Sarah Lee and Christine Chang introduce the Sharks to Korean beauty products when they pitch Glow Recipe, their curated cosmetics business, in Shark Tank episode 714. The two women have been working in the beauty industry for nearly ten years and they are obsessed with skin care products.
The “Korean Beauty Regimen” is a hot trend right now. In the past (dating back to the sixth century) Korean women of nobility valued healthy, porcelain-like skin. To achieve a high standard of beauty, they rubbed all sorts of stuff on their skin to make it healthy. The women of Glow Recipe are taking these centuries-old skin treatments from Asia to the rest of the world.
Glow Recipe doesn’t make its own products, it curates them. They seek out the best beauty products and thoroughly vet the company, the ingredients, and business practices. Next, they test each product on a variety of skin types from their test panel, then they put each product on “probation” for three months to gauge customer feedback.
Their collection of products is vast: they have Cleansers & Exfoliators, Toners & Mists, Eye Creams, Serums, Essences & Ampoules, Face Oils, Moisturizers & Creams, Sun Care, Sheet Masks, Face Masks, Lip Treatments, and even a mascara made from snail slime! The products aren’t cheap either – a small jar of Velvet Yam Pressed Serum costs $49!
Sarah and Christine probably want a Shark to help them get into a retail environment. Will a Shark make-up an offer for Glow Recipe?
Glow Recipe Shark Tank Recap
Sarah and Christine enter the Shark Tank seeking $425K for 10% of their business. They want to make everyone look beautiful from the epicenter of beauty: Korea. They explain Korean beauty is next big player in USA. As they hand out samples, Barbara says “I hope it’s Whiskey!”
They have the Sharks spray a water-less mist, then apply a pressed serum. Robert says it feels funny – kind of creamy and rubbery at the same time. They also show the Sharks a sea-kelp facial mask.
Mr. Wonderful says they are a distributor, they say they curate products. They are projecting $1 million in sales for 2015. They share revenue with the creators of the products they sell to incubate and test the products. Glow Recipe is pursuing a YouTube strategy to educate people about their products, but they’ve just started and only have 1,000 subscribers and 250,000 views.
Mr. Wonderful wants to know why large retailers aren’t competing and the girls answer that some retailers are, but they consult to them as part of their incubation deals. Lori says anyone can be a distributor, Mark says not everyone can be them.
Barbara thinks their numbers are a bit off, but she offers $425K for 40%. Mr. Wonderful offers $425K for 50%. Robert offers $425K for 30%, saying he’s investing in them. Lori says the market is too competitive, she’s out. Mark says he thinks they haven’t done enough in the digital space. Mr. Wonderful asks them how much equity they are willing to give up to do a deal and the girls say they want to hear what Mark wants to do.
After a break, Lori says their offers could disappear if they don’t make a decision. Mark says he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know; he’s out. They counter Robert with $425K for 18%, Robert counters with 25%. They counter with 22.5%, but Robert holds firm and they do the deal.
RESULT: DEAL with Robert for $425K for 25% of the business.
Glow Recipe Shark Tank Update
The Shark Tank Blog constantly provides updates and follow-ups about entrepreneurs who have appeared on the Shark Tank TV show. The deal with Robert never closed but the business lives on. In 2017, they launched in Sephora, a beauty products retailer with 2700 global locations. They also have an extensive Amazon store.
As of the end of 2021, they had $100 million in sales for the year. In August, 2022, the company was exploring selling out to an undisclosed party at a valuation between $400 and $500 million. As of November, 2022, that sale has not occurred. By August, 2023, they’ve become a global brand with $100 million in annual revenue.
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