Dive Brief:
- Makeup brands Too Faced Cosmetics and Smashbox Beauty Cosmetics are enacting layoffs effective Aug. 15, according to WARN notices filed in California.
- Too Faced is laying off 22 employees at its Irvine, California, office while Smashbox is letting go of 37 employees from its office in Culver City, California.
- Employees for the brands — which are both owned by The Estée Lauder Companies — were notified of the layoffs on June 5. Estée Lauder did not respond to Retail Dive’s request for comment at the time of publication.
Dive Insight:
The layoffs at Too Faced come about a year after the brand underwent executive changes.
In June 2022, Too Faced’s co-founders Jerrod Blandino and Jeremy Johnson departed the brand to take on new entrepreneurial projects and endeavors. Additionally, Tara Simon was promoted to global brand president in July that year, though the executive’s LinkedIn account shows that Simon moved into a new role as global brand president of West Coast brands at Estée Lauder Companies in February.
Estée Lauder announced it would acquire Too Faced in 2016, with President and Chief Executive Officer Fabrizio Freda at the time saying “Too Faced is one of the most dynamic makeup brands in the world.” The beauty company acquired Smashbox in 2010.
In Estée Lauder’s latest quarterly earnings report from May, the company revealed that Too Faced saw “lower-than-expected results in key geographic regions and channels coupled with delays in future international expansion to areas that continue to be impacted by COVID-19.” However, Too Faced’s increased net sales partially helped offset net sales decreases in the makeup segment.
The beauty powerhouse reported impairment charges of $86 million for Too Faced and $21 million for Smashbox for the period ending March 31. As part of its “Post-COVID Business Acceleration Program,” Estée Lauder made the decision to “strategically reposition Smashbox to capitalize on changing consumer preferences and to mitigate the impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the brand.”
Estée Lauder also houses makeup brands such as Bobbi Brown, MAC and Tom Ford Beauty in its portfolio.
