Beyond the Glaze
How can celebrity brands go beyond face value? Rhode by Hailey Bieber is one that has managed to do so, reaching a billion dollar valuation and striking an acquisition deal with e.l.f beauty in just three years, which is an impressive feat in the oversaturated world of celebrity beauty brands. While many labels fade away, Rhode has remained influential by curating a strong brand identity, delivering thoughtful products, and maintaining authentic alignment with Bieber’s public persona to develop a dedicated fan base.
Photo from Harper’s Bazzar. Photographed by Rhode, June 2025. Available via Harper’s Bazaar. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Hailey Bieber’s Rhode hit $1 billion in valuation, a significant milestone for a celebrity beauty brand. In the crowded celebrity beauty landscape, only a few brands achieve true longevity and cultural relevance. Rhode is one of the few celebrity-owned brands that has achieved this milestone by being heavily involved in creating thoughtful products for their target customer, investing in marketing to establish a recognizable brand identity, all while remaining aligned with who she is as a public figure. Beauty brand success takes more than just a famous face, and Hailey Bieber is one of the most successful celebrities that has taken their brand beyond face value.
Hailey Rhode Bieber launched her namesake brand, “rhode”, in 2022. She spoke with Forbes around the time the brand launched about her experience as a model, and explained that she was passionate about launching skincare because she had tried many different things. She noted that in her experience, the products that were the most expensive didn't necessarily outperform the affordable ones. She told the outlet that she was interested in “making very luxurious products and solid formulas that you could get for an affordable price, and also that was aesthetically pleasing and fun ”.
The brand launched all products under $30, made with high quality skincare-based ingredients such as shea butter, niacinamide and fatty acids. The brand's website left descriptions of each ingredient, educating consumers on what each did in the product and the benefits it would implement. These products were non-scented, sensitive-skin friendly, and made to simplify the complexities of skincare.
She built a team of experienced professionals in the space to help create her products, working with experienced beauty chemist Ron Robinson and Michael D. Ratner of OBB media. She worked diligently with Robinson to test and perfect the formula of her products, focusing on hydration as an overall theme since it's a universal skin care need. The brand launched with just three products: Peptide Glazing Fluid, a lightweight gel serum for hydration, Barrier Restore Cream, a cream moisturizer to support the skin barrier, and Peptide Lip Treatments, a nourishing glossy formula for the lips.
Not only were these products in alignment with her as a public figure at the time, especially because she was known for her glass skin that she coined as “glaze donut skin”, but this was also a completely different move from most celebrities in the beauty space at the time. Most celebrity beauty brands were focused in the makeup or hair care categories, with most “celebrity” skincare brands being namesakes of dermatologists or other professionals that emphasized medicinal properties and innovative products and treatments.
Photo from ELLE Canada. Photographed by Stevie Dance, August 2023. Available via ELLE Canada. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
She also emphasized that she wanted to build a brand that she had complete control over, aligning with Ratner to build a brand for herself rather than lending her name and image to other beauty brands as she had done in the past. She had a series on her YouTube Channel, Who’s in my Bathroom?, where she would have guests come into her bathroom and answer questions and give beauty tips. She was able to build a ride-or-die audience interested in who she was, what she was using, and how she lived her life. Building a loyal audience is just as important as creating good products and perfecting a brand image, which helped build excitement when she announced her brand.
She then began sending out aesthetic, cohesive marketing materials to promote future launches, with a few being a themed calendar launch for her Pineapple Refresh Cleanser, food-based marketing for the launch of her Peptide Lip Tints, and collaboration with Krispy Kreme donuts for a limited edition strawberry scented lip treatment. The brand's launches began to function similarly to brands like Yeezy and Set Active, with timed drops that sold out in minutes. The brand started hosting influencer events soon after and then followed that up with pop-ups where its consumers would be, manning a photobooth at Coachella that gave free peptide lip tints and a Miami influencer event with friend Kylie Jenner to name a few more recent ones.
The brand began growing quickly, with Hailey’s authentic public persona and product offerings, aesthetic marketing, and investment in quality formulations and a group of educated individuals in the industry has led to its continued success. The brand has consistently been in the media for its launches, has developed a loyal audience of consumers that sell out most of its launches, won countless beauty industry awards, has been present at many industry events, maintained itself as one of the top beauty brands since its launched in social media analytics and sales, and the brand even announced it would be launching in Sephora in the fall after being DTC since its inception.
Now with its billion dollar valuation and acquisition from e.l.f. beauty, it’s one of the biggest beauty acquisitions to date. The beauty industry has gone through a quick turnover with celebrity beauty brands, with only a few reaching cult status or even staying in business at all. Bieber’s brand is an example that excels the traditional celebrity beauty brand path, showcasing that forming a good brand foundation, developing a loyal audience and acting in alignment with who you are can take you far.
