By will-buy
Have we reached peak Celebrity Beauty Mogul? Alicia Keys, Millie Bobby Brown, Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, Jessica Alba, Kate Moss, Selena Gomez, Harry Styles, Cindy Crawford, Drew Barrymore, Idris and Sabrina Elba, Pharrell Williams – these are merely a few superstars who own skincare or cosmetics companies.
Of course, some crash and burn – see Jessica Simpson's edible cosmetics range – but some are stocked in high-end retailers such as Harvey Nichols and earn their makers millions.
The majority of Rihanna's $1.4billion fortune comes from her Fenty Beauty company, instead of her music. In 2023, Britney Spears was reported to earn $50million a year from her fragrance ranges.
But few are here for it. The news that Brad Pitt would be to launch a skincare line, the eye-wateringly expensive Le Domaine, is the final straw for a group of beauty insiders.
In an open letter towards the Hollywood star, six entrepreneurs have accused Pitt and other celebrities of exploiting their fame to earn money from, they feel, substandard, unoriginal or unnecessary products that undermine the beauty industry.
The letter was written and signed by Winnie Awa, founding father of haircare platform Carra, Molly Hart, founding father of lipstick brand Highr, Samantha Freedman, co-founder of beauty marketplace Elth, Jasmin Thomas, founding father of skincare brand Ohana, and Megan Felton and Ksenia Eytan, co-founders of skincare destination Lionne.
It details the group's frustration at the prevalence of inexperienced celebrities launching averagely effective brands into a saturated market and squeezing out newcomers. It also calls for Pitt, and others, to purchase existing brands rather than compete.
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'There's an enormous lack of expertise and passion,' says Felton about Le Domaine. 'The “health expert” is in fact a specialist in wine, not really a chemist or skincare expert. Pitt himself admits that he's not a big skincare user and sometimes refuses in interviews to walk journalists through his current routine or each product within the range. Why launch a variety?'
'The sad thing is Brad received incredible press,' says Freedman. 'He has had the shelf space that a lot of a large number of brands happen to be vying for. Which means that smaller brands get pushed out, even if their formulations are better.'
The group behind the letter insist it isn't blanket derision of all celebrity products there are those who reason that celebrities have just as much right as any of us to complete anything they want.
'We're big fans of Honest Beauty from Jessica Alba,' says Thomas.'I also feel Rihanna's Fenty range is fantastic. But all these ranges came from a place of authenticity. They launched right into a market they knew about, lived and breathed.'
But Freedman says when it comes to things like Le Domaine, do we really need what she calls another 'pointless brand'?
'Do they bring something new?' she says. 'If all of us stayed in our lanes we wouldn't grow as people,I recieve that but with Brad's power he could have put his money and profile to a smaller brand, going for an amazing platform they so very much deserve.'
