Beauty Brands

What Beauty Brands does

Beauty Brands is a privately-held specialty beauty retailer founded in 1995 and headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas, with an employee base of 501–1,000. The company operates a hybrid omnichannel model combining physical retail store locations, in-store salon and spa services staffed by trained professionals, and an owned e-commerce storefront at beautybrands.com. The retailer distributes third-party professional beauty brands across makeup, skincare, haircare, bath & body, nails, tools, men's grooming, kids, and gifts, with named brand partners including bareMinerals, CeraVe, Dermalogica, Murad, St. Tropez, Sun Bum, OPI, CND, CHI, BaBylissPRO, and Smashbox. Revenue is generated through two streams: retail product sales (transaction-based) and professional salon and spa services including haircuts, highlights, manicures, pedicures, facials, massage, hair removal, and spray tans.

Pricing follows standard unit pricing with promotional discounts of up to 75% off on sale items, free shipping on orders over $50, and a 100% satisfaction guarantee, supported by the Take 10 Rewards loyalty program for repeat purchasers. The customer base is segmented horizontally across women's beauty (primary), men's grooming, kids and teens, and salon service customers. Marketing and distribution occur primarily through the e-commerce website, physical store locations, email newsletters, and the loyalty program. The company operates exclusively in the United States with no disclosed international footprint. The broader addressable market — North American salon services — was reported at $232.8 billion in 2024 with a projected 8.2% CAGR to $554.08 billion by 2035, in which Beauty Brands' share is unstated.

No revenue figures, funding history, ownership structure, M&A activity, or detailed leadership team beyond CEO Elizabeth Kambi and founder Bob Bernstein are disclosed in the source material. The company has no documented proprietary technology platform, no mobile application, no API or SDK, no third-party integrations, and no disclosed AI/ML capabilities; its go-to-market is built on physical retail, the owned e-commerce site, email, and the loyalty program.

Name

Beauty Brands

Legal name

Beauty Brands

Website

https://beautybrands.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Beauty Brands is a privately-held U.S. specialty beauty retailer founded in 1995 and headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas, operating physical retail stores with integrated salon and spa services and an e-commerce storefront selling third-party professional beauty brands.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Beauty Retail

NAICS

Cosmetics, Beauty Supplies, and Perfume Retailers (456120), Health and Personal Care Retailers (4561)

SIC

Retail-Department Stores (5311), Retail-Miscellaneous Shopping Goods Stores (5940)

akta.pro primary industry

Beauty & Personal Care Online Retailers (CRAFADAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Beauty & Cosmetics Store-in-Store (CRAGAHAB)

Keywords

• Specialty beauty retail
• Salon and spa services
• Skincare and cosmetics
• Professional hair care
• Beauty product ecommerce

Headquarters

HQ city

Kansas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Product Sales: Sale of beauty, skincare, makeup, hair, nails, bath & body products through physical retail stores and e-commerce website. Products include professional-grade cosmetics, skincare, haircare, tools, and accessories from various brands.
2. Salon & Spa Services: Professional salon and spa services including haircuts, highlights, manicures, pedicures, facials, massage, hair removal, and spray tans offered at store locations with expert-trained professionals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Beauty Brands operates specialty beauty retail stores that combine a multi-category beauty product assortment — including makeup, skincare, hair care, bath and body, nail, tools, men's grooming, and kids' beauty — with full-service in-store Salon and Spa Services. The company also sells the same product assortment through its e-commerce website, supported by a Take 10 Rewards loyalty program and free-shipping thresholds.

Product overview

Beauty Brands is a specialty beauty retailer offering a comprehensive product portfolio across multiple categories including Makeup, Skincare, Hair, Bath & Body, Kids, Tools, Nail, and Men, along with in-store Salon & Spa Services. The company operates a unified retail platform combining e-commerce and physical store locations. The product ecosystem includes third-party professional beauty brands (bareMinerals, CeraVe, Dermalogica, St. Tropez, Sun Bum, OPI, CND, CHI, BaBylissPRO, etc.) across all categories, complemented by a Take 10 Rewards loyalty program and Salon & Spa services featuring haircuts, highlights, manicures, pedicures, facials, massage, hair removal, and spray tans. The company also offers promotional programs including Limited Time Offers, Sale/Clearance sections, and gift cards for both retail and salon services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Salon and Spa Services Full-service salon and spa offerings delivered inside Beauty Brands' retail locations, including hair, skincare, and nail services. Bookable online via the company's appointment-booking channel and intended for individual consumers visiting the physical stores.
• Makeup Multi-brand makeup assortment carried by Beauty Brands across its retail stores and e-commerce site, targeted at women beauty shoppers.
• Skincare Multi-brand skincare assortment sold through Beauty Brands stores and online, addressing everyday and prestige skincare needs for adult women.
• Hair Hair care product assortment (shampoos, conditioners, styling, and treatments) carried alongside the in-store salon service offering, intended for women and men shopping for professional hair care.
• Bath and Body Bath and body care assortment (body wash, lotions, scrubs, and related personal care items) sold through Beauty Brands retail and online channels.
• Nail Nail care and color assortment sold alongside in-store nail services, providing retail products for at-home use by the same customer base.
• Tools Beauty tools and accessories (brushes, applicators, and related implements) carried across Beauty Brands stores and online.
• Men Dedicated men's grooming and personal care assortment targeting male consumers shopping for shaving, skincare, and hair products.
• Kids Age-appropriate kids' beauty and personal care assortment targeted at parents shopping for children and teens.
• Gifts Beauty-themed gift assortment designed for gifting occasions, available in Beauty Brands stores and online.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Ulta Beauty: Ulta Beauty is the largest U.S. specialty beauty retailer operating 1,400+ stores combining a broad assortment of mass and prestige beauty products with in-store salon services. It is the closest direct competitor to Beauty Brands' integrated retail-plus-salon model, though at vastly greater scale and with a national footprint.
• Sally Beauty Holdings: Sally Beauty operates ~3,500 specialty stores selling professional-quality hair color, haircare, and beauty supplies, primarily to consumers and salon professionals. It overlaps with Beauty Brands' hair, nail, and tools categories, though Sally is more mass-market and pro-channel focused versus Beauty Brands' prestige positioning.
• Bluemercury: Bluemercury (acquired by Macy's) operates ~200 specialty beauty stores and spas combining curated prestige beauty retail with facial and spa services, making it one of the closest business-model comparables to Beauty Brands' integrated retail-plus-spa concept. Both target the same prestige beauty consumer and emphasize in-store experience.

Broad incumbents

• Nordstrom: Nordstrom's beauty department and Nordstrom Local hubs curate prestige beauty across makeup, skincare, fragrance, and hair, overlapping with Beauty Brands' assortment of brands like bareMinerals, Laura Geller, Tarte, Stila, and Dermalogica. It is a department-store incumbent rather than a specialty pure-play.
• Sephora: Sephora (owned by LVMH) operates 2,700+ global points of sale focused on prestige beauty across makeup, skincare, hair, and fragrance. While it does not typically co-locate full-service salons, it competes directly with Beauty Brands for the same prestige beauty shopper and has far greater scale, exclusive brand relationships, and digital reach.
• Macy's: Macy's operates department stores with large prestige beauty halls (now home to Bluemercury) selling many of the same brands carried by Beauty Brands. Macy's competes for the same prestige beauty wallet and acquired Bluemercury to gain exactly the integrated specialty-spa capability that Beauty Brands already operates.
• Target Beauty: Target's beauty department and the Target x Ulta shop-in-shop partnership sell mass and masstige beauty including many of the same brands (CeraVe, Sun Bum, OPI, CHI). It competes with Beauty Brands on convenience and price, particularly for the value-conscious consumer, though without integrated salon services.
• CVS Beauty / Walgreens Beauty: CVS and Walgreens sell cosmetics, skincare, haircare, and bath & body products in their drugstore beauty sections. They overlap with Beauty Brands in everyday-use categories and on price-sensitive consumers but do not offer prestige beauty depth or integrated salon services.

Emerging players

• Glossier: Glossier is a digitally native, DTC beauty brand that has expanded into select physical showrooms. It represents the structural shift toward brand-controlled distribution that threatens multi-brand specialty retailers like Beauty Brands, although Glossier currently carries only its own products rather than a third-party assortment.
• CosmoProf / SalonCentric: CosmoProf (owned by Sally Beauty) and SalonCentric (owned by L'Oréal) are professional beauty distributors supplying licensed salons and stylists. They overlap with Beauty Brands in the professional-brand and tools categories (OPI, CHI, BaBylissPRO, CND) but serve a different buyer — the licensed professional rather than the end consumer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/beauty-brands

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Beauty Brands