by However many brands tout themselves as “beauty’s best kept secret,” few can claim $33 million in single-stock unit sales during their first year—plus triple-digit growth every year since shin.
Such is the case with Divi, the quietly exploding haircare brand launched in late 2021 by Texas-based lifestyle influencer Dani Austin, who designed its first product — a $48 peptide and caffeine-infused scalp serum to promote hair growth – offering a more natural alternative to chemical hair loss treatments like Rogaine.
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“I’ve been going through my own experience with hair loss since 2019, which can be very emotional as we all know,” said Austin, who had been rocking wigs and a variety of homemade topical concoctions before Enlist a chemist to help develop Divi’s hero serum. “I wanted to find a solution that was clean, but also effective and that I could use long term.”
The serum was an instant hit, recalled the founder, who promoted the product to millions of followers on social media and soon realized “this epidemic of women going through something similar – it became in this community of people helping each other, posting their before and after pictures, and wanting to learn more,” she said.
A year after launching, Divi began selling at Ulta Beauty, and within its first week “Olaplex[-like sales] volume online,” the retailer’s vice president of merchandising Jessica Phillips previously told WWD.
As the brand’s range expanded to include leave-in conditioner, hair growth capsules and eight new products planned for 2024 alone, including the latest dry shampoo launch, Ulta is doubling down on Divi, bringing the brand to more than 500 Ulta Beauty. at Target and online at target.com/ultabeauty.
“We are thrilled to continue supporting the brand’s growth … much of Divi’s success is rooted in Dani’s personal journey with hair loss and a true mission to provide effective hair and scalp care solutions,” said Monica Arnaudo , chief merchandising officer at Ulta, in a statement.
“My main concern has always been for my products to be accessible to everyone; [entering] Ulta Beauty at Target is a watershed moment,” said Austin, whose expansion comes shortly after appointing JP McCary as Divi’s first chief executive officer.
Most recently, the beauty veteran was group president at Sophia Bai’s biotech incubator Bai Biosciences, and before that McCary held senior leadership roles at Peace Out Skincare, Milk Makeup and Shiseido.
“Divi’s balance of heart and science, as well as its community, gives this brand the runway to be able to thrive for the next 20, 30 years,” McCary said, adding that the brand has fostered an almost equal split between the consumers. looking for hair growth solutions due to postpartum-, COVID-19- or chemotherapy hair loss, compared to those who simply want to improve their scalp health. “Tackling hair loss is where Divi started; it’s about creating the environment for your scalp and hair health to be at its best.”
The brand’s dry shampoo, for example, is marketed to all hair types – regardless of density – and when it launched in April one unit was sold every second during its first 24 hours. In the three months since its launch, the $26 starch-powered rice product has become Divi’s number two sku.
“That was the most requested product by the public, both through communication with Dani directly and through our post-purchase survey,” McCary said, adding that just as consumers who purchase the scalp serum often do their way to other Divi offerings, the opposite is true.
“We know for a fact that within three months, almost 50 percent of new consumers who bought the volumizing shampoo and conditioner that we launched in January have come back to buy the scalp serum,” he said.
This retention is a critical element in Austin and McCary’s goal of reaching $100 million in annual sales by 2025. Another way to reach that goal is to increase Divi’s retail presence.
“Direct to the consumer is our cathedral — it’s our cathedral [biggest channel] and something that we’re very focused on — but we understand that there’s a lot more to the consumer than that, so we’re building a whole journey to find out how Ulta fits into that, to understanding how Ulta at Target fits into that, and the same for Amazon,” McCary said.
The brand has also started to set foot in the salon, currently enlisting more than 700 hairdressers – 1,200 by the end of the year – which includes the brand’s Scalp Specialist program to train and recommend the product to clients with persistent hair loss or other concerns.
“We see a very clear path to reach $100 million in revenue in 2025 – we’re on track to have a very meaningful business,” McCary said.
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