Face sculpting is everywhere, but no one is doing it as cool as FaceGym, according to founder Inge Theron. This week, the brand and Isamaya Ffrench, founder of beauty brand Isamaya, known for its provocative packaging, launched a collaborative collection of sculpting tools.
“This collaboration felt authentic. There are no bells and whistles — it’s just two passionate women who are experts in their fields, exciting a community with some new body care [products],” Theron said.
The first in what will be a rollout of at least three body-care products is Sculpt 01, a multifunctional tool that sculpts the face and the scalp and retails for $60. Each tool is sold with a QR code linking to tutorials and routines created by Isamaya and FaceGym trainers. Sculpt 01 will be available for purchase exclusively through FaceGym’s and Isamaya’s e-commerce sites. In July, the duo will launch two more products in the collection, Sculpt 02 and 03, focusing on the overall body.
For her part, Ffrench contributed her decades of experience in makeup artistry to help craft a tool that not only lifted the face but also primed it for makeup application. “I had been forming the idea of releasing my own tool with a beautiful design for a long time when I met [Theron]. That gave me the push I needed to make it happen,” Ffrench told Glossy. “We share the same disruptive vision about the world of beauty and wellness.”
To market the collaboration, the founders chose to keep it simple, which has historically worked for FaceGym, Theron said. In 2019, Glossy reported that FaceGym’s annual revenue target was $12 million to $14 million. In 2021, during the pandemic, FaceGym pivoted its marketing to focus on Instagram and TikTok live tutorials, and that year, it saw its revenue increase by 50%, Theron said.
“Our [overall] marketing is focused on education. We want to educate our communities around [FaceGym’s] core values and the importance of facial massages and how to get that perfect at-home glow before applying makeup” Theron said.
The “low-key and cool” marketing for the new collaboration will include live and prerecorded tool usage and makeup tutorials by both Theron and Ffrench, which will be posted to their personal and brand social media pages, Theron said. (FaceGym has 814,000 Instagram followers and Isamaya has 174,0000). The brands will also gift the products to their A-list clientele, including actresses Da’vine Joy Randolph, America Ferrera and Julia Fox, among others, with the hopes that they will organically share the product on their social media platforms. Additionally, FaceGym plans to introduce the tool in select FaceGym locations across the U.S., along with new face workouts to complement it. FaceGym currently has seven locations in the U.S., which all specialize in facials.
The collaboration was intentionally timed to the growing popularity of the gua sha beauty tool, as a result of the face yoga trend, and the new focus on scalp care, According to market research firm Verified Market Reports, the gua sha appliance market is expected to be worth $3 billion by the end of 2030. Meanwhile, the scalp-care market is expected to reach $20.79 billion by 2030.
Theron said this shift in consumers’ interest to alternative wellness practices has supported the brand’s growth.
“We’re projecting high double-digit growth in our studios this year,” she said. “Studios will continue to be our priority growth channel moving forward; we will maintain our DTC and retailer partnerships, both as secondary focuses, as we double down on our studios as our key revenue driver across services, tools and skin care.”
As of April, FaceGym’s studios had 1,000 members who pay at least $108 a month with a minimum two-month commitment.
