Monat Enters Color Cosmetics With ‘No-makeup Makeup’ Line
Monat is revving up its category mix with a color cosmetics foray.
The direct seller is introducing a skin care-infused line spanning brow gel, concealer, translucent powder, gel-cream blush, bronzer, mascara and liquid lipstick — essentially, mainstays of a “get ready with me” TikTok video.
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“We focused on what are the products that are actually selling more right now, to basically create a no-makeup makeup look, which we know is super trending,” said Zulima Garcia, global senior product development director at Monat
Prices range from $28 to $39, and ingredients include vitamin E, melatonin, caffeine and Monat’s proprietary botanical-based oil, Rejuveniqe S.
“We don’t want to position ourselves as a makeup brand because that’s not what we are, so it was important to take those benefits from our skin care category and bring them into this color collection,” said Carla Hernandez, vice president of brand marketing and communications.
Monat entered skin care in 2019, followed by a supplement launch in 2020; last year, the brand debuted its first hybrid makeup product — a BB cream that comes in nine shades and features a similar blend of skin care ingredients to the new collection.
“That was the product that transitioned us into this category,” said Garcia, adding that for this line, Monat “focused on trying to attract a younger consumer.” The brand’s current demographic skews between 25 to 50 years old, she said.
Hernandez added the expansion will allow Monat to grow its direct sales force. “There are a lot of people in the direct sales industry that have not necessarily come over to Monat because they want that makeup angle — it’s a very experiential, fun thing to sell.”
Monat has 180,000 active members of its direct sales force, whom the brand calls “market partners.” The brand consulted its 36 highest-ranking market partners, called senior executive directors, to inform the development of the collection. “This was our first time including our SED’s in the conversation — at the end of the day, they’re facing the field and they know what the field wants,” Garcia said.
Though neither Garcia nor Hernandez commented on sales expectations for the launch, industry sources estimate Monat’s color cosmetics collection could do $15 million in sales during its first year on the market.
The brand will introduce two new shades of the liquid lipstick for holiday and may release a liquid highlighter in 2024, but the priority for the time being is to support the core collection. “We need these products to gain traction, we need people to talk about them, to use them, to get used to them, before we expand much further into [makeup],” Hernandez said.
Hair care comprises most of Monat’s business with its bestselling product, the Rejuveniqe hair oil, doing $18 million in sales a year, according to Hernandez and Garcia. The brand entered France last April and reports the U.S. and Canada are its biggest markets, with Australia being one of its fastest-growing.
Monat is the largest brand owned by Alcora, which ranked number 77 on Beauty Inc’s list of the top 100 beauty manufacturers in 2022, posting $376 million in sales for the year. The year before, Alcora ranked number 55, posting $632.5 million in sales in 2021.
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