Refy Beauty: Minimal Makeup Turned Into Maximum Success Within the Beauty Industry

Refy Beauty is a representation of what a clear strategy, brand image and taking advantage of social status on social media can do to a once small business. You could say it’s a masterclass in modern, community-driven brand building that has been consistent but also appears authentic.

Founded in 2020 by influencer Jess Hunt and female entrepreneur Jenna Meek, the brand quickly achieved, in a period of what you could say was within 2 years, a first local and then international success for not only being high-end but also remaining a relatively affordable, minimal product line brand. It currently has a valuation of £50 million, and it feels like just the beginning for this brand, as they have reformed and are slowly bringing and adding new, inventive and useful products that consistently hit the ground running.

We will be talking about areas of strategy, history and background that have all worked together to allow Refy Beauty to be the brand that it is today, a very successful one.

Influencer-Led From Day One

A previous PLT model and Instagram influencer, Jess Hunt, was known by UK girls for her beauty and consistent modelling on one of the most popular websites during its peak over the last decade. With her newfound fame, Jess Hunt took that, and with the business brains of entrepreneur Jenna Meek, they were able to transcend their vision of what a beauty brand should look like: a simple and efficient makeup brand.

It makes sense that Refy had a great start from the get-go because Jess had built that respect and trust with a large brand following before Refy’s curation. It’s not uncommon for influencers when they’ve started a business, they have that undeniable advantage compared to any brand that has started with 0 brand awareness.

While it’s remained and grown so fast due to the product quality, customer service, brand awareness, influencer marketing beyond Jess and other elements we will discuss today. Overall, they have taken advantage of and utilised their platform, which is so important and key to their great start.

A Niche Product To Close The Gap

When it comes to creating a brand and product, differentiating yourself from the competition is key to success, especially when you haven’t built that brand trust or awareness yet. While Refy had that to an extent, to appeal to other customers who weren’t aware, but also to grow and make their mark in the market, they needed to differentiate themselves and show why customers should choose them over other and maybe more affordable brands.

Refy didn’t begin by launching multiple products but chose practical, quality and niche products that were needed. What made Refy grow was their Brow Sculpting product that had 3 applicators to help with the brow shaping process, but also had an effective formula that worked, so it was both convenient, affordable and effective. This product alone has led to £100 million in sales for Refy and over 100,000 units in the first 6 weeks, which is incredible.

Remained Affordable

With larger brands beyond drugstore products, even through their rise, they have remained a brand that is both attainable and competitively priced amongst competitors. Some competitors that have created a brand on the back of their influential background more often than not create a product that is ridiculously priced because they are confident their fans will buy it.

There is a mutual respect between Refy Beauty and their community when it comes to the pricing of their products, which has allowed them to be a brand that people come back to time and time again. For example, they sell a mascara and curler for £30, while with some eyelash curler brands, you are looking at spending £20 alone; therefore, it is a very competitive price.

Community First Approach

Refy’s growth and overall marketing strategy go beyond UGC, influential marketing and niche product lines. They are a brand that wants to do more, which has led them to build a strong community. They actively encourage and listen to their customers, which has led to the curation of 2-in-1 face-sculpting skincare products as of January this year, but also assisted in shades, reformulation and so forth.

Being so hard on with listening and encouraging feedback, a practical example would be their concealer range, where they closely worked with a community; they even featured over 1,000 people in their campaign to show how diverse these shades are. Overall, they created 24 shades so their customers could find their perfect shade. They are descriptive with their tones to help the user when choosing, which is also an extra UX step that is appreciated.

Minimal Aesthetics

If you aren’t familiar with Refy, they have a combination of light greys, creams and neutrals within their product range, all practical and minimal in appearance. In the current industry, it’s not out of the ordinary to see loud, colourful packaging that makes it harder to use the product to its full potential, but also to see the curation of hundreds of products that are not overwhelming but very similar in multiple forms of packaging.

Refy is one of the more versatile product ranges that we can see on the market currently. With a lot of products that serve as a 2-in-1, which is not only convenient for makeup bag space but also for the user. Products such as the lip liner and seal product and their duo brushes, cream blushes, which are suitable for cheeks, eyes and lips, and so forth.

Diversifying

You can see from their strategy that Refy Beauty is moving beyond makeup and is diving into the skincare part of beauty. As skincare is becoming more and more important and discussed and a priority for most people, it’s been the perfect diversification, but they’ve also done it so well because they have such a small product line; this isn’t overwhelming for a user, and with that level of trust built within the makeup product, they were able to succeed with the skincare elements.

Their strategy to diversify not only meets the demand for skincare products that work but also provides a ‘skin prep’ solution for their makeup products and therefore works hand in hand perfectly.

Again, they are showing that they not only listen to their community but also find niches within the skincare industry to create diverse products.