The beauty industry is littered with brands that at one point seemed unstoppable.
But competition is fierce, and even the most beloved brands with the most passionate followers sometimes fail.
Many beauty brands faced post-pandemic wrinkles: makeup and beauty product purchases dropped precipitously for the first few post-Covid years, according to marketing data company Kantar.
Sales are rebounding, but slowly.
Even the seemingly fail-proof Kardashian/Jenner sisters haven’t had the smoothest experiences in the beauty world. Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Skin has faced tumbling sales and legal troubles. And Kim Kardashian’s Skynn by Kim has faced criticism about its sustainability claims.
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One of the highest-profile companies to fail in recent years was Beautycounter, a leader in the clean beauty category. The company was a multilevel marketing marvel, boasting sales of $400 million a year after a decade in business. Following a huge cash infusion from private equity firm The Carlyle Group, Beautycounter planned to increase that figure to $1 billion before a spectacular crash sent it into foreclosure last April.
Clean beauty is a category of makeup and skincare products that eschew ingredients deemed potentially harmful to humans, such as synthetic chemicals, parabens, and formaldehyde. Such products also tend to be vegan and cruelty-free.
Clean brands are likely to be more transparent with their practices, including how they source ingredients and manufacture and package products.
Juice Beauty has had a following for 20 years but is floundering post pandemic.
Image source: Shutterstock
Juice Beauty is beloved by celebrities
Clean beauty wasn’t really a thing until Karen Behnke launched Juice Beauty in 2005.
Juice Beauty products featured antioxidant-rich, vegan, and organic ingredients that were grown on the founder’s farm in Sonoma, Calif.
The products were initially sold in Whole Foods and Pharmaca because at the time, they were the only retailers interested in the “clean” market. Before too long, stores like Bloomingdale’s and Sephora also stocked the brand.
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The company touted its sustainable practices that quickly attracted A-list celebrities such as Kate Hudson, Kate Bosworth, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Paltrow became the brand’s “director of makeup” in 2015, following her investment in the company.
Behnke left the company in 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile.
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In 2022, shortly before her departure, Behnke noted that the pandemic had made it harder and more expensive to get the organic ingredients essential to Juice Beauty products.
Juice Beauty liquidating assets
Still, as recently as January, Juice Beauty seemed to be in good shape, celebrating its 20th birthday with a rebrand and a new website.
But the glow didn’t last long.
Reportedly Juice Beauty’s sales dropped by half in 2024, at just around $25 million.
This week, a notice to creditors and equity holders indicated that Juice Beauty Inc. has transferred ownership of all of its rights in both tangible and intangible assets to a new limited liability company called Juice LLC. The new entity will liquidate the company’s assets and distribute the net liquidation of proceeds to creditors, according to a report in WWD.
Another source said the brand’s magic left with Behnke, explaining that the founder still owned the patents used in products after her departure, which must have made it difficult to develop new products.
The liquidation process may be a way for the company to evade liabilities and potentially find a buyer who could revive the business under a new entity.
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