EXCLUSIVE: Fast-growing Online Retailer Pink Lily Debuts Beauty Line
Can lightning strike twice?
Online clothing retailer Pink Lily aims to find out with the launch of Pink Lily Beauty, a 23-product assortment of multitasking, skin care-infused cheek, lip, eye and brow products priced at $22 or less, debuting March 10.
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Pink Lily, which began as an eBay storefront founded by husband-and-wife duo Tori and Chris Gerbig in 2011, has evolved into a $140 million online apparel destination offering a range of clothing, swimwear, shoes and accessories.
“We’ve built this extremely loyal community over the last decade,” said Tori Gerbig, who taps into her Instagram following of over 677,000 users to inform the company’s innovation and next steps, and is also chief executive officer of Pink Lily. “I always take the consumer behind the scenes on my personal platforms to ask, ‘OK, what kind of graphic Ts do you want? What’s missing in swimwear?’ And that sets us apart tremendously from big-box brands.”
And so it was par for the course when consumers’ routine queries regarding the makeup elections of Pink Lily’s models spurred Gerbig to pursue a foray into the beauty business.
“People would be like, ‘That’s a beautiful dress, but what lipstick is she wearing? Or, ‘How is she so tan? What product is she using?’” recalled Gerbig.
In 2021, the brand launched its Pink Lily Luxury Tan tanning mousse, which came in three shades and was met with an enthusiasm that confirmed to Gerbig an expansion beyond apparel could have legs.
“After that, we thought, ‘You know what? Let’s not stop with just tanning, let’s do beauty.’ I wanted to sell lip color, I wanted to sell eye [makeup] — I want the girls to be able to complete the Pink Lily look,” said Gerbig.
Enter Pink Lily Beauty, a collection of vegan, cruelty-free tinted lip oils, highlighting drops, hybrid lipstick and lip liners, dual eye shadow and eyeliner pencils, and brow gel and pencils.
“I’m a mom of three, I have a busy job — I don’t have an hour every single day to throw my makeup on,” said Gerbig, adding that the average Pink Lily consumer is between the ages of 25 and 45, and is likely, too, seeking convenience in their beauty regimen. “I wanted to focus on multiuse products because, less space, less waste, but also — it’s just easy.”
Hyaluronic acid derivative sodium hyaluronate, shea butter, vitamins C and E, meadowfoam seed oil and an array of fruit extracts are among the skin care ingredients included in the line’s formulas, which seek to not only streamline the routine, but boost skin health during wear.
Industry sources expect the line, which ranges from $14 for a brow gel to $22 for the Double Bloom Dual Lipstick & Lip Liner, could do up to $5 million in first-year sales, though Gerbig did not comment on the estimates.
“We’ve grown our apparel business so fast over the years, and we want to scale Pink Lily Beauty, which, between our ambassadors and social media following, we know we can do,” said Gerbig, who has previously worked with influencers like Caitlin Covington on limited-edition collections.
“We have drops lined up throughout 2023 — we’re bringing liquid eye shadows, more for cheeks, a holiday palette; we’re thinking about innovation we want to introduce in 2024 while also releasing shade extensions of our current selection.”
