DIBS Beauty - short for Desert Island Beauty Status - is a New York and Austin-based makeup brand built on a simple premise: fewer products, better results. Co-founded in 2021 by creator Courtney Shields and operator Jeff Lee alongside Tula Skincare's Ken Landis and Dan Reich, DIBS makes multi-use, vegan, cruelty-free essentials like its hero Desert Island Duo blush-and-bronzer stick. The brand grew primarily direct-to-consumer through Shields' social following, took growth capital from L Catterton in 2023, and expanded into Ulta Beauty in 2024. Its tagline: 'Do less. Look like you did the most.'
MALIN+GOETZ is a New York-founded modern apothecary that makes uncomplicated, high-performance skincare, fragrances and candles for all skin types. Started in 2004 by Matthew Malin and Andrew Goetz - a couple who met the beauty and design worlds head-on - the brand launched with six essentials gentle enough for Malin's own sensitive, reactive skin. Two decades later it is a cult grooming staple sold in dozens of countries, known for its grapefruit face cleanser, eucalyptus deodorant and its 19th-century-apothecary-inspired packaging.
SEEN Haircare is a dermatologist-developed hair and scalp care brand built on the idea that 'haircare is skincare.' Founded by Harvard-trained dermatologist Dr. Iris Rubin after her own haircare products caused facial breakouts, SEEN makes shampoos, conditioners, serums, masks and styling products clinically proven to be non-comedogenic (won't clog pores) and safe for sensitive skin. The brand is sold direct-to-consumer and at more than 700 Ulta Beauty doors, and closed a $9 million Series A in September 2024.
e.l.f. Beauty is an Oakland-based, publicly traded cosmetics company (NYSE: ELF) built on a simple disruptive idea: prestige-quality makeup and skincare that almost everyone can afford. Founded in 2004 as e.l.f. (Eyes Lips Face) and reshaped under CEO Tarang Amin since 2014, it has grown into a multi-brand house spanning e.l.f. Cosmetics, e.l.f. SKIN, Well People, Keys Soulcare, Naturium, and Hailey Bieber's rhode. Every product is vegan and cruelty-free, most cost under $20, and the company has become a case study in social-first, community-driven brand building.
Kendo Brands is a San Francisco-based beauty brand incubator and operator owned by LVMH. Named as a play on the phrase 'can do,' Kendo creates and acquires beauty brands and scales them into global businesses, blending startup energy with the backing of the world's largest luxury group. Its portfolio includes Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, Fenty Hair and Fenty Fragrance by Rihanna, OLEHENRIKSEN, and Lip Lab, distributed in 60+ countries.