Key Takeaways:
Olaplex lost its way the moment it went public. Henkel, its new owner, now faces a narrow window to rebuild the American premium haircare brand if it returns the label to its core: repairing damaged hair.
Late last month, when the German industrial consumer goods conglomerate announced its acquisition of Olaplex from private equity firm Advent International, it pointed to “meaningful opportunities to accelerate innovation.” The deal followed closely on Henkel’s purchase of fast-growing haircare and styling brand Not Your Mother’s, owned by private equity firm Main Post Partners and marketed under the tagline “affordable haircare for all hair types,” as the conglomerate leans further into the haircare business. In 2025, the category emerged as its primary source of growth within the consumer brands division, with its laundry and home care business logging a slight revenue decline.
That innovation drive, however, risks repeating the trajectory Olaplex took under Advent International, insiders experts say, as the company expanded aggressively across channels, retail distribution, and product launches to sustain growth and meet expectations.
“Olaplex already made the mistake of going broadly, while what made it unique was that it was a brand recommended to the consumer by salon specialists,” Erich Joachimsthaler, Chief Executive of consulting firm Vivaldi Group, told BeautyMatter “Consumers don’t buy a category, they buy a solution to a problem.”
The shift away from its core positioning came at a steep cost. Olaplex’s rapid retail expansion strategy, central to its IPO pitch along with an entry into the skincare category that never happened, coincided with a collapse in valuation. The company went from a peak of around $19 billion in January 2022 to less than $900 million before the Henkel deal, as annual revenue fell to roughly $423 million in 2025 from $704 million three years earlier.
Joachimsthaler warned that Henkel could end up “destroying Olaplex even more” if it applies the same playbook to other Henkel-owned brands, like Schwarzkopf. Instead, he suggested, Olaplex should be run as a standalone business, rather than folded into Henkel’s broader haircare portfolio.
“Olaplex is special,” Joachimsthaler said, noting that the brand’s weak performance in recent years—particularly after the noise surrounding lawsuits from consumers alleging hair loss in 2023, even if they were later dismissed—stems from trying to position itself as just another haircare line.
“It’s not haircare,” he reiterated, meaning it isn’t a product meant for everyday use.
The “Consistent Use of Olaplex” Sales Plan that Led to Its Downfall
Early commentary from JuE Wong, Olaplex’s first CEO, now reads as an early signal of the challenges ahead. Wong left the company in 2023 amid that litigation—which escalated into a global headline-grabbing scandal—after nearly four years in the role, having previously led Moroccanoil as global CEO and served as president of Elizabeth Arden.
During Olaplex’s first earnings call as a publicly traded company in 2021, Wong emphasized Olaplex’s positioning as a solution for longer-term use.
“Studies have shown that 91% of women do something to damage their hair daily,” Wong told analysts. “But with consistent and regular use of Olaplex products, consumers will have stronger, healthier-looking hair.”
She went further, highlighting the company’s patent-protected technology as a point of differentiation, promising visible results across all hair types, from “shine” and “hydration” to “less frizz” and “more body and bounce” “from that very first application.”
At the same time, then–Chief Financial Officer Eric Tiziani underscored the company’s financial model, describing an “outstanding financial profile” and pointing to what he saw as significant room for expansion.
“We see substantial white space to grow Olaplex within our core category of haircare across channels and geographies,” he said.
Together, the remarks positioned Olaplex as both a repeat-use necessity and a scalable global platform—two pillars that ultimately stretched the brand beyond its original mission and fueled what some insiders have described as product misuse. As the 2023 lawsuits unfolded, revenue plunged 35%, while the stock plunged further and never rebounded.
Since then, the company turned to new leadership to reset its trajectory. Amanda Baldwin, the former CEO of sun skincare label Supergoop!, took the helm and introduced the “Bonds & Beyond” restructuring plan while cautioning that the recovery would not be linear. Sales declines began to moderate, with revenue falling 7.8% in 2024.
Analysts such as TD Cowen’s Jonna Kim have pointed to progress in the turnaround, saying “management’s strategies are bearing fruit” driven by higher marketing spending and product innovation.
In her latest research note on Olaplex, Kim said that while the turnaround has been gradual, the company has laid the right foundation to drive growth this year, supported by opportunities in both the US and international markets.
“We believe a combination of revamping of hero/core products, new product launches rooted in science and efficacy, and improved marketing campaigns should start to resonate with consumers leading to better sell-through and sell-in trends,” she added.
Under Baldwin’s leadership, the reset ultimately persuaded potential buyers of the brand’s value, paving the way for a second sale of the company since its founding in California in 2014.
Less than a month after Olaplex reported its latest results, showing broadly flat revenue for 2025, Advent International agreed to sell the business to Henkel for $2.06 per share, implying an equity value of about $1.4 billion. The deal locked in a decline of more than 90% from its post-IPO peak—a sharp reversal for a brand that lost momentum even as the premium haircare market is projected to grow 6% to 7% annually through 2029, according to Euromonitor.
With Henkel now in control of Olaplex, the task is to continue reviving the brand to capitalize on the haircare category’s growth as competition intensifies.
The Dangers of a Single-Brand IPO
Industry insiders generally view the Olaplex acquisition as a win-win for the parties involved in the transaction.
For Advent International, the deal marked a clean and highly lucrative exit. For Henkel, it presented what many saw as a bargain, with Joachimsthaler describing it as a “steal.” The real losers were the investors who bought in at the IPO, he added.
However, Olaplex faces the inherent volatility of being a "monobrand" company, warned Lisa Langhart, a consumer and retail investment banker, most recently at BNP Paribas.
While single-brand peers like e.l.f. Beauty eventually found success after going public, their path was anything but linear. e.l.f. lost a significant portion of its valuation following its 2016 IPO and only regained momentum by aggressively diversifying into distribution and categories such as skincare, as well as through M&A, most notably the acquisition of Rhode for $1 billion to offset limited white space across its domestic market.
Olaplex, unlike beauty companies that broaden their portfolios, lacked that safety net. "It doesn’t help that it was a single brand, because that’s all you are," Langhart said. "Even if you’re a $15 billion company, that’s $15 billion tied to just one brand.”
FOMO in the Haircare M&A Market
Henkel’s acquisition of Olaplex is the latest signal that dealmaking in beauty is accelerating again, even as the broader macro backdrop remains uncertain.
The transaction underscores how active the year is shaping up to be for beauty M&A, according to Wendy Nicholson, Managing Director of Global Consumer Investment at Baird.
While the industry remains wary of the ripple effects from geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, from oil prices to consumer spending, travel, and supply chains, there is a growing pool of brands seeking a home within larger strategic portfolios.
“M&A has been selective for a few years, but now with Henkel, L’Oréal, and Estée Lauder active, there’s a bit of FOMO,” Nicholson said. “Buyers might become more active.”
That renewed appetite is particularly evident in haircare, a category regaining strategic importance across both corporate and private equity buyers. Wella Company, for instance, is reportedly preparing for an initial public offering after Coty sold its remaining roughly 26% stake in Wella to KKR for $750 million in cash. The hair care conglomerate has also tapped Calvin McDonald, formerly CEO of Lululemon and previously head of Sephora Americas, to lead its next phase.
Wella could soon emerge as a more credible challenger to industry heavyweights Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and L’Oréal, which continue to dominate the global haircare market—underscoring both the scale of the opportunity and the resilience of the category.
“It’s a huge category with room for many players, and retailers are carving out more shelf space for these brands,” Nicholson said. “That’s been an ongoing trend, especially as wellness continues to shape the segment.”
Henkel, for its part, isn’t standing still. Its acquisitions of Olaplex and Not Your Mother's mark a more assertive push to close the gap.
