‘Covid-19 has sadly been more than our business can withstand’: Becca Cosmetics shuts down

By Becky Bargh | Published: 25-Feb-2021

Estée Lauder Companies-owned cosmetics brand will end operations in September

Becca Cosmetics has made the ‘heartbreaking’ decision to cease operations from the end of September.

The colour cosmetics brand, which boasts product launches with members of the Kardashian family, said the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as ‘an accumulation of challenges’, was too much for the brand to withstand.

The downturn in appetite for make-up among beauty consumers has been heavily documented.

Make-up sales at Estée Lauder Companies, the owner of Becca Cosmetics, were down 62% in Q2, forcing the beauty giant to cut around 2,000 jobs globally.

Meanwhile, L’Oréal’s Luxe Division, which includes Urban Decay, and It Cosmetics, saw a decline of almost 17% in H1 in 2020.

Drugstore make-up brands have been squeezed by disruptor indie players for years and this has been coupled with lockdowns brought on by the pandemic, during which customers have swapped out their make-up bags for self-care and skin care.

Becca Cosmetics took to its Instagram channel to make the announcement.

It wrote: “At Becca, an accumulation of challenges, together with the global impact of Covid-19, has sadly been more than our business can withstand.”

The brand was founded by Rebecca Morrice Williams in 2001, beginning her career as a Make-up Artist in Perth, Australia, before creating her own line.

Prior to Estée Lauder Companies taking over the business in 2016, at which point Morrice Williams left the brand, it was acquired by Luxury Brand Partners in 2012.

The brand is best known for its highlighter products, latterly teaming up with body positivity activist Barbie Ferreira on its Light Shifter Brightening Concealer campaign, and its foundations.

In 2015, a joint venture with YouTuber Jaclyn Hill catapulted the brand to new heights with its Champagne collection.

Speaking to Cosmetics Business Estée Lauder Companies said: "Due to a combination of macro forces compounded by the global effects of Covid-19, the brand could not sustain success for the long-term.

"We are so proud of the Becca brand team and all that they have accomplished over the years. We are handling this matter with sensitivity, both internally and externally. For those who have supported the brand for 20 years, and those who will stand by the brand through this wind down, we thank you."

Earlier this week, the Lauder dynasty announced it would increase its ownership of The Ordinary's Deciem from 29% to 76% and will take complete ownership of Deciem within three years.

Find out more via the link below



You may also like