Isamaya Beauty is taking expansion seriously, in more ways than one.
The beauty brand founded by makeup maven Isamaya Ffrench is introducing a 12-product core collection spanning makeup and skin care, and plotting a robust retail footprint for it. The collection ranges in price from $28 to $44.
The collection marks Isamaya Beauty’s entry into Sephora in the U.S. and Canada later this month, as well as with existing partner Moda Operandi and Cult Beauty in the U.K. In March, the products bow in La Rinascente and 10 Corso Como in Milan, Dover Street Parfum Market in Paris, among others, and Mecca in April across Australia and New Zealand.
Industry sources estimate the brand’s global retail sales to reach $25 million for the ensuing 12 months.
Though Ffrench and Federica Nicolao, the brand’s chief executive officer, didn’t comment on the estimates, they did say the multipronged efforts represented an inflection point for the brand and a maturation of the business.
“The last three years have been so much fun,” said Ffrench. “The core line, we’re now getting into serious beauty territory. It’s been fueled by my passion for products that I use and the way I like to do makeup.”
Ffrench, who herself regularly collaborates on runway looks for the likes of Thom Browne and Junya Watanabe, has historically taken cues from her own inspirations for the products she creates, from her tongue-in-cheek phallic lipstick bullets to the massage tools that she’s sold on her website. Now that includes science. “I’m really engaged in the technology,” she said.
The value proposition is resonating. “The brand’s grown consistently year-over-year, last year at 150 percent,” Nicolao said. “Isamaya is playful, but so creative and she really gets brand. Retailers historically had a certain image of who Isamaya is, but she’s really a girl next door. We set about with the core for amazing formulas she stands behind.”
Those products include a Colour Correcting Serum, which comes in six shades and refines pores with rosebay willowherb extract, as well as a Kazanlak rose complex that focuses on texture and firmness. There’s also the collagen-inducing Face Glaze, in addition to a slew of lip, eye and complexion products.
“I personally think the Colour Correcting Serum is going to be big,” Nicolao said of the anticipated heroes within the range.
“Microbial Gel is this incredible primer with protective benefits against dust and allergens,” Ffrench contended. “It’s a great product for makeup artists working with hundreds of models, because we’ve got to actually protect our faces while we’re working. And I also love the metal lips collection, which are balms with metallic pigments.”
And though Ffrench wears many different hats, from working professionally as a makeup artist to founding a brand and catering to her masses of social media followers — she has nearly 450,000 on Instagram alone — it’s what she sees as her key differentiator.
“I have my audience, I have my clients, and I’m always out there in the field in different spaces,” Ffrench said. “I’m excited about launching something that feels really effortless but elevated. It’s not about lots of heavy makeup and transformation, it’s a celebratory experience.”
