Cosmetics and hair color brand Lime Crime is adding to its roster of wholesale partners.
The brand has begun rolling out its makeup products to about 2,500 Sally Beauty stores across the U.S. and Canada, according to details shared with Retail Dive. The brand already sells a variety of its hair dyes at the beauty retailer.
The brightly colored brand is expecting a 56% increase in overall business with Sally Beauty through the expansion.
Lime Crime already sells through its direct-to-consumer website, as well as retailers such as Target and Walmart, according to company CEO Andrea Blieden. The brand entered those mass retailers a little over a year ago, but Blieden is excited about expanding Lime Crime’s offerings to Sally Beauty’s unique customer profile.
“I think Sally Beauty really captures that care professional, unlike any other retailer,” Blieden told Retail Dive. “So for us, Walmart, Target, Sally, they're all really key brand discovery and awareness drivers. But the way we look at Sally Beauty is very much focused on that colorful professional who lives and breathes hair color, makeup color, every single day.”
Selling Lime Crime’s DIY hair color through the beauty specialty chain for the past two years has proven it's a good fit for the brand, she added. The store associates tend to be as passionate and knowledgeable about color as its shoppers, making Lime Crime’s vibrant aesthetic a natural fit.
The first full week of data from Lime Crime’s makeup expansion at the retailer is “far exceeding the sales plan” Lime Crime set, according to the chief executive.
Lime Crime’s push into retail stores is part of a relatively new strategy in the brand’s 15-year history, with the goal to meet customers where they shop, with Blieden saying that many customers prefer to shop hair color in store rather than online.
“For us, wholesale has been a key acquisition driver,” she said.
Lime Crime was founded in 2008, but Blieden took on the chief role in 2020. She brought several years of experience from The Body Shop and Kiehl’s.
For years prior to Blieden’s arrival, Lime Crime struggled to move past its less-than-favorable reputation.
Under Lime Crime founder Doe Deere, the company had become controversial in relation to a variety of scandals including a Hitler costume, credit card hacking and interactions with the Food and Drug Administration regarding misleading packaging, according to reporting from Racked. Private equity firm Tengram Capital Partners acquired Lime Crime in 2018, at which time Deere stepped away from day-to-day operations.
Under Blieden, the brand lowered its makeup prices by 20% to 50% and updated some formulas and packaging. In its Transparency Update from earlier this month, Blieden said the company partnered with Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, with a donation of $10,000 provided.
Looking toward to the rest of 2023, Lime Crime has more in the pipeline for the brand’s growth.
“A lot of stuff happening in 2023, when it comes to not just retail expansion, but brand partnerships,” Blieden said. “This is the year that I think I am the most excited about in quite possibly my career.”
