This is an episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the beauty and wellness industries. More from the series →
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Michael Malinsky’s 6-year-old brand Wonderskin could have easily become a one-hit wonder.
Wonderskin launched in 2020 with a peel-off lip stain that immediately went viral on TikTok for its metallic blue formula and social media-friendly reveal. Since launch, the brand has sold more than 6 million units of the $22 Wonder Blading Lip Stain Peel-Off Mask, according to Malinsky.
“The unique visual ‘wow factor’ helped us tremendously in capturing attention, but just standing out is a small part [of success],” Malinsky said. “Delivering curiosity, entertainment and ultimately the desire to try a product is what we spent the first two years of the business really honing in on.”
In fact, Wonderskin’s viral success took years to build. “Our virality curve wasn’t instant and up into the right; it was a slow-building momentum while we figured out the right messaging, the right visuals, the right branding, the right communications, the right packaging, the right pricing,” he said. “Only when we were very, very confident in the complete package were we more comfortable in activating the bigger partnerships and shouting a little bit more loudly about our product.”
As early adopters of TikTok Shop and live selling, Wonderskin leveraged seller tools to grow an online community and saw a 328% increase in return on ad spend, plus a 182% increase in click-through rate, according to a TikTok case study on the brand.
“The digital entrepreneurs’ anxiety is always there, because whenever something is working well in digital, there’s always the concept of the half-life, because at some point, it will be less efficient. At some point, it will be less viral,” Malinsky said.
But what happened next could be considered the more novel part of Wonderskin’s rise: The brand successfully launched into several more categories, including eye and complexion; took on $50 million in funding led by Insight Partners; and launched into traditional retail with Sephora.
This growth is partially fueled by Malinsky’s data-first approach to performance marketing, including a test-and-learn philosophy to new product launches. “We are confident and comfortable enough to move away from things that don’t work,” he said.
Wonderskin’s sales revenue grew by 300% in 2023 and 2024, and in 2025, the brand did more than $125 million in revenue, according to Malinksy. Today, Wonderskin sells DTC and through Amazon and TikTok Shop, plus Sephora, Boots, Nordstrom and Revolve.
Malinsky joined the Glossy Beauty Podcast to discuss the challenges in turning a viral product into a full-fledged beauty brand, including learnings along the way and advice for fueling the fire behind a viral product.
On leveraging the lip stain’s success into new products
Malinsky: “There’s absolutely some goodwill that is earned through having a recognizable name, a recognizable logo, a recognizable brand and some existing history, often with affiliates, bloggers [and] makeup artists. So I would be lying if I said that starting an eyeliner franchise within a beauty business is a completely blank slate. However, the actual decision to purchase a new product in the category, even by a customer who otherwise knows us, is still a new decision and a new category. So you still have to earn that excitement. You still have to earn that first bit of trust, and that did take its own share of planning, testing and effort. It was not a guaranteed plus-one-item sale, and to this day, we have many, many people who’ve bought the lip stain who will not try an eyeliner for whatever reason. And we have many, many people who’ve bought the eyeliner who may not be willing to give up their lipstick. And that’s the beauty of having multiple ways for people to discover your brand.”
On failing fast when testing new products
Malinsky: “We knew we wanted to continue developing in this niche that we found for ourselves, which is life-proof, long-wear, exciting, innovative beauty. And as early as 2023 we started paving the way with our lab. We are a business; we’re not just a marketing arm. We have a lab, as well, and we constantly evolve, innovate and look to push the envelope internally, not just waiting for someone else to come up with something to license. And there was a big North Star in developing the next hero product, and we have looked at many different items. We have, in fact, played around and launched a couple of concepts at a very small scale where we tested, learned and understood what kind of product would be best suited to continue the journey. … There was a hybrid sort of skin-care product which looked interesting on paper, but lacked certain elements of virality and visual excitement. And there was another makeup product. … You won’t see them now even on our website, because we are confident and comfortable enough to move away from things that don’t work.”
