Paint Your Lips

The start of the brand

Emily Weiss, a CEO and the founder of Glossier, began her career at Vogue, where she worked as an editor while simultaneously running her blog Into the Gloss. Her “On the Top Shelf” series on the blog became especially popular, drawing over 200,000 monthly visitors. By May 2016, the site had grown to 1.3 million monthly visitors. Eventually, she left her job at Vogue to start her own business — now known as Glossier.

In 2014, to start her business, Emily Weiss began approaching venture capitalists with expansion ideas, including a curated e-commerce platform based on Into the Gloss. With the help of Kirsten Green, founder of the San Francisco–based Forerunner Ventures, Weiss successfully secured $2 million in seed funding. She used the initial investment to assemble a small team and launch Glossier.com.

In October 2014, Weiss introduced Glossier’s first four products through her blog and officially launched Glossier.com. Like many successful brands, Glossier’s journey wasn’t without obstacles — to get more funding, Weiss pitched her idea to 12 investors and was rejected by 11 of them. Fortunately, in February 2018, she announced that Glossier had successfully raised an additional $52 million in its Series C funding round. By March 2019, the brand’s rapid growth brought its valuation to $1.2 billion.

How she promoted the brand – the rise of the brand

She used several strategies to lead her brand to success.

1. Content Marketing: Into the Gloss, already a well-known blog, played a central role in Glossier’s rise. By sharing beauty tips, honest product reviews, and diverse content through the blog and key social media channels, the brand gained increased demands among consumers.
2. Experiential Marketing: Glossier enhanced customer experience through offline pop-up spaces, such as its charming pink flagship store in LA. With its cute and highly Instagrammable interior, the store easily captured the attention of younger shoppers and sparked the desire to purchase.
3. Digital-First, Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Strategy: Like many successful modern brands, Glossier focused on its website and social media platforms — rather than traditional retail — as its primary sales channels.
4. Social Media & Influencer Marketing: To boost sales and visibility, Glossier actively used Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms by reposting content from everyday users and promoting its products through micro-influencers. This encouraged widespread brand exposure across social media.

The most popular series on the ‘glossier’ – Cloud Paint

The future of the brand

Their strategy proved successful — the brand gained popularity on her already popular blog, leading to Glossier’s explosive rise in cosmetics industry. It quickly became a trend, especially among Gen Z demographics. As of 2025, Glossier remains popular among the 15–30 age group, although the peak of its hype has somewhat faded. However, with a strong fanbase now in place, the brand is regarded as a “stable favorite” in the beauty market.

• Glossier built a strong fanbase among Millennials and Gen Z through digital marketing on online communities.
• Brand Awareness in the U.S.: 54% of cosmetics users are aware of the Glossier brand
• Actual Usage: 12% of all users have personally used Glossier products
• Brand Loyalty: Among users, 75% expressed a willingness to continue using Glossier in the future, which indcates a strong level of brand loyalty (Statista, 2022)

Sales

• Sales: Glossier’s estimated annual revenue for 2024 is between $200 million and $250 million, though growth in its direct-to-consumer (DTC) online channel has somewhat slowed (BeautyMatter, 2024). Source: BeautyMatter – Glossier: Future 50 2024
• To support its growth strategy, Glossier is broadening its presence across major offline retail channels such as Sephora (Forbes, 2025)
• Source: Forbes – Why Glossier’s Era of Unicorn Hype May Be Over

While Glossier may no longer have the same popularity as during its peak, with decreased sales and media attention, it still maintains a strong following, especially among Millennial and Gen Z women in the U.S. and globally. The brand’s power remains significant, but as competition in the beauty market intensifies, establishing clear differentiation of Glossier will be a key challenge going forward.