a very saturated market, as well as having developed products that have been praised by industry specialists and been given awards by various press outlets worldwide. We are also very proud of having built a strong social media presence with a community that has had a rare, steady growth since the beginning, creating content that has great engagement rates for such a young brand.
What has been the biggest surprise?
The biggest surprise has been the overwhelming wide response from customers globally. Our reach went far beyond industry people that were following Isamaya. We’re so happy to see that our products speak for themselves to a wide breadth of people, from Gen Z TikTokers to celebrities, from trusted makeup artists to curious grandparents. So many people reached out to say their grandmas love our emblematic lipsticks.
What fuels your competitive advantage?
It's uncompromising originality. We have remained true to our word since the launch: creating a unique brand of high quality, luxurious products hosted in modern, collectible-like packaging and promoted with strong, elevated imagery that stays away from the unrelatable and repetitive standards the beauty industry has been feeding its audience for decades.
Please share your insight on the future of the beauty industry.
Even though it’s hard to say where and how fast it will go, the mixture of lab innovations in research and constantly evolving technologies in digital and in the way we consume goods is set to pursue a fascinating trajectory in the next decade for beauty. Not just for cosmetics, but for the history of beauty as a concept shaped by aesthetic ideals too.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Follow your guts. There’s not much authenticity following a recipe that worked in a time that couldn’t be more different than today, and you can’t fool consumers with ready-made marketing strategies if you don’t believe in your project wholeheartedly.
What’s the best mistake you’ve ever made?
In the past, some of the products we created had a more traditional female aesthetic. Over time I realized that my audience expects a more creative approach from the Isamaya brand.
Paying it forward, what advice would you give someone contemplating launching a beauty brand?
Find a concept, or a target audience, or a lack on the market that you believe in; invest your soul in it and get your hands dirty in the lab to make products you love, and try them on a lot of different people for a long time before pressing the button to run 50,000 copies.
If you could change one thing in the beauty industry what would it be?
There are actually two that we care about. First of all, simply find ways to reduce waste in such a disposable-heavy market. Second, unify legal procedures globally and provide more transparency and education on everything you can read on packagings, from unspeakable words used in ingredients lists to obscure vocabulary on directions, from fake studies to ambiguous claims on products and treatment benefits.
