Like to go green with your beauty routine but don't know where to start? Celebrity makeup artist and green beauty expert ...
Problem
Makeup users are forced to choose between effective products and clean ones
Those who wear makeup are forced to make a difficult choice between clean and conventional beauty products. Clean makeup is usually less efficacious than conventional makeup (poor wear performance, limited colors, less trends) and there are fewer prestigious choices. Conversely, conventional makeup has high performance and an abundance of options, but contains harmful chemicals and generates massive environmental waste. The EPA reported that 1/3 of the landfill is coming from the beauty industry. With over 120B units produced annually, that's a lot of single use packaging that ends up being thrown away.
Solution
Aether Beauty bridges the gap between conventional + clean
Aether Beauty is a clean makeup brand that is both effective and safe. Banning over 2700 ingredients and developing recyclable packaging, we bridge the gap between clean ingredients and effective product performance for those interested in healthier makeup for themselves and the planet. Our expansive line of products was formulated to compete with conventional beauty performance by our expert founder, Tiila Abbitt (previously a product developer + head of sustainability at Sephora). Our skincare based makeup is clean, vegan, cruelty-free, with organic skin loving oils + crystals to improve overall skin health + glow. Most importantly, our formulas work.
Product
Aether Beauty creates clean makeup products for a clean conscience
Our founder merged her passion for sustainability with her formulation expertise to create makeup formulas that help to improve overall skin health + glow. It's the reason why we are the highest rated clean makeup brand. Our formulas are designed to perform. We use a blend of natural and non-toxic safe synthetics for performance that is out of this world. Our products are fully recyclable and produce 25% less carbon emissions than our competitors. By the end of 2021, we will have saved 250k units of packaging from ending up in our landfills.
Traction
Over $2.2M in net sales in just 2 years
Our DTC is up 168% for 2020 and it has grown to over 35% of our sales- all done on a shoestring, bootstrapped budget, self funded by the founder. The brand is on track to be a $10M+ brand by 2024 and we've had over $2.2M+ in total net sales since launching in 2018.
Taking our collection mainstream
With an over 34% repeat purchase rate (more than twice the industry standard), Aether has quickly become a cult favorite and featured in 250+ strategic publications. In addition to our DTC channels, we have established partnerships with 90+ retailers that cater to our key demographic like Sephora, Credo Beauty, Neiman Marcus, Free People and more in online + offline locations nationally.
Customers
Our clients love our products and brand values
As a 4.9 star rated brand on Sephora (their average rating for a conventional makeup brand is 4.2 + clean makeup a 3.8), we will continue to leverage product performance as our #1 pillar for messaging. We have organically grown our IG to over 45k followers in 2 years. 25% of our demographic are Gen Z'ers while 42% are millennials, both of whom value sustainability and clean products above all else. We frequently get comments like "I can't believe this is clean!". Efficacy is the #1 concern and selling point for both Gen Z and Millennials. 90% of Gen Z shoppers intend to purchase clean beauty in 2021.
Business model
Robust Sales and Marketing Strategy
Market
Aether Beauty is disrupting the $500B+ global beauty industry
The clean beauty segment of the industry is currently at $15B and is expected to surpass $26B in 2026. Aether Beauty plans to initially target this segment of the natural beauty market, with the intention of disrupting the global beauty industry as a whole.
We have a noted market advantage with Millennial women, who are twice as likely to be heavy buyers, and spend around $696 annually on makeup. Aether Beauty's average order value is $85. Capturing just 1% of this market will translate into $72M in sales, and Aether Beauty’s traction and brand penetration are extraordinarily promising.
Competition
Finally, a makeup brand that is clean, sustainable and effective
Aether Beauty is currently the only brand offering such a wide range of beauty products that are 100% clean, organic, sustainable and effective. Our sustainable packaging, clean and ethical production and manufacturing elevate us above our clean beauty competitors, while our clean ingredients and non-toxic formulas grant us a distinct advantage in consideration to conventional beauty brands. In short, Aether Beauty is the best of both worlds for the modern consumer.
Vision and strategy
10+ Products in the pipeline
We will continue to do what we do best – create long-lasting, richly pigmented, sustainable and ethical beauty products. We currently have a pipeline of 4 new highly replenishable skus for 2021+ more beyond- including the first fully recyclable mascara. We are well on our way to being the most expansive+ effective clean beauty brand on the market. We plan to form strategically aligned brand partnerships through community and sampling to gain customer acquisition, brand awareness + loyalty. We will utilize investments to broaden our exposure in key markets to reach more customers through targeted omni-channel efforts. With your help, we will establish Aether Beauty as the leading global brand for clean and sustainable beauty.
Funding
Raising funding to support growth
Aether Beauty has been boot strapped and self funded since we launched. Now, we are opening outside funding to effectively scale our business. With your investment, Aether Beauty will launch 4 new products, grow our sales and marketing teams, enter into new partnerships with international retailers, create an affiliate program, launch box sampling partnerships and establish ourselves as the market leader in effective clean beauty products. We already have undisclosed amount in this round with independent angels.
Founders
A founder with deep industry experience
Tiila Abbitt founded Aether after spending 15+ years as a product development professional- including 7 years at Sephora, where she developed top-performing products that earned Sephora 20+ awards. Tiila developed an expertise in formulating cosmetics that met the EU’s strict standards but also offered the efficacy of US conventional brands. She realized that none of the clean formulas could truly compete with the efficacy of conventional beauty. She was surprised to learn the lack of sustainability & found that the clean beauty space also lacked choice of colors, trends, and most importantly, innovation. Tiila set out to prove that she could not only develop high-performing clean formulas, but she could do so while prioritizing ethics and sustainability.