Inside Loops Beauty’s celebrity creative director strategy

Loops, the 3-year-old hydrogel face mask brand, has made a name for itself as a buzzy celeb-loved brand. In Oct. 2020, Loops announced model Emily Ratajkowski as its partner and creative director. Then, in July 2022, Loops appointed “Riverdale” actress Camila Mendes as its partner and creative director.

Loops is sold through Ulta Beauty and expanded to Target in February. It was founded by brand incubator Syllable, in collaboration with content production house Shots Studio. Loops offers a variety of need-based face masks, ranging in price from $25-$35 for a bundle of five. The brand also offers a subscription service. According to WWD, Loops was expected to earn between $8 million and $10 million in retail sales in its first year in business.

Below are excerpts of the conversation, including Loops’s ethos, celeb fanbase and social media strategy.

Creating products for a particular moment

“The goal of Loops and what it still does is deliver solution-based skin care at certain moments in your life. That’s why we call it Loops: Masks for moments. For example, when you wake up in the morning, the first thing your skin needs is de-puffing and brightening, hydration, and protection from free radicals. When we identified those four key benefits that could help in that moment, we created the product Sunrise Service. In addition to the Sunrise Service, we launched four other face masks, and a lip mask and eye mask. The newest [face mask] is Dream Sleep, which we just launched in January, and it delivers the slugging beauty technique to your skin in a way that isn’t messy.”

Making sheet masks cool on social

“You don’t see a lot of people wearing sheet masks on social media. But Loops has the brand properties that make people feel cool, and so they want to wear it. It’s why we call it ‘Your favorite celebrities’ favorite face mask.’ From the start, it’s been [used by] Bella Hadid and Hailey Bieber, and Will Smith and his whole family. The social virality of Loops has been, and continues to be, what the brand ethos is centered in. We’ll always have those deep roots around social content and gifting and sharing. … but we didn’t pay and haven’t paid celebrities to [post], to date.”

Leveraging celebrity creative directors

“The company was built on our ability to partner with celebrities and create these brands, and have organic discussions and growth. Consumers know the difference between someone’s face being on something versus someone speaking to it organically and being a part of [a brand]. [Celebrity creative directors] have equity in the brand, and they are part of the conversations — for instance, when we’re first talking to a Target buyer. They are an integrated part of the business, as any creative director would be, versus a licensee or a spokesperson. It’s very similar to fashion, where fashion brands sometimes have different creative directors. That is the model that Loops is built on.”