28 Inspiring Beauty Entrepreneurs Success Stories

Hi - I'm Aaron Marino, the founder of Pete & Pedro - a premium men's grooming brand. I have one of the biggest men's lifestyle channels on YouTube with 6M+ fans and also have a few other businesses as well including Tiege Hanley, Enemy, Menfluential Advertising Agency.

I've actually been on Shark Tank two times... one of the few! Pete & Pedro is focused on the men's grooming market and our core products are our hairstyling/haircare/fragrance products led by Putty, Salt, and REBEL.

My name is Jean Seo and I am the creator of Evolue x Lue Skincare. I grew up in Korea and was always intrigued by formulating my multipurpose beauty products.

After 300k units of my spot treatment and 3 Instyle Beauty awards under my belt: I got contacted by Tmall in China to stock my skincare.

Hey everyone, we’re Tony and Faye, a husband-wife duo at Doppeltree, an all-natural self-care product company in SF that helps people take a moment out of their day to look and feel better. A little over 6 months ago we started making enough profits that Tony decided to leave his full-time marketing exec position at a fintech startup to focus on the business.

We started earning revenue in December 2017 (the month we launched), but it wasn’t until July 2018 (two months after we launched our eye masks) before we started consistently selling $1,000+ per week. We became cash flow positive (total net income > total costs) around October 2018. We currently average around $40,000 in revenue per month, with 40-50% net profit, depending on how much we spend on paid ads.

Hi! We are Kapil Dhameja and Sanyog Jain and this is our story of how we got inspired to start a Contemporary Ayurved Beauty and Wellness brand backed by research and processed by modern technology, for the generation which is always on the move.

Currently, we do revenue of $150K/month with 15,000 units. Our repeat repeats are as high as 50%-60% for some of the products like Kumkumadi Face Serum and Face Creams.

My name is Alexis Evans aka Da Mademoiselle. I am a native of South Florida who has started a cosmetic and skincare company named FBI Cosmetics d/b/a Flawlessly Beautiful Individual in the middle of a pandemic.

I am also the owner of Boss Talk Expo an annual expo and conference company. I branched out into the beauty industry, I started FBI Cosmetics off with just lipsticks and have progressed into the skincare business in December. I have grossed over $62,000 in sales. People ask where the name comes from and I tell people “it’s a crime to be so damn beautiful.”

My name is Kellie Yavalar and I started the beauty brand, keauty, which means “to create beauty.” Through our skincare line, we aim to deliver a fun, interactive beauty experience to your home. Our DIY face mask kits feature coffee or tea pods for a single-serve brewing system. The fresh antioxidants from the hot brew, activate our specialized powder mix, and create a warm, fresh clay mask.

Despite incorporating keauty in late 2018, I just launched the business this fall. I spent over two years working on product development to get very natural raw materials from the earth, into mass production. It's been a long journey with lots of life changes and working a full-time job but I am so proud and excited to share the collection, bringing self-care into people’s homes.

Hi! My name is Mikey Moran and I am one of the owners of Private Label Extensions. We started this company a little over 5 years ago to create another option for women looking for amazing quality hair and entrepreneurs looking to get into the hair industry.

We’ve made a lot of mistakes during our business journey but have learned from them all and have seen an increase in business. We went from selling a few thousand dollars a month to over $650,000 monthly and even had a $1,000,000 month. One of our biggest accomplishments was being ranked #278 of the fastest-growing companies by Inc Magazine for 2018.

I’m Natalie, I founded my bath products brand Soak Society four years ago when I lived in Brisbane and was a student with not much money. At the time, I had just returned from six months living in Guadalajara, Mexico, and was full of business ideas.

This financial year we are on track to turn over $200,000 and have tripled our profit from last financial year.

Hello, my name is Ishan Dutta and I am the founder of Ugly Duckling Los Angeles, a hair products company catering to stylists and colorists.

We take in anywhere between 600 and 900 orders a month, with a conversion rate between 1%-2%, and an average cart value around $60 and trending higher.

Aloha, my name is Kristie Chee and I am the founder of Olakino skincare products. We are 100% plant, fruit, vegetable, and earth-based, with the preservative systems also from natural sources, in all of our formulations. We cater to all skin types and ages. We have created the Skin Resurrection range directed towards Normal, Dry, and Mature skin and the Oil & Pore Control range, aimed at oily/ combination skin types. These are high-quality, high-performance products that are healthy for the body.

We are also creating a 100% non-toxic makeup line and have recently released Pop Cosmetics Radiant Skin foundation, a unique, non-greasy, high performing formula for all skin types.

My name is Cassy Burnvoth, and I am the Founder & CEO of FATCO, at FATCO, we specialize in making Natural & Organic personal care products using tallow (aka rendered beef fat) from grass-fed, pasture-raised, happy & healthy cows!

I want to make a note here that when I originally launched the brand in 2014, we were called “FATFACE Skincare.” Around the middle of 2015, we had a trademark dispute and were contacted by another company of the same name. We tried to fight it for a while, but In the end, they were much bigger than us, and we decided to rebrand. We re-launched in 2015 as our new brand, FATCO! Typically, I always refer to the brand as FATCO, but it was in fact called something different for the first year and a half.

Hello! My name is Bonnie Giangrande and I am the creator and founder of The Laughing Tree Organics. A line of healthy, plant-based skincare products that are good for our health and our planet.

I began The Laughing Tree Organics because the more I read about the dangers of chemicals that go into our personal and beauty care products, the more I knew something had to be done! I was simply horrified to learn that some of the most common chemicals found in our shampoos and skincare products today, such as Cocomide DEA, Lauamide DEA, Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate (SLS/SLES) and Parabens, which create that rich foamy lather, are absorbed through the skin where they have been found to form cancer-causing nitrates and impair the normal function of the brain and nervous system.

Hello, my name is Michael Koh and I am the founder of Tree To Tub. We are a natural skincare company that takes care of people with sensitive skin. Our signature products are shampoo, body wash, facial cleanser made from the Soapberry.

We’re happy that we’re solving a painful problem (literally sometimes) for people, and that has got us to $3M on our 3rd year.

Hi there! I’m Leslie, the founder of Almond Clear, a line of skin care products that are formulated with mandelic (almond) acid (MA).

Though revenue dropped a bit at the end of 2018, Almond Clear still finished the first year or sales averaging around $15,000 per month in revenue, and all signs point towards a lot of growth in 2019.

My name is Kayla and I am the founder of Tribe Skincare. After working in the beauty industry for 5+ years, I found a gigantic hole in the market for skincare for sensitive skin.

As a skincare range for sensitive skin, it is formulated around key anti-inflammatory ingredients like Aloe Vera, Zinc and Kaolin Clay, and works to rebuild the skin’s natural barrier to reduce redness, breakouts, and eczema. While we had a very niche target market, sensitive skin turned out to be a very common pain-point for consumers. The demand has grown so quickly and with a return customer rate of 75% (more than double the industry average) we have scaled into a multi-million dollar company in just 2 years! 95% of our sales in within Australia and we recently opened shipping to NZ and the USA which currently makes up the extra 5% of our sales.

Hello, we are Leon Eugene and Shawn Bo and we are the founders and formulators of L. Eugene Natural Skin Science. Natural Skin Science is a 100% unique, spa-quality skincare collection created out of necessity for Leon Eugene, who had embarrassing acne, skin issues, and very sensitive skin.

Prior to any sort of business plan or even ideas to take our homemade products to market, we began diving into the research and testing of various raw ingredients to take our skin to the next level. With our proprietary hand-mixed formulas, we started seeing fantastic results for ourselves so we HAD to share with friends. After collecting an overwhelming amount of positive feedback we knew that we had effectively created a brand that caters to people in all spectrums, from the skincare novice to the beauty guru. Today L. Eugene Natural Skin Science is a premier choice for effective natural skincare products, made with ingredients you can pronounce!

I am Kiri Yanchenko, the founder of AMPERNA® - we are an Australian Active Probiotic Skincare brand committed to creating active products specifically formulated for even the most sensitive skin, so they can be used by everybody.

Hello, my name is Mel. I run a skincare business called Flowerdale Valley. I named the business Flowerdale valley because that's where I live, in a small town called Flowerdale in country Victoria, Australia.

Hey! My name is Andy Hnilo. I am the Founder and CEO of Alitura Naturals, a Los Angeles based all natural skincare line.

Today, Alitura has a full line of products with a mission to provide the highest quality, most nutrient-dense skincare that we can. Through my most tragic experience, I was able to overcome despair and create a business out of pure passion. With well over 1000 reviews at an average 4.9/5.0 rating, our products are currently offered in 76 countries and counting.

Nykaa was founded by an Indian entrepreneur Falguni Nayar in the year 2012. Nykaa is a very well cosmetic company and was first established as an online business before becoming an omnichannel Business.

Currently, Nykaa is a leading marketplace for personal care and beauty products in India and its yearly revenue is $482 million.

Over the years they have expaned their business and are now offering fashion items like clothing & accessories. Plus, Nykaa now manufactures its own line of beauty & wellness products which are competing with high end brands..

Read the full story on inventiva.co.in ➜

• Sheila Bella is the founder of the multi-figure companies Pretty Rich Bosses and Sheila Bella Permanent Makeup. She is a celebrity brow artist and a successful mentor for the beauty industry.

• Since the brand's launch in 2010, she has made it her mission to inspire and empower the industry by demonstrating to beauty professionals how to passively scale their businesses online.

• On top of that, Sheila is the host of the popular iTunes Beauty Entrepreneurship podcast PRETTY RICH PODCAST.

• Sheila is in charge of the American Academy of Micropigmentation, the biggest group of experts in cosmetic tattooing.

Read the full story on medium.com ➜

• Arielle Joseph aka Ari J.is the owner of MadeByAri J. Cosmetics. Ari J. is a 23 years old young entrepreneur based in Atlanta, Georgia who is passionate about making a name in the beauty industry.
• Her brand offers many types of beauty products and ornaments, such as lipgloss, skin care items, false eyelashes, eyebrow pencils, nose rings, and more.
• Her main goal is to give her clients high-quality cosmetics at reasonable prices. Arielle is extremely passionate about her company and longs to see it succeed and provide excellent service to all of her clients.

Read the full story on voyageatl.com ➜

For as long as we can remember, my sister and I wanted to own a business together. It started with lemonade stands when we were 5 and 7! We had no clue it would eventually be a Fat-Freezing empire and 1000s of happier and more confident clients. As a child I was once told, “JJ (my nickname) it’s a good thing you work hard because you are pretty stupid.”

Three months later, after raising $400,000 from an investor, friends, and family, Bodify was born.

• Zoella has a total net worth of more than $5 million as of January 2021.
• She earned this fortune by uploading her YouTube videos and has almost a billion views.
• She has 10.8 millions of subscribers on YouTube.
• Her popularity made her appear in several advertisements and has also appeared on television.

Read the full story on influencermatchmaker.co.uk ➜

Amanda Johnson and KJ Miller came together to create Mented Cosmetics, a multi-million dollar beauty brand that honors women of all colors.

Since launching its cosmetic line in 2017, they have gone from producing its best-seller nude lipsticks to becoming one of the most in-demand all-expanding beauty lines for Black and Brown women.

The co-founders of Mented Cosmetics are the 15th and 16th African-American women to ever secure $1 million in venture capital for the expansion of their company.

Mented has been featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Allure and helps women feel seen and empowered with its inclusive shade range. In addition, Essence Magazine praised them as having the "best nude lipsticks we've ever worn."

Listen to the full podcast on podcasts.apple.com ➜

When Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna launched Birchbox from business school in 2010, they set out to disrupt the beauty industry by delivering monthly samples in a box. Even though people told them the idea would never work, Birchbox attracted hundreds of thousands of subscribers and enthusiastic buzz as a subscription pioneer. But the speedy success was overwhelming for Katia; over the years the company endured plenty of growing pains as it found its distinctive voice in the beauty industry. PLUS in our postscript "How You Built That," after noticing that many of her female friends hated buying cars, Athena Staton launched SheCar, a personalized online service for used car buyers.