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Last week, creative multi-hyphenates Simi and Haze Khadra were spotted partying and DJing at the launch of Blackpink singer Jennie’s collaboration with Calvin Klein in Seoul. But, beyond the “it-girl” good times, there was another reason for the Palestinian twin influencers to visit the city: they are gearing up to expand the retail footprint of their namesake beauty brand, bringing it to new markets such as South Korea and the Middle East, while also rolling it out to a wider audience in the US.
Simihaze Beauty was founded in July 2021 as a joint venture partnership between the Los Angeles-based founders and Milan-based incubator Flash Beauty, which today manufactures and distributes the brand. (Flash Beauty also works with Isamaya Ffrench and Off-White on developing their beauty lines.) Simihaze launched with an “eye play rave” pack of peel-and-stick eyeliner designs that can be applied and removed without a smudge. Today, it also sells multi-purpose colour tints, lip products in various forms including balms and glosses, highlighters, bronzing powder and other eye makeup such as eyeshadows.
The Khadras join a wave of musical artists who are launching their own beauty brands as a way for fans to recreate their looks, using performances as the ultimate marketing opportunity. Fenty by Rihanna, Lady Gaga’s Haus Laboratories and Halsey’s About Face makeup lines all point to this trend. The sisters, who count over 1.6 million followers on Instagram, also benefit from their connections with influential friends including models Bella Hadid, Sofia Richie and Hailey Baldwin. However, high-profile founders are more vulnerable to call-out culture, and as the market crowds with influencer and celebrity brands, the challenge is maintaining relevance in an authentic way.
Accessibility is a key selling point for Simihaze. Through the brand’s user-friendly format, it seeks to bring expressive makeup to a wider audience without requiring beauty application expertise. “It’s important for us to make products that can appeal to anyone, no matter your skill level when it comes to makeup. A lot of our products are multi-use and don’t require any special glue or tools,” says Simi. “I think it makes people more comfortable with trying looks they wouldn’t normally try.”
It’s an approach that has worked well for other beauty entrepreneurs such as Charlotte Tilbury, whose namesake makeup and skincare brand was acquired for £1.3 billion by fashion and beauty conglomerate Puig in June 2020. Tilbury stood out in a sea of other makeup artist-founded brands through clever marketing such as her “10 iconic makeup looks” template that prompts consumers to pick easy-to-use makeup kits from themes such as “uptown girl”, “rock chick” and “vintage vamp”.
After an initial direct-to-consumer launch, in late 2022 Simihaze expanded in the US and Canada through Sephora’s e-commerce site, as well as the UK and Europe via Selfridges (via a physical pop-up as well as online) and Farfetch. This month, the brand is rolling out across more than 300 bricks-and-mortar Sephora doors. From June, it’ll be available at luxury department store Shinsegae in South Korea, and later this year, at Sephora in the Middle East. The brand has had total year-to-date sales growth of 49 per cent and “strong acceleration” in the first half of 2023, with 74 per cent year-on-year growth over the last three months.
The party season is when sales spike, according to Sophie Wayman, head of category management for beauty at Farfetch. “The Simihaze customer is having fun with their look. Their products dial up an outfit immediately with no fuss, allowing people to create daring eye designs without the need to have incredible freehand skills to do it themselves,” she says. Simihaze’s engaged community and hands-on involvement in the creation of the range adds to their appeal, she adds. “We love the niche they have carved in the industry. Their creativity attracted us to work with them.”
Simihaze’s approach to makeup reflects the founders’ personal sense of style in fashion, which can be attractive for retail partners, says Wayman. It represents a shift for beauty entrepreneurs who are now expected to be front and centre of their brands, as younger generations not only buy into a product; they want to buy into an entire lifestyle, observes Ciara O’Shea, a makeup artist and the founder of Proshine, a fuss-free, high-shine body brand. “Brand owners now have to be visible and known. You can no longer hide behind the scenes. More than ever, people want to know who they are giving their money to.”
Consumer-facing activations are key in new markets, says Haze. As the brand enters South Korea and the Middle East, it will host pop-ups, parties and other events. “Meeting our customers in real life is something we love [because] our makeup is made to be held and felt,” she explains. The brand also plans to lean into regional influencers to help raise awareness of the product by tapping into local beauty trends. More retail partnerships are also in the works; the founders say they are keeping an eye out for new markets where demand from their followers is strong.
As Simihaze looks ahead, diversification is a priority. Complexion is next, although the founders declined to specify a timeline or share more details on what kind of skincare they will offer. The ambition is to build a fully-fledged lifestyle brand that encompasses fragrance, home scents and body care. “We don’t like to set limits and want to continue to bring unique products to the market. But it takes a lot of back and forth to get our formulations and packaging perfect,” says Haze. “A major part of our growth is learning to take the time, instead of rushing. We create our products for reliability and longevity.”
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