Paris — Many of Europe’s indie skincare and wellness brands have yet to make it to the U.S., but are ripe for stocking U.S. retailers.
Think of indies as barking rats. The numbers prove the bite.
Indie skincare sales in the U.S. were particularly strong last year, reaching $9.1 billion, up 14% year over year. This followed his 11% growth in 2022. Meanwhile, according to Circana, sales in 2023 increased by double digits compared to 2022.
NielsenIQ says, “In this digital age, indies have quickly become a powerful segment of the beauty industry, with sales of $30.5 billion and a 32 percent dollar share of the category.” In a report titled “The Rise of the World.” Scheduled to be released in September 2023.
According to Nielsen IQ, sales of independent products outpaced sales of the overall U.S. beauty and personal care market, increasing 15.7% vs. 9.9%, respectively, in 2022.
Indie brands continue to grow in the world’s largest beauty market, where tingling, stimulating products are appealing.
Here you’ll find a diverse selection of Europe’s hottest independent skincare and wellness brands.
Avea
This is a product of Avea.
Avea literally encapsulates two trends that are on the rise in beauty today: longevity and ingestibles.
The Zug, Switzerland-based longevity supplement brand quietly launched its first product (including NMN and a booster, together called the “Vitality Bundle”) at the end of 2021. Official marketing then began in March 2022 for him.
Sophie Chabloz, Avea’s chief scientific officer, co-founded the company with three others. They developed and launched many more products. Some of these products address specific issues related to healthy aging, such as stabilizers to balance blood sugar levels and mobilizers to support joint health and flexibility. “We’re currently working on a gut-brain axis type product,” Chabroz said.
Another group of Avea products are saliva-based DNA & Bioage tests that use epigenetics to optimize cellular processes and help people improve their biological age scores. Avea has a total of six products, with prices ranging from €49 for Essential Vitamins and Minerals to €229 for Tests.
Avea’s core markets are Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The brand is also available in continental Europe and other parts of the UK, and has just expanded to China in Asia.
Last year, Avea closed an expanded seed funding round totaling $5 million led by its largest investor, Maximon.
La Rose
La Rosee sun stick.
Provided by La Rose
Nine years ago, two pharmacists, Corinne Bertrand and Mahau de Gilbert, who have been friends since university, launched La Rosé, which has developed a cult following.
“We wanted to create a brand with up to 100% natural and supernatural products that are free from controversial ingredients, environmentally responsible, and super healthy,” Bertrand explained . Another important factor from the beginning was to have a universal product range at an affordable price point. Currently, their average is 14 euros.
La Rosée is a hybrid dermatology and cosmetics company that started with five products and now has 40 products, including baby care. In January, it introduced a new category called hair care. La Rosée deodorants and suncare sticks are best sellers.
The brand has entered 300 pharmacies in France for the first time. Fast forward to today, and that number has grown to 9,500. “We are his sixth brand in the market across all segments combined.” [without antiaging] and the fourth brand in our segment,” said Bertrand.
La Rosée has subsidiaries in Belgium and Spain and also sells to the overseas territories of Switzerland, South Korea and France, with a total of more than 10,000 doors.Next steps could be towards Morocco, Canada and the US
FG Brothers, the Belgian family office of Ségolène Frères and Ian Gallienne, reportedly acquired a 20 percent stake in La Rosey in August 2023.
breathe
This is a deodorant from Respire.
Flaminia Repository
Respire is digging deeper into the French pharmacy channel.
In response to health concerns, Justine Houteau teamed up with Thomas Méheux to launch a Paris-based natural and organic personal care brand in May 2019, starting with a roll-on deodorant.
The product was a huge success. The brand announced that in 2023, its deodorants were the largest contributor to the growth of the deodorant category in French pharmacies and pharmacies. It also ranks him third as the best-selling deodorant brand within the channel, up from his sixth place last year.
Currently, Respire’s lineup includes 30 products including skin care, body care, shampoo, sun care, and toothpaste. All products are vegan, sustainable and made in France. Bar soap costs €5.90, roll-on deodorant costs €10.90 and dry oil costs €22.90.
The brand first began selling directly to consumers and then began distributing through brick-and-mortar stores. The company’s main market is France, where Respire is stocked in his 3,000 sales locations, including his 2,000 pharmacies. That number is expected to rise to 5,000 by the end of the year. The brand is also sold in 12 other European countries through Sephora.
lowse
lowse
Rowse pared down her traditional skin care routine to natural ingredients.
The product was introduced online in November 2018 by Spanish lifestyle influencer Nuria Val and French beauty executive Gabriela Sarrod. “All are non-toxic and made from plants,” said Sarod, Rowse’s chief executive officer.
Since day one, she and Rowse’s creative director, Val, have been working on finding natural alternatives to highly sought-after cosmetic ingredients. This brand focuses on skin care, including adult skin.
Its 30-plus product line includes cleansers, toners, boosters, day serums, night serums, eye contour serums, body oils, bar shampoos, and body balms. In January, Lowe’s launched a sleeping mask with melatonin made from grape plants. A capsule collection of two types of scrubs, bar soap, and candles will also be released in May.
Rowse’s bestsellers are the All Day Hydration Serum with Niacinamide and the Eye Contour Serum with Natural Hyaluronic Acid, priced at €60 and €30 respectively.
In February, direct-to-consumer brand Rowse opened its first physical store in Madrid, where it is headquartered. The brand has around 40 stores across Europe.
At Rowse, experiences matter, and we partner with hotels to create yoga and Pilates retreats. Rowse will also launch an amenity line for the channel next month. “We have always been more of a wellness and lifestyle brand than just a beauty brand,” Sarod said.
sun wellness
Sun Wellness Foundation Products.
Sān Wellness is positioned as a premium African ethnic medicine wellness brand.
The brainchild of Nomshado Michelle Baca, we launched direct-to-consumer in the UK in spring 2020 under the name A Complexion Company with one product: Organic Moringa Beauty Super Powder.
Baca’s mission from the beginning was to empower women to take control of their health through the knowledge inherited from their African ancestors.
A turning point came in early 2021, when Mr Reckitt invested in the London-based brand through the group’s Access VC Venture branch. The brand’s nickname is ‘Sān Wellness’, with ‘sān’ coming from the Khoisan people of the Kalahari Desert.
“We changed the name to put more emphasis on wellness,” Baca said. “Wellness encapsulated what I was trying to create for Black women.”
In collaboration with Reckitt, she co-formulated the Black Women’s Daily Multivitamin, a new product foundation containing 14 essential nutrients and powerful ingredients. Baca characterized it as “the first unique supplement to treat the most common nutritional deficiencies among people of color who identify as Black.” This custom formula is claimed to help support immunity, skin and hair health, sleep, energy, and fertility.
Foundation launches in the UK in April 2022 A bottle of one month’s worth of capsules costs £54.99.
every season
A seasonal oil that addresses skin imperfections.
Seesley describes itself as “clean beauty that works.”
Fanny Pequioda was founded in Paris in 2018. A pioneer, she created the standard for clean beauty by focusing on ingredients that harm people’s health and the planet. “We have banned all of these ingredients from our formulas,” Seasonly CEO Chloé Renard said.
Seasonly currently has around 40 hydrating, radiant, anti-aging and anti-blemish products, priced between €9 and €100 and includes accessories.
In September, the brand launched Huile Tensiolift, an oil that mimics Botox, and quickly became a Seasonly bestseller. This year he will be launching three new his Tensiolift products.
“Thanks to massages, facials, and our products, we offer an alternative to invasive techniques for anti-aging,” says Leonard, adding that the desired end result is a radiant, healthy look. He added that it was the skin.
Practice is key. In 2019, the brand’s office building was transformed into Skin’s studio for performing quick and efficient facials. A second store followed in Paris, and a third store was located in Paris at Galeries Lafayette. Sephora approached Seasonly in 2021 and asked them to develop an even faster in-store protocol. Seasonly is currently sold in over 400 of his Sephora doors (including those with Face Glover) and 35 other retailers in Europe.
France is the brand’s biggest market. Geographically, Vietnam, China and Europe are next in line for acceleration, with India, South Korea, the US and Canada targeted for seasonality.
not bottled
Unbottled solid shower gel.
“The goal is to take all plastic bottles out of the toilet,” explains Benjamin Legros, co-founder of Unbottled with Sarah Poucher. Together they realized that solid cosmetics were in short supply. Therefore, in June 2020, we launched solid shampoo, body wash, and facial cleanser online.
Unbottled, a Paris-based AB Corp company, also aims to offer a service that is convenient, efficient and comfortable to use, without the use of water or plastic bottles. Hygiene products and cosmetics feature eye-catching colors such as eggshell blue, pink, and orange.
“We found a market pretty quickly,” Legros says.
The bottle includes shampoo and conditioner. Body, face and intimate cleaning. Makeup remover; face and body scrub, deodorant. There are also accessories and more product categories coming soon. Prices for this brand range from 9.90 euros for a solid shower gel to 29.90 euros for a set of three products.
“We’re not dark green, we’re light green,” Lagros said. As such, Unbottled is available at Sephora and select concept stores in continental Europe and the UK, totaling approximately 1,000 doors. The brand is expected to be introduced to French pharmacies this year.
“We’re also building our own retail stores,” Lagros said. There is already one in the Marais district of Paris, and the number is set to increase to seven across France this year.
Legros and Poche worked on their own from the beginning. “We have been profitable from day one,” he said.
Yepoda
Yepoda’s Bubble Double.
Berlin-based Yepoda is committed to making K-beauty available to Western markets.
The brand was launched as a direct-to-consumer in 2020 by Veronica Strotman and Sander van Breidl, who develop clean, vegan product formulas made in Korea.
Yepoda’s product range focuses on skincare and Korean skincare routines and currently includes cleansers, serums and moisturizers, ranging from 8 euros for one sheet mask to around 30 euros for one cream. It will span. The cushion foundation, which combines skin care and color cosmetics, is the brand’s latest creation.
Yepoda is popular on social media, which has sparked rapid growth across Europe, with core markets such as Italy, France, Germany, and Spain.
In November 2023, Yepoda completed a Series A funding round led by JamJar Investments with participation from former Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. executive Chris Good. He joined his Yepoda as an advisor.
On December 5, 2023, Yepoda opened its first physical store, a pop-up in Milan. Strotman said the piece was well received. Therefore, in Rome he will be holding another pop-up from March 26th that will be held for two months.
“Right now we’re just exploring a little bit more of what we can do in retail in the future,” she explained. “We really want to focus on that experience.”
