I See Patterns
When I look closely, it is not hard to see that it has been unfolding for a couple of years, when our backs are against the walls, nobody is going to have our backs.
Hey, Y’all, I have been away for a few weeks. I wanted to write a couple of Black History posts, and they will remain in my head until next year. But one will become a bonus. Women’s History Month post early next week, so stay tuned. Today, however, I am back to talking about beauty because there have been lots of announcements and news reports, but I want to talk about some of the things that haven’t been said.
Sometimes, Even A Billion-Dollar Valuation May Not Save You!
It is always a beautiful thing to see Dame Pat McGrath get all the accolades she deserves. Her latest project is being the creative director of Louis Vuitton’s first luxury makeup collection. La Beauté Louis Vuitton. According to Vogue, Dame McGrath has been working on the product line for four, count them, FOUR YEARS, and has worked behind the scenes for the brand for two decades.
When I read about her new role, my first question was, what about HER LINE? You know, Pat McGrath Labs. According to Vogue, she developed the Vuitton brand while overseeing her own. But< I don’t know about you; I haven’t heard much about or seen many of her products in Sephora lately.
Beauty of Fashion gives us the sobering tale ofwhat’ss happened to the brand that once had a valuation of $1B:” “What Happened to Pat McGrath Labs”” According to the article, the Dame herself declined to comment on it. There were problems replicating the genius she created on the runway into commercial success.
In the case of the “glass skin” look she created for the Margiela show, a former first assistant turned beauty historian and makeup artist replicated it just days later on TikTok using a drugstore product and an airbrush. It took a year for her eponymous line to develop Skin Fetish: Glass 001 Artistry Mask, which retailed for $38.
We know people will pay for luxury products, but Pat McGrath Labs doesn’t have much beyond the displays in many stores I’ve visited. The pandemic changed how people wore makeup. Pared-down looks, and those peddled by founders who were out front are preferred. The Dame likes to keep connecting with consumers low-key.
But the effed-up part is when you’re an investment firm’s darling, as French firm Eurozeo dubbed the brand in 2018. They poured in $60M and valued it at $1B. But they were out by 2021. Some Belgian investors came in, gave another $183M, and valued the brand even more, only to write down its value by nearly 90% last year. I am not sure what they was going to happen when they poured the money into the brand, but nothing changed that quickly.
But now they seem to be treading water, trying to figure out what to do next. The company has endured a few rounds of layoffs in 2024 but is still in business.
Puck News reported. Some fans have recently spotted Pat McGrath Labs products at discount retailers like Ross Dress for Less.
The crux of the issue seems to be that the Dame is this business’s creative force, and nothing gets done without her. However, she hasn’t found the right business person internally to run things and vibe with her. That person must be a straight shooter to right the ship and someone she respects. They would have to be able to talk about when costs make sense and when they don’t.
Starring Naomi Campbell, sources say the shoot cost over $1 million but enjoyed limited returns. A 20-second ad spot on YouTube has just over 3,000 views.
The Dame deserves to win with her brand, too.
We know people will stand on the shore and watch a Black woman drown.
Games Retailers Play—The H&M Edition…
This week, we heard the announcement of ending another beneficial relationship that benefitted Black women, many of them in the beauty (and fashion) space. WWD announced that the partnership between the non-profit Buy From a Black Woman (BFABW) and the retailer H&M had run its course.
Nikki Porcher, the nonprofit’s founder, started the organization in 2016 as an online directory listing hundreds of Black female-founded businesses. She offered educational programs to help them succeed.
You already know that H&M teamed up with Porcher in the wake of the social justice movement. The goal was to showcase Black-owned businesses through robust programming, including special events, an accelerator program, grants, and a docuseries.
All was going well until they weren’t ( these are my words, not Porcher’s). According to WWD, H&M never told Porcher she would no longer participate in an event to celebrate International Women’s Day, although it was in her contract. The event moved from a weekend to a weekday and from the store to a Black-owned coffee shop. Although she asked for clarification, it didn’t meet her expectations.
The bottom line is that the two could not come to terms. What sets Porcher apart from some of the other situations we have seen lately is that she chose to walk away because it wasn’t working for her. She handled her business; let’s look at how much I’m still owed and discuss when I can expect payment.
WWD states”” By sharing her experience, she said she aims to help others avoid such circumstances.” I’m not badmouthing H&M, and I’m not trying to do anything to them. This is not what this is about,” Porcher said.
Since the story broke in WWD, H&M has issued its own statement defending its actions and explaining what the new event would have been. However, through her Inspire Tour, Porcher exposed BFABW to many more cities than NY and LA.
Just When Everything Was Going According to Plan…
The top part of this newsletter was done on Friday night; I thought I would hit send by Sunday at the latest. Then I woke feeling lousy, and the week devolved from there. So, you guessed it, another newsletter has yet to be sent. Argh!!
The Unofficial Sacrificial Lambs: The Black Beauty Brands
Nobody wants to hear this, but it’s true. This Target boycott will hit black women-led beauty brands the hardest. But my question is, are you going to their websites to support these brands? There is no way to mitigate the losses they will sustain. But it WILL provide them with SOME revenue when it is sorely needed.
So today, for example, consider your NEEDS. For skincare, you can’t go wrong with Undefined Beauty. It is a Black-owned, affordable, clean beauty line.
R&R Night Serum $24. R&R Sun Serum $22 R&R Cleanser $22
R&R Gel Creme with Ectoin, Urea & CloudBerry $24
The Honey Pot Sensitive Skin Ritual, $28.03
Black Girl Sunscreen SPF 30, $18.99,
Black Girl Sunscreen Make It Matte SPF 45 $ 21.99
Carol’s Daughter’s Redemptive Song
The first product I purchased from Lisa Price was at the Africa Street Festival, which was held at Boys & Girls High School on a 4th of July Holiday in the early 1990s in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. I visited her home a year or two later to write my first story about the brand. Brick by brick, Lisa Price built her brand from street fairs to her brownstone to a brick-mortar store in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
She has persevered through the big-name investors brought in by Steve Stoute, which all sounded good. Jay-Z, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Mary J. Blige, Jimmy Iovine, and other investment partners. Massive expansion into big box retailers and their own retail stores (which they later closed). Taking on significant debt, more investors, and being sold toL’Oréall.
Now, with a new backer, Price can add the touches of authenticity to the brand that her audience misses and venture back into body care, a beloved item for many of her consumers. But I don’t thinkL’Oréall loved it as much as we did.
Powerful. Thanks for sharing. I love Pat McGrath and was wondering why Sephoria stopped carrying her in DC.
I actually liked seeing Pat McGrath at Marshall's and Ross. Made me feel like they were in more than the couple retailers . But it had some shock factor too.