Jaimee Lupton is hitting the ground running in 2025.
The founder of Monday Haircare, Being and Osāna Naturals is debuting two brands simultaneously on Sunday under the Zuru Edge beauty umbrella. One, Laura Polko Los Angeles, is a Millennial-minded hair brand in partnership with hairstylist Laura Polko. The other, Daise*, spans body care and fragrance and is geared toward Gen Alpha.
“Laura Polko is like an older sister of Monday, while Daise* is like the younger sister,” said Lupton, referring to Monday Haircare. Earlier this year that brand was predicted to do $200 million in retail sales across dozens of countries globally in 2024.
Laura Polko Los Angeles is debuting with eight products — four shampoo and conditioner duos that focus on moisture, color protection, repair and volume. The products are dermatologist-tested and cruelty free. Prices range from $11.99 to $13.99 and it will enter all doors at Target.
Laura Polko
Courtesy
Industry sources think the brand could reach around $10 million in retail sales for its first 12 months on the market.
“Both of them have a very different ethos,” Lupton said. “Laura is a talent and you’ve got a reason to exist when you partner with someone like that, and then we’ve been working on Daise* for four years. And we have four more brands coming out over the next two years.”
Polko, who counts Alix Earle, Alex Cooper, Emma Chamberlain, Gigi Hadid and Sydney Sweeney among her clientele, said the products ladder up to the aesthetic she’s known for.
“I end up getting a lot of clients that want undone, cool-girl hair,” Polko said in an interview. “These products emulate that achievable, cool, sexy-but-still-chic thing.”
Polko and Lupton worked on the brand for over two years and the duo are already planning an expansion into styling in 2025. “We’ll move into styling in February and moving forward, into 2025,” Polko said.
Among the commonalities of the brands, though, is Lupton’s understanding of the digital landscape. “We launch these brands in a digital space because that’s where the digital-native consumer is these days. We’re harnessing the power of social media,” Lupton said.
Daise* fragrances.
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“Jaimee blew up on TikTok and is someone who really gets content,” Polko said, who will be playing a key role in marketing the launch. “Having somebody understand that organic content is not super forced, and that’s how it works.”
Lupton said platforms like TikTok played big roles in the geneses of the brands. “Teens, more than ever, are so knowledgeable in terms of ingredients, routine and the appetite for beauty,” Lupton said. “The enthusiasm for beauty and fragrances goes beyond their years, and very few brands meet them at a place that’s aspirational, age-appropriate and accessible.”
Daise* will start off at Ulta Beauty before expanding into Target in 2025. The brand will come to market with a foaming body wash, a body spray and deodorant, a bath bomb, a fragrance, a lip balm and a body scrub. The fragranced items are available in six scents and are designed to be mixed and matched based on wearers’ moods and preferences.
Prices for the 28-product range go from $3.99 to $7.49. Industry sources estimate the brand will reach between $35 million and $40 million in retail sales for its first year on the market, especially considering Lupton’s rapid-fire expansion plans for it. Daise* will also head to key markets within the year.
“The strategy for each brand is different, but in terms of where we want to go with each, we want to hit the big five in the first 18 months of launch — U.K., U.S., Europe, Canada and Australia,” Lupton said. “With those ones, we always want to make sure we’re quick, hard and fast.”
As for the retailers in the U.S., Lupton said she’s looking to apply any preliminary learnings globally. “Because of the success of Monday, they really give us a go. Ulta, in terms of sheer shelf space, is getting behind us. At Target, they’ve basically created a whole tween destination in-store,” Lupton said.
Although no two brands are the same, Lupton does see some commonalities in the most successful ones.
“You’ve got to be ‘different and dangerous.’ That’s what we call it internally,” Lupton said. “You have to be different in the way that you’re innovating, and dangerous in the sense of the look of the packaging. You need both to stand out.”
Lupton also doesn’t have to look very far to mine said insights. “In our business development, we can cross-pollinate all learnings across the beauty vertical as well,” she said, nodding to Zuru’s robust toy and baby care businesses. “But the strategy, in terms of which retailers we go into, certainly depends on the brand.”
Some brands, like this year’s launch of Being Haircare with Walmart, are exclusive to those retailers. “We have a hybrid model,” Lupton said, noting only some of the brands are created with a specific retailer in mind. “It’s a bit of a dance. Whoever comes to us with what, we can create a strategy around it.”
There are a few key points Lupton homes in on with each brand, though. “Our packaging and formulations are always luxurious, which we democratize by making them accessible in terms of both price and retail partnerships.”
