Roughly 400,000 internet denizens were curious enough about Alix Earle‘s newest venture that they followed Earle’s new account, @wtfisalixdoing, over the span of a week.
Now, they’re getting an answer.
Earle is debuting Reale Actives, a skin care brand targeting acne, which debuts directly on its website March 31 with four products: a makeup cleansing balm, an exfoliating gel cleanser, a mandelic acid serum and a barrier boosting moisturizer. They range in price from $28 to $39.
Earle found internet fame while she was in school in Miami, and told WWD in an exclusive interview that she always knew entrepreneurship was in the cards for her.
“I actually started with thinking I wanted to do makeup,” Earle said. “I was just so invested in making something that would be good for acne-prone skin care. And as we were talking about different things, I only really cared about something that was going to be good for acne-prone skin.”
And thus, the megacreator changed course. “It never felt like I could have fun with any products in the acne space. It all felt very clinical, and I just didn’t feel proud to have the products on my counter,” she said. “I also found that the products were very harsh and very stripping.”
On the product front, the mandelic serum includes Synactin AC, a proprietary ingredient. “When you have acne, sometimes you just think about the stripping and not so much about the supporting of your skin barrier,” Earle said. “That’s how we got to the first four products that we’re releasing with. I wanted it to be the bare bones of the routine.”
Reale Actives is also backed by Imaginary Ventures, which similarly invested early on in Mikayla Nogueira’s POV Beauty. Other investments include Skims, Westman Atelier, Glossier, Kosas and more.
“At a high level, we invest in generation-defining brands,” said partner Kelly Dill. “This is about the founder, the opportunity and the founder-market fit. [Earle] has built a true community and authentic relationships with her audience through sharing her own skin journey, and that guided us in this opportunity.”
Dill continued that Earle and chief executive officer Andrea Blieden are in the process of building out the team and product road map.
“When I started, Alex had already picked the VC, they had already established the relationship with Dr. Kiran Mian, who is our consulting dermatologist on the brand,” Blieden said. “We built the team, and it’s a lean team, but we quickly established a team of experts to bring this brand to launch.”
Blieden acknowledged that acne is a crowded category, and counterintuitively, that’s where she sees opportunity. “No one is doing acne skin care the way that Reale Actives does, which is about simplification,” Blieden said. “It’s about finding the right ingredients, and having a founder like Alix whose experience includes hundreds of products over the years, she already knew what was clearing up, what wasn’t, and had road-tested so many. We knew we needed to bring in different ingredient mixes, but also really think about acne in a different way.”
From a design perspective, the packaging is “meant to be out in your bathroom,” said Blieden. “They’re designed to be out in life and creating a brand that was confident and sexy through our launch imagery — that’s where you’ll see the brand take shape in a totally different way.”
Earle will be featured in the main launch campaign, and also serves as the chief brand officer. “This is her brain child and it’s something she’s always wanted to do. In the coming years, you could see us leveraging other faces, whether it’s people in Alix’s world, whether it’s people that just are culturally relevant, but I would say we will always try to remain true to the brand,” Blieden said.
The plan is to stick with acne-related needs, although the idea is that the products can be used universally. “These are still ingredients that are so important for everyone’s skin and the health of everyone’s skin, and if we take the stance of acne first, I think that naturally you’re hitting a much broader demographic,” said Blieden. “Alix’s skin is an evolving journey, there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach to overcoming acne, and so it’s making sure that we have those ingredients that are going to be great for when you’re not breaking out.”
Earle has products planned through 2028 at launch, she said. “There will be new things that stem from either things I really love or things I’m interested in, but also frustrations I could never find solutions for,” Earle said. “Finding those gaps is important for creating products and will be one of those things we’re launching in the fall. It’s just a concern I could never find a product for. I want to push this brand to think outside of the box, and find fun, different ways to bring these products to consumers.”
