EXCLUSIVE: Mara Enters Body Care
Mara is entering body care.
The brand, founded by Allison McNamara, is launching its Sea Sculpt Body Oil, $68, on Tuesday. This will be Mara’s first launch since it began selling at Sephora in January.
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“Body was such a natural extension for Mara, especially being an oil-based brand. It’s always been something that I wanted to do,” McNamara said, who was also inspired by her recent beach wedding.
“When my wife wanted to get married on the beach, I was like, ‘You know what, this is the youngest I’m ever going to be. I want to look as good as I can for this’ and so that’s how I really got into body care and using products as an extension of the face,” she said.
While the earthy-scented product includes Mara’s key sea ingredients algae and moringa, which are featured in its hero Universal Face Oil, $72, McNamara was looking to create an active oil to address typical body concerns.
“I felt like there was an active body oil that was missing from the market that really had targeted actives for the many skin care concerns that most people face like cellulite, stretch marks, elasticity, antiaging, firming, really finding an active-first body oil that can be used in tandem with things like dry brushing or lymphatic drainage,” McNamara said.
The Sea Sculpt Body Oil employs three key actives: plankton to firm the skin, reduce the appearance of cellulite and improve elasticity; celery seed to reduce texture and promote a healthy skin barrier, and kelp to hydrate and boost collagen production. To amplify the results of the oil, the brand is the Sea Sculpt Tool, $15, for lymphatic drainage. According to McNamara, after two months of usage three times a week in conjunction with the oil, consumers will have noticeable results.
While this type of product has been on McNamara’s mind for awhile, the launch aligns with market trends, as consumers are interested in creating body care routines — the #BodyCareRoutine hashtag on TikTok has 1.6 billion views.
“We are seeing a shift in the market toward the ‘skinification’ of everything,” she said. “Body is the next in line.”
The oil, which will launch direct-to-consumer and at Sephora, is expected to amass between $1.5 million and $2 million in first-year retail sales, according to industry sources. The tool will launch only direct-to-consumer to start.
When it comes to the body care category, this is just the beginning for Mara, as McNamara sees an opportunity to grow the brand’s offerings to target additional concerns.
“There are a few other body products I would love to play with. I would love to be in people’s showers,” McNamara said. “Keeping in line with our same trueness to oils is what we’ll always do when we go into a new category or we go into a new product within that category.”
McNamara also noted the brand has a skin care launch planned for the beginning of 2024.
