Key Takeaways:

• After acquiring Bliss, AS Beauty exited major retailers to focus on Amazon and direct-to-consumer sales.
• It then reduced its assortment from more than 200 SKUs to roughly 50.
• Now, a new collection, Bliss Pro, accounts for half the brand’s business.

Talk to any Gen Xer who lived in New York City during the “spa boom” of the 1990s and early 2000s, and they will remember the Bliss SoHo flagship. Largely credited with starting said boom, Bliss democratized the exclusive spa experience into a fun (think R&B instead of forest rain and mini brownies and cheese plates in the waiting room), accessible luxury experience.

For Gen Xers who wandered Manhattan listening to Wu-Tang Clan and danced to Mark Ronson’s Monday-night sets at Lot 61, Bliss’s latest campaign may feel instantly familiar. The 10-part Instagram series brings the iconic Bliss Girl from the brand’s catalogs to life, though it’s certainly intended to tap into millennial nostalgia as well.

Throughout the series, the once-cartoon Bliss Girl comes to life and wanders the streets of New York in her towel wrap, listening to her Walkman, in celebration of the brand’s 30th anniversary this year. 

In its heyday, Bliss had opened up the traditionally exclusive world of spas to consumers, bringing cheeky language and a playful color palette to the category. By 2001, the wait for a Saturday facial at Bliss stretched two to three months, according to The New York Times. “What Bliss did for the entire industry is put the word ‘day spa’ on everybody’s Rolodex,” fellow spa owner Richard Calcasola told the newspaper at the time.

In its 30-year lifespan, Bliss has changed hands five times,...