A skin-care brand using retinol and vitamin C and sold via DTC e-commerce may be easy to find now, but when Paula’s Choice launched in 1995, the concept was revolutionary.
“If you go back to 1995, the people that found us were those real, extreme beauty insiders,” said Tara Poseley, CEO of Paula’s Choice. “We had this very cult following of people who knew us and trusted us.”
That cult following has grown by leaps and bounds. In June, Poseley oversaw the brand’s acquisition by Unilever for an undisclosed sum that industry insiders estimated to be $2 billion. Currently reliant on DTC e-commerce for 90% of its sales, the brand also widened its retail presence this year via Sephora in the U.S. and Douglas in Germany. Moving forward, it has plans to expand to more countries.
Poseley has served as Paula’s Choice CEO since private equity firm TA Associates acquired the brand from founder Paula Begoun in 2016. She said Unilever is the “perfect partner at this moment in time to help us amplify the brand globally.” While the brand will continue to operate independently, Unilever resources will be used for global logistics, infrastructure, operational best practices, commercial expertise, R&D and consumer insights, said Poseley.
Currently, over 50% of Paula’s Choice sales come from outside the U.S.
“We know that a big growth opportunity for us is in Asia, especially in China,” said Poseley. “Unilever prestige brands have been doing cross-border for quite a while, so we’re leaning into our cross-border business,” she said. The brand sells a selection of products in China after officially launching sales there in March 2021, and is currently building a team there.
Paula’s Choice’s growth has been catalyzed in recent years by the rise of what Poseley describes as the “knowledge movement” in skin care.
“This is right in our sweet spot, because people are looking for information about ingredients,” she said. The brand was a pioneer in education about ingredients, offering extensive online resources about each product created by the brand’s founder Paula Begoun.
As the brand expands, its focus is not just on the “skintellectual” audience, but on entry-level skin-care consumers, as well.
Paula’s Choice is about “making sure we feel accessible to people who are maybe early on their skin-care journey, to [make them] feel included and not intimidated,” said Poseley.
