EXCLUSIVE: Influencer Sommer Ray Fronts Ingestible Beauty Line
Sommer Ray is the face of a new beauty brand.
The influencer has partnered with Aaron Hefter, cofounder of supplement company Nutrabolics, and Felicia Hershenhorn, an attorney, on Imaraïs, a PETA-certified ingestibles brand. Imaraïs, whose name is inspired by the Swahili language, launches with Glow, a gummy that has active ingredients such as vegan squalane and marine algae, meant to promote skin-barrier function, as well as Activated-C, a vitamin C formula trademarked by Imaraïs. The ingredients are all sourced within North America.
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“I’m a firm believer that beautiful skin comes from like the inside,” Ray told WWD in a Zoom call. “This is something I believe in and something I want to get behind.”
Ray, who has not previously worked with a beauty brand, said she was approached by Hershenhorn during the pandemic to be a part of Imaraïs, on which Hershenhorn and Hefter began working nearly a year ago.
“The pandemic has been really terrible for a lot of people, but it’s allowed Aaron and I to connect with [Ray] on such an intimate level,” Hershenhorn said. Ray is based in Los Angeles, while Hershenhorn and Hefter are based in Toronto.
Preorders for Glow open in North America June 4 on Imaraïs’ website, followed by an official launch on June 21. A one-month supply contains 60 gummies — a serving size is two — and retails for $49.
Imaraïs is self-funded by Hefter and Hershenhorn. Neither partner agreed to offer a sales projection, but industry sources estimate that Imaraïs could bring in as much as $3.8 million in first-year retail sales.
The brand will launch direct-to-consumer, with plans to enter retail, Hefter said.
“It’s an omnichannel approach,” Hefter said. “On the retail side, we brought on the former executive director for Estée Lauder and the former international sales manager for Smashbox. We do want to make it a global brand not just within North America, but international as well.”
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