Key Takeaways:
During a period when the beauty industry is being marked by paradox—simultaneous disruption and opportunity, contraction and creativity—BeautyMatter’s inaugural State of Play: Leadership Roundtable gathered together a stellar cohort of operators and investors for an honest conversation addressing where the market stands and where it’s heading.
Moderated by BeautyMatter co-founder and CEO Kelly Kovack, the panel featured Deanna Kangas, President of Strategic Growth Consulting; Reuben Carranza, Group CEO of Bansk Beauty; and Nicolas Geiger, Founding Partner at Redo Capital and Executive Board Member at L’Occitane Group. The panel came together to unpack the forces shaping the modern industry, from the M&A landscape to retail's current ecosystem redefined by consolidation, experimentation, and survivalist strategy.
Capital Reset: Caution, Community, and New Class Buyers
Recently, the beauty industry’s investment engine has cooled. But, as Geiger put it, deals are still getting done, now just under a different playbook. “It’s all about FOMO,” he explained. “Some founders are particularly good at creating it, but the brands that are acquired now are profitable, differentiated, and best in class among their peers.”
Take Touchland, for example: The buzzy brand earned REDO Capital’s backing not just for its outstanding performance, but for its boldness. “The brand was different enough, and it forced people to take notice,” Geiger said.
However, deals are no longer the straight cash windfalls they once were. Carranza noted that most are now structured with hefty earnouts. “You’re not walking away with a check. Buyers want skin in the game and delivery against what’s promised."
For brands still looking to gain capital, investor expectations can be unforgiving: clear brand differentiation, edge in consumer acquisition, and a viable path to profitability, ideally by the $10M revenue mark. “We’re in high-margin categories,” Geiger noted. “If you’re not close to breakeven by $10M, you need to revisit your margins or cost structure.”
The Winners and the Wipeouts: A Tale of Two Beauty Markets
As funding tightens, the other side of the equation unveils a plethora of brand closures and rocky, distressed sales—some shocking in scale. “It’s not just happening to indies,” Kangas stated. “The Good Glamm Group was a unicorn, and now it's unwinding.”
The culprit is overleveraging, combined with a consumer who is trading down and tightening their spending. “Credit card defaults are back at 2009 levels,” Kangas shared. “Brands that raised [capital] during the boom of beauty and didn’t reach profitability are now finding themselves in real trouble.”
In this environment, survival is more than a need—it becomes a strategy—leaving discipline to become the new growth. Carranza offered a practical framework: “Your P&L never lies—cash is king. Know your consumer, double down on your brand promises, and remember value is not about price, it’s about performance.”
Kovack reminded the audience that even in contraction, opportunity continues to exist. For brands with capital and inventory, this is a moment to gain share, not to retreat. “Disruption creates visibility and partnership opportunities that wouldn’t exist in a frothy market,” said Carranza, who pointed to Bansk’s limited-edition fragrance collaboration between Amika and Ellis Brooklyn as a model for creative, buzz-worthy alignment.
Retail Redux: Power Play and Strategic Patience
With few retail doors offering real volume in the US—namely Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Target, and Walmart—questions of access, exclusivity, and strategy are more crucial than ever.
The panel agreed that legacy playbooks no longer apply. The old route of raising capital, landing an exclusive, and riding it to an exit may have worked for a select few, but today it's not a realistic reality.
As a result, Kangas advocated for back-to-basics partnerships. “You need to sit down with your buyer, understand their KPIs, and figure out how to help them win. Whether it's micro-influencer support or driving in-store traffic to a regional market, success comes from true collaboration.”
Carranza emphasized the need to treat wholesale as more than a conquest, and instead, a relationship. “It’s a two-stage marriage: getting in is hard—staying in is harder. You need the right team, the right investment, and the right understanding of what the retailer needs from you.”
Retailers themselves are also adapting and evolving. As TikTok Shop and Amazon summon consumer attention and dollars, traditional partners are tightening their grip, often resisting brands’ expansions to other platforms.
However, Carranza believes that this kind of restriction is outdated in the modern market. “If your consumer shops on Amazon or TikTok, you need to be there. You make those decisions based on where your community lives—not what’s comfortable for the retailer.”
Department Stores, Reimagined
While department stores have arguably lost ground in the US, the panel didn’t rule them out. “They’re not going to scale you,” expressed Geiger, “but they still serve a purpose—visibility, positioning, storytelling. Retail is media.”
Carranza addressed the potential in a revival of the experiential model, pointing to Printemps as a multisensory benchmark. “It’s not just shopping; it's immersion, curation, food, brand theater," he said. “There's a real opportunity if US department stores are willing, and able, to reinvent."
Going Forward: Wellness, Collaboration, and Creative Bravery
When questioned on the trend that excites them most, the panel returned to the one repeated idea throughout: Opportunity lives in the white space.
Kangas pointed to wellness, especially in menopause and stress-related care, as a category ripe and waiting for innovation. “The conversation around perimenopause is evolving, and brands that address this holistically will win.”
Carranza highlighted cross-category partnerships and unexpected collaborations as a means for indie brands to achieve scale and relevance. “Hair is my category, and there’s so much white space left. Collaborating with like-minded brands allows you to serve your community more fully.”
Geiger closed on a note of strategic optimism: “Be bold. Be different. Think like a retailer. If you help them grow, they’ll help you grow. That’s what brand building looks like in 2025.”
