Prequel is one to watch.
Launched just a year ago, the skin care brand has seen $18 million in online direct-to-consumer sales, according to industry sources. It’s now secured its first retail partner, entering all Target doors on Aug. 18; the business is expecting $35 million in first-year sales at Target, sources tell WWD.
Board-certified medical and cosmetic dermatologist Samantha Ellis is behind the line, created with the help of Ben Bennett of The Center — a brand accelerator that launched the likes of Naturium (which was acquired by E.l.f. Beauty in a $333 million deal last year).
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“People are really looking to medical professionals for credibility,” Bennett said of the brand’s growth.
Ellis — who has a private practice in the Bay Area — graduated from UCLA before earning her medical doctorate from the University of Michigan, and completed her dermatology residency training at UC Davis, where she’s a clinical instructor of dermatology. She’s also a content creator, sharing her know-how on the leading social media platforms. A year ago, she had about 100,000 Instagram followers; today she’s at 326,000.
“She doesn’t have the biggest audience,” Bennett continued. “She was a relatively new personality in the skin care space. However, when you look at the engagement of her audience, the comments, the likes, the immediate views on videos that she was posting on YouTube, it was kind of astonishing how engaged her audience was with her.”
One particular product — which went viral on TikTok — is to thank for the brand’s success: the $18 Gleanser, a cleanser with 50 percent glycerin, to remove makeup and excess oil while maintaining the skin’s moisture barrier and pH. It’s also formulated with inulin, an aquaporin-stimulating active arginine, oat extract and aloe. Consumers have gravitated toward its stretchy jelly-like consistency, due to the percentage of glycerin (a humectant that helps hold water to the skin surface). It’s also at an accessible price point, at 13.5 ounces.
“Glycerin is interesting because it’s in a lot of skin care, but not quite at the concentration level that you see it in the Gleanser,” Ellis explained. “And it can be tricky to formulate with, because glycerin on its own is quite sticky. But it’s not only moisturizing, it also has barrier therapy repair properties. And that’s huge at Prequel, to support the skin barrier. Healthy skin first.”
The brand has also seen success with its $22 Urea Advanced Relief Moisturizing Milk and $18 Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream. All products are fragrance-free, hypoallergenic and safe for sensitive skin. Consumers have been as young as teens and into their 70s, with 15 percent male buyers, revealed Bennett.
“I’m a big believer that when you are starting up a new business that you have to give the business organic space to breathe and to be found, versus taking millions of dollars — number one, we don’t have millions of dollars — to build a huge marketing campaign and have an explosive launch,” Bennett said of marketing efforts.
Partnering with Target will escalate brand awareness and offer an in-store experience. (Bennett saw success with Naturium at the retailer as well.)
“They’re incredibly supportive of new brands, and they’re really good at being a launch pad for a new brand,” Bennett said of Target, adding that the team is “highly engaged in the category.”
“They’re a curious retailer that is really passionate about bringing newness to their customer. That’s what you want in a merchant partner; you want somebody whose key focus is curating the best assortment that they can for the customer that they’re bringing across the threshold, and Target is just exceptional at it…And I think a lot of large retailers in particular are having a hard time keeping up with what’s happening in digital, with the large marketplace, with digital platforms and with social. I’ve never felt that way about Target. They understand that digital is an ecosystem that can benefit both their digital and brick-and-mortar business.”
It’s also simply where Ellis — and her patients — shop.
“It’s a place that offers an incredible amount of convenience and obviously affordability,” she added.