Every brand wants to go viral on TikTok, but very few are ready for what happens next. Virality is simply the first domino to fall, setting off a massive chain reaction of supply chain and inventory issues, retail distribution hurdles, delays due to tied-up funding, and the difficult task of keeping hordes of customers engaged until your sold-out product comes back on the shelves.It’s also impossible to predict when or if a product will go viral. Smaller brands are at an even bigger disadvantage since they tend to have longer lead times for product development and production. When fragrance brand Phlur relaunched in early 2022 with influencer and entrepreneur Chriselle Lim at the helm, the brand’s first fragrance caught on like wildfire on TikTok, selling out in five hours and leaving a waitlist of more than 200,000 empty-handed for months until the fragrance came back in stock. The frenzied demand for the product no doubt helped the new brand land in stores at Sephora, Selfridges, and Anthropologie, even amidst the mild controversy over the product’s name, Missing Person, which some said was insensitive to victims of heinous crimes. Phlur’s swift success is both the blueprint and a cautionary tale for brands who hope to harness the social selling power of TikTok to drive purchasing and reach new audiences without incurring significant delays ​​in customers receiving their product.In the event that your brand goes viral, you’ll want to be prepared for what happens next. BeautyMatter talked to seven beauty brands about their viral moment, its ripple effects, and how they each turned virality into sustainable success.