Younique

Last updated
Younique
Company typePrivate
Industry Cosmetics, network marketing
FoundedSeptember 2012
FoundersDerek Maxfield, Melanie Huscroft
Headquarters
Lehi, Utah
,
United States
Area served
 United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany, France, Spain, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, Colombia and Netherlands
ProductsCosmetics
Website www.younique.com

Younique is an American multi-level marketing company (MLM) that markets beauty products. [1] The company was founded in 2012 by Derek Maxfield, who is CEO, and Melanie Huscroft, and is headquartered in Lehi, Utah. [2] [3] Between 2017 and 2019, Younique was 60% owned by Coty, Inc. In 2019, Coty sold their share of the business back to Maxfield and Huscroft. [4] [5]

Contents

Business model

Younique produces cosmetics that are marketed by its "presenters," who sign up via the website and purchase products they sell, earning a commission. Younique sellers are required to continuously purchase products to maintain their status within their company, regardless of whether they are able to sell these products onward. [1] Like other multi-level marketing companies, Younique sellers are encouraged to recruit other people to become presenters. [6] The company uses social media to market their products and sales representatives use their social networks to promote and sell their products, and host virtual parties. [7] Commissions begin at 20%, and increase to 25% as sellers reach $1000 in total sales. [8] Further increases are only possible if they recruit others as sellers, [9] from whose sales they receive additional commission. In 2019, The Guardian described Younique's business practices, alongside those of other MLMs, as akin to pyramid schemes, reporting that many Younique presenters lost money in the process of selling for the company. [1]

The company's business model has been compared to other direct sales companies such as Avon Products and Mary Kay, though with a larger focus on sales via social media. As of December 2017, Younique had 230,000 sellers.[ citation needed ] Digiday attributed the company's quick growth to its reliance on digital selling, compared to other MLM brands' reliance on in person sales; [9] The Wall Street Journal also reported that founder Maxfield's use of his personal story, involving his Mormon faith and experience of surviving leukemia, was another tactic used for recruiting salespeople that differentiated Younique from other MLMs. [10]

Products

Younique's product line includes makeup products for eyes, lips, and faces. [11] Younique also has products for skin care, including Younique Royalty which launched in 2016, and is geared towards anti-aging. [12] In 2019, Younique launched Moodstruck Epic 4D One-Step Fiber Mascara that sold 1 million units within 6 months. [13] The same year, Younique launched an augmented reality tool that allows buyers to virtually try products before purchasing. [14]

Ownership

Younique was majority owned by Coty, Inc. between 2017 and 2019. Coty purchased a 60% stake in Younique for $600 million in January 2017. [15] This acquisition valued Younique at $1 billion. [16] Younique's founders continue to own 40% of the company. [3] [17] The acquisition increased Coty's profits in 2018, with Younique witnessing double-digit sales growth in its second quarter. [9] However, Younique's revenues and profits declined year-over-year in 2019, and Coty announced that it was cutting ties with Younique in August 2019 and sold back its stake to Younique founders. [18]

Related Research Articles

Avon Products, Inc. or simply known as Avon, is an American-British multinational cosmetics, skin care, perfume and personal care company, based in London. It is a multi-level marketing company. Avon had annual sales of $9.1 billion worldwide in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Estée Lauder Companies</span> American multinational cosmetics company

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is an American multinational cosmetics company, a manufacturer and marketer of makeup, skincare, perfume, and hair care products, based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is the second largest cosmetics company in the world after L'Oréal. The company owns a diverse portfolio of brands, including La Mer, Jo Malone London, Clinique and Tom Ford Beauty, among many more, distributed internationally through both digital commerce and retail channels.

Max Factor is a line of cosmetics from Coty, founded in 1909 as Max Factor & Company by Maksymilian Faktorowicz.

Mary Kay Inc. is an American privately owned multi-level marketing company. Mary Kay is based in Addison, Texas. The company was founded by Mary Kay Ash in 1963. Richard Rogers, Ash's son, is the chairman, and Ryan Rogers, Ash's grandson, was named CEO in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neutrogena</span> American cosmetics company

Neutrogena Corporation, trading as Neutrogena, is an American company that produces cosmetics, skin care and hair care and owned by parent company Kenvue and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. According to product advertising at their website, Neutrogena products are distributed in more than 70 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clairol</span> Brand of hair care products

Clairol is the American personal care-product division of company Wella, specializing in hair coloring and hair care. Clairol was founded in 1931 by Americans Joan Gelb and her husband Lawrence M. Gelb, with business partner and lifelong friend James Romeo, after discovering hair-coloring preparations while traveling in France. The company became popular in its home country, the United States, for its "Miss Clairol" home hair-coloring kit introduced in 1956. By 1959, Clairol was considered the leading company in the U.S. hair-coloring industry. In 2004, Clairol registered annual sales of US$1.6 billion from the sale of its hair-care products. As of 2014, Clairol manufactures hair-coloring products sold under the brand names "Natural Instincts", "Nice 'n Easy", and "Perfect Lights".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coty</span> French American beauty company

Coty Inc. is an American multinational beauty company founded in 1904 by François Coty. With its subsidiaries, it develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes fragrances, cosmetics, skin care, nail care, and both professional and retail hair care products. Coty owns around 40 brands as of 2024.

CoverGirl is an American cosmetics brand founded in Maryland, United States, by the Noxzema Chemical Company. It was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1989, and later acquired by Coty, Inc. in 2016. The Noxell Company advertised this cosmetics line by allowing "cover girls", models, actresses, and singers who appear on the front cover of women's magazines, to wear its products. CoverGirl primarily provides a wide variety of consumer-grade cosmetics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulta Beauty</span> American beauty store chain

Ulta Beauty, Inc., formerly known as Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. and before 2000 as Ulta3, is an American chain of beauty stores headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Ulta Beauty carries both high-end and low-end cosmetics, fragrances, nail products, bath and body products, beauty tools and haircare products. Each store also has a beauty salon.

Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling the company's products or services, while the earnings of the participants are derived from a pyramid-shaped or binary compensation commission system.

OPI Products, branded as O·P·I, is an American nail polish manufacturer headquartered in Calabasas, California and a subsidiary of Wella Company

MAC Cosmetics, stylized as M·A·C, is a Canadian cosmetics manufacturer founded in Toronto in 1984 by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. The company is headquartered in New York City after becoming a subsidiary of Estée Lauder Companies in 1998. MAC is an acronym for Make-Up Art Cosmetics.

Market America is a multi-level marketing company founded in 1992 by JR and Loren Ridinger. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the company employed around 800 people as of 2016. The products offered by the company include household cleaning supplies, jewelry, personal care products, auto care, cosmetics, dietary supplements, custom websites, water purifiers, and weight management products. A 2017 lawsuit accused the company of being an illegal pyramid scheme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cosmetic industry</span> Industry that manufactures and distributes cosmetic products

The cosmetic industry describes the industry that manufactures and distributes cosmetic products. These include colour cosmetics, like foundation and mascara, skincare such as moisturisers and cleansers, haircare such as shampoos, conditioners and hair colours, and toiletries such as bubble bath and soap. The manufacturing industry is dominated by a small number of multinational corporations that originated in the early 20th century, but the distribution and sale of cosmetics is spread among a wide range of different businesses. Cosmetics must be safe when customers use them in accordance with the label's instructions or in the conventional or expected manner. One measure a producer may take to guarantee the safety of a cosmetic product is product testing. FDA occasionally does testing as part of its research program or when looking into potential safety issues with a product. Both the cosmetics business and consumers can benefit from the FDA's resources on product testing.

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) is an American multinational holding company headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, which owns the retail pharmacy chains Walgreens in the US and Boots in the UK, as well as several pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution companies. The company was formed on December 31, 2014, after Walgreens bought the 55% stake in Alliance Boots that it did not already own. The total price of the acquisition was $4.9 billion in cash and 144.3 million common shares with fair value of $10.7 billion. Walgreens had previously purchased 45% of the company for $4.0 billion and 83.4 million common shares in August 2012 with an option to purchase the remaining shares within three years. Walgreens became a subsidiary of the newly created company after the transactions were completed. As of 2022, Walgreens Boots Alliance is ranked #18 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

Kylie Cosmetics, LLC is an American cosmetics company founded by Kylie Jenner. The company began selling Kylie Lip Kits, a liquid lipstick and lip liner set, on November 30, 2015. Formerly known as Lip Kit by Kylie, the company was renamed Kylie Cosmetics in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropic Skincare</span> British skincare company

Tropic Skincare is a British online and multi-level marketing company which sells skincare and cosmetic products. The company is based in Croydon, South London, where it designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes its products. The business is owned by The Apprentice series 7 runner-up Susie Ma.

ColourPop Cosmetics, also known as ColourPop, is an American cosmetics brand based in Los Angeles, California. The company was founded in 2014 by siblings Laura and John Nelson. ColourPop products are sold through their website and at Ulta Beauty. They predominantly make products for the eyes, lips, and face.

Pure Romance is a United States-based multi-level marketing company that sells adult products including sex toys. Under the multi-level marketing (MLM) model, all products are sold exclusively through independent consultants at women-only at-home parties. In April 2023, Pure Romance moved away from the MLM model.

Longrich(Chinese: 隆力奇; pinyin: Lónglìqí:)Bioscience Co., Limited is a multinational company that sells health, organic food, nutritional supplements, beauty, home care and pet care products. Longrich operates under its holding company Jowell Global.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tait, Amelia (June 1, 2019). "'They have you in a cultish grip': the women losing thousands to online beauty schemes". The Guardian. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  2. ↑ Christensen, Lisa (May 14, 2015). "Younique Breaks Ground on New Facility". Utah Business. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  3. 1 2 Safdar, Khadeeja; Terlep, Sharon (January 10, 2017). "Coty Buys Younique, Valuing Cosmetics Startup at $1B – update". Dow Jones Institutional News.
  4. ↑ Terlep, Sharon; Thomas, Patrick (2019-08-28). "Coty Ends Partnership With Younique". WSJ. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  5. ↑ Collins, Allison (2017-01-10). "Coty Buys Into Social Selling Beauty Company Younique". WWD. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  6. ↑ Del Valle, Gaby (October 4, 2018). "YouTube is full of MLM resignation videos — but some are sales pitches for new companies". Vox. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  7. ↑ US, FashionNetwork com. "Direct sales beauty brand Younique branches out to Asia". FashionNetwork.com. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  8. ↑ Faull, Jennifer (May 9, 2019). "'We are in a de-hype phase': Coty rethinks Younique strategy as brand struggles to make sales". The Drum. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  9. 1 2 3 Schiffer, Jessica (February 20, 2018). "Coty's investment in peer-to-peer beauty brand Younique is paying off". Digiday. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  10. ↑ Terlep, Sharon; Thomas, Patrick (August 28, 2019). "Coty Ends Partnership With Younique". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  11. ↑ Leiva, Courtney (21 November 2019). "Younique's Black Friday Blowout Starts With a Twist on Two Top-Sellers: EXCLUSIVE". StyleCaster. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  12. ↑ "Younique Just Dropped Some Really Big Launches". NewBeauty. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "Younique's Next-Gen Fiber Mascara Ships Over 1 MIllion Units". Beauty Packaging. 22 Nov 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  14. ↑ "Younique Launches AR Tool". HAPPI. 9 Aug 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  15. ↑ Collins, Allison (January 10, 2017). "Coty Buys Into Social Selling Beauty Company Younique". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  16. ↑ Safdar, Khadeeja (January 10, 2017). "Coty Buys Younique, Valuing Cosmetics Startup at $1 Billion". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  17. ↑ "Coty completes Younique deal, reports Q2 results". Financial News. March 1, 2017.
  18. ↑ Gupta, Ruchi (2021-10-15). "Is Younique Going Out of Business? Not Yet, Despite Challenges". Market Realist. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.