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in the words of one of my favorite authors, amanda montell, celebrity worship has entered its spiritual era.

it’s no longer enough to follow them.

now we’re trying to be them, one serum & lipstick at a time.

celebs have caught on to this mindset & it has turned into a full-blown gold rush. celebs aren’t just icons anymore; they’re beauty brand founders, cashing in on their influence.

but this trend isn’t as new as it seems. it’s been around since 1994 when supermodel iman launched iman cosmetics & essentially invented the concept of celebrity beauty. fun fact: her first campaign was the first beauty campaign with a native american woman.

30 years later, the beauty category is booming!

& many of these digital-first brands are leaping into irl retail with pop-ups popping off everywhere. let’s look more into this juicy trend that make me oh so nostalgic for my juicy tube days!

💄 surprising beauty stats

before we dive into who's doing what in the pop-up scene, let's talk numbers because these are wild:

• celebrity beauty brands just hit $1.1B in sales in 2023 (up 57.8% while the total beauty category only grew 11.1%)

• fenty beauty alone generated $602.4M in 2023

• 46% of 18-24 year olds use celeb beauty brands with another 22% planning to buy celeb cosmetics.

• 73% of recent sephora shoppers purchased celeb-owned beauty brands

• despite all the digital noise, beauty shoppers still prefer stores, going in-store for 34 trips per year vs 16 online

• celeb beauty superfans spend ~$1K/year on beauty products that’s 1.25x more than the average buyer

now let’s dive into the 14 pop stars driving these numbers with pop ups!

★ fenty beauty by rihanna

revolutionizing inclusive beauty with 55 foundation shades. their pro filt'r foundation has a cult-following & changed the game for shade ranges. they’re dropping gloss bombs pop ups in nyc, la, paris, abu dhabi, & shanghai.

★ rhode by hailey bieber

turning skincare into snack with their glazed donut aesthetic. their peptide glazing fluid & vanilla cake lip treatments sell out in seconds. they made a custom iphone case for their lip gloss (& mirror selfies). crushing it with pop-ups in nyc & london, plus a traveling booth that stopped in toronto, ibiza, london, miami, & la.

★ rare beauty by selena gomez

cream blush queens & mental health advocates. their soft pinch liquid blush is all over tiktok (rip) & practically owns the cream blush category. last year rare partnered with tiktok shop because she played that game right.

★ pleasing by harry styles

gender-neutral nail polish, skincare, fragrance, & merch with playful packaging. their pearl polish collection started it all & remains a fan favorite. pleasing served daily right now in la & nyc. last year they hosted a "pleasing saloon" in austin that i completely missed.

★ rem beauty by ariana grande

space-age packaging meets ultra-pigmented makeup for a dreamy experience that lives up to the name. their lip oils are all over beautytok. plus limited edition wicked products like ozdust. taking it on the road with a pop-up tour bus. talk about popular 🙃

★ kylie cosmetics by kylie jenner

started with those famous lip kits that had us all overlined in 2015. now a full makeup empire with the matte liquid lipsticks still reigning supreme. poppin-up in pink in nyc, la, & singapore.

★ haus labs by lady gaga

clean, cruelty-free, & vegan artistry-driven makeup. their foundation & le monster lip crayons have cult status for their staying power. serving gaga looks in la la (sadly only happened once back in 2019), but look at those 💅 

★ florence by millie bobby brown

gen-z focused beauty & apparel are all about that lilac low maintenance life. stranger things have happened than her nyc pop-up success for her new fragrance, wildly me 🫠 she’s getting into loungewear & underwear that are giving victoria’s secret pink, but in purple.

★ honest beauty by jessica alba

what started with safe, natural products for babies, expanded into household, beauty, & personal care. they tested a pop-up back in 2016 in la at the grove, but smartly went the target, amazon, ulta, & walmart route instead. an og celeb brand that i bet you’ve seen in the aisles.

★ victoria beckham beauty by victoria beckham

luxe, clean beauty with a fashion edge. line your eyes & lips to look like posh spice. she recently hosted a fragrance focused pop-up at the high line in nyc for her new scent 21:50 rêverie. the scent is a tribute to vacay her & david took to java in 2001.

★ jvn by jonathan van ness

haircare for all with a focus on scalp health. their air dry cream & pre-wash scalp oil have cult followings. jvn had pop ups for blow outs in austin, nyc, & miami. if you need a dose of laughter, heart, & self-discovery, grab your headphones & listen to jonathan’s book “over the top: my story.” you will be laughing & crying all at once.

★ pink friday nails by nicki minaj

luxurious press-on nails by the pink queen that launched with her world tour. guaranteed to keep bringing barbie dreams to life. nailing it like a press on almond, coffin, stiletto, & square at a shopify popup in nyc.

★ supergoop by maria sharapova

supergoop’s unseen sunscreen is literally invisible on all skin tones & a holy grail for those of us who want to wear sunscreen without feeling like it. maria sharapova helps them ace it. obsessed with an iconic soho sunscreen stand that i vividly remember from 2022. this was followed by a sunscreen shack tour hitting 10 cities.

★ the béis by shay mitchell

not beauty but worth mentioning — chic, functional travel gear that includes a cream shade that’s likely all over your social media. i had no idea until writing this newsie that it’s a celeb brand. kudos for their clever on brand pop-ups that have included a mini motel, a traveling hotel, & a luggage car wash 🙃 

celebretail continues

there's something powerful about celeb beauty brands going physical.

it's one thing to follow your fave star, another to buy their products online, but standing in a space they've “created” is entirely different.

especially when you're surrounded by other stans who just get it.

& in turn, get you!

these pop-ups aren't just about selling products, they're about the whole experience:

• that rush of scoring limited-edition merch that'll never drop online

• the chance (however slim) of a surprise celeb appearance

• those grammable moments designed for maximum social clout

• the bragging rights of saying "i was there" when your fave's brand first went irl (like how the early irl glossier girls still brag about their slack channel)

it's brilliant in so many ways. celebs have figured out how to monetize not just their products, but the entire experience of being their stan.

i’m betting many of these pop-ups become permanent in the blink of a perfectly mascaraed eye!

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