The influencer brands Item Beauty and Selfless by Hyram are being removed from Sephora. Addison Rae launched Item Beauty in 2020, while Hyram Yarbro launched Selfless in 2021. Beauty brands founded by influencers have seen mixed results over the years, industry sources told Insider. Something is loading.
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It seems that the beauty products of two popular influencers – Addison Rae and Hyram Yarbro – are no longer available in US malls.
Insider has confirmed from a well-connected industry source that Sephora will be removing Addison Rae’s Item Beauty and Hyram Yarbro’s Selfless by Hyram from its shelves. While Item products are still available for purchase on the beauty giant’s site, Selfless products are nowhere to be found.
Representatives for Rae and Yarbro did not respond to Insider’s requests for comment ahead of publication. Sephora also did not respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Item Beauty was launched in August 2020 by Rae, who rose to internet fame by replicating viral dances on TikTok. Her brand positions itself as a “clean, science-backed” line, free of the chemicals found in traditional cosmetics.
While Item was initially launched as a direct-to-consumer brand – selling to customers through an online storefront – it entered into an exclusive partnership with Sephora in August 2021.
Beauty vlogger Yarbro — whose instructional skincare videos have earned her millions of subscribers on YouTube and TikTok — launched her Selfless by Hyram skincare line direct from Sephora in June 2021.
Selfless markets itself as gentler than other skincare lines on the market, with products containing lower concentrations of chemicals like retinol and salicylic acid than competitors.
Rae and Yarbro’s fame suggested their brands were poised to succeed among their target customers – the millions of fans who followed them on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. However, a well-connected source in the beauty industry said Sephora customers aren’t connecting with either brand, according to correspondence seen by Insider.
“It’s kind of a fallen star,” said Shannon Coyne, co-founder of Asbury and Coyne Advisors, noting that the brand’s growth has slowed significantly in recent months.
“You lose TikTok and Instagram, and you’re bankrupt” Hyram Yarbro has millions of social media followers, but his brand hasn’t fared as well at Sephora. Selfless by Hyram
It’s not so shocking to beauty insiders that companies like Item and Selfless are in trouble. Over the past three years, Insider has found that as many as 25 celebrities and influencers have launched beauty or skincare brands, and only the best of them have risen to the top.
The news about Item and Selfless comes just a week after Morphe Cosmetics, a beauty chain known for its collaborations with influencers, announced that it would close all of its stores in the United States.
“Celebrities bet on their name, but there has to be more than just a name because they fall out of favor and out of favor,” Coyne said.
For weeks, Item’s products had been heavily discounted at Sephora, signaling that the beauty chain may want to get rid of inventory.
Additionally, Rae herself has been relatively muted about the brand on social media. The last time she posted about the brand on her personal Instagram feed was September 29, 2022.
“Sephora is a retailer, not a manufacturer,” Jeffrey Ten, a beauty industry veteran and president of Global Indie Brand Development, told Insider. “They’re selling you space. They’re not building your brand. You’re responsible for building your brand.”
Both brands have also seen their social media followings plummet. The article has grown from 355,000 Instagram followers in November 2021 to 334,000 currently, according to data from Social Blade. And Selfless has grown from 196,000 Instagram followers in November 2021 to 170,000 today, per Social Blade.
“You lose TikTok and Instagram, and you’re bankrupt,” Ten said.
TikTok stars like Rae have struggled to form lasting bonds with their fans. While it’s a good discovery platform, the ability to sell products on the app is limited, agents and creators told Insider.
There are bright spots among celebrity-backed brands, like Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty
That’s not to say that all celebrity-founded beauty brands have done badly.
Dae Hair, founded by Instagram influencer Amber Fillerup Clark, has been touted by investors and analysts as an example of a brand that has resonated well with customers.
In December, the brand announced an $8 million Series A deal, led by Verity Venture Partners — a rare bright spot at a time when many investors have pulled back from new offerings in the consumer space.
Similarly, singer Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty was also cited by multiple industry sources as another shining example of celebrity-backed beauty success.
The brand launched at Sephora in September 2020 and has seen steady growth. Traffic to Rare Beauty’s website increased by more than 70% between November 2021 and November 2022, according to data that analytics platform Similarweb provided to Insider. An industry expert posited that the brand is likely doing well at Sephora too.
Whether a beauty brand stands the test of time ultimately seems to hinge on how much personal capital a celebrity or influencer is willing to invest in it.
“Celebrities and influencers with their respective embedded communities can be wonderful brand amplifiers and early adopters; however, simply being a talent-led brand today is not enough,” a source told Insider. investor who focuses on beauty startups.
“Consumers are incredibly savvy and informed and the market is highly competitive; to truly resonate with consumers, it is imperative that brands are able to stand on their own in terms of quality, effectiveness, value and positioning. brand,” they added. .