EXCLUSIVE: Jerrod Blandino, Jeremy Johnson Depart Too Faced; Tara Simon Promoted
The founders of Too Faced are leaving the brand.
Jerrod Blandino and Jeremy Johnson, the duo behind the high-wattage makeup brand, which was founded in 1998 and acquired by the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. in 2016, are departing to pursue other entrepreneurial endeavors, effective July 1.
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Taking the helm will be Tara Simon, who joined the brand in 2020 as senior vice president and general manager. She is being elevated to the role of global brand president.
“Jeremy and I have known Tara for over 15 years, from her days at Sephora and Ulta to her current role at Too Faced. We want to congratulate her on her well-deserved promotion to global brand president. She has always had a uniquely Too Faced sparkle, positive outlook, business savvy, as well as strong and dynamic leadership skills,” Blandino said via email.
Simon, who came to the brand after time as the senior vice president of merchandising at Ulta Beauty, said the brand’s performance was strong. According to recent data from the NPD Group, Too Faced is the seventh largest prestige makeup brand in the U.S. Simon said Better Than Sex Mascara and Lip Injection Lip Gloss are the top performers in their categories, and it’s off of that success she hopes to build the brand’s next chapter.
“We have these three subcategories that really drive our business and they are helping us to deliver very strong growth,” she told WWD. “We’re continuing to lead with the strength of those hero skus, and build off of them. Our consumers will see more products in those categories, and attached to those skus.”
That strategy is a hallmark of Lauder’s across its brands. As reported, hero products drive growth across the portfolio, and repeat purchases fall between 35 percent and 50 percent.
Photo courtesy of Too Faced/Richard Monsieurs
Too Faced is also looking to strengthen its presence in key markets abroad. “Globally, we’re working really hard internationally to drive business in markets that are very strong, such as the U.K. and Japan,” Simon said. “Of course, the European markets are being impacted, but we have tremendous business in Latin America. We have plenty of bright spots around the world.”
A few other category expansions are also on the docket. “We’re put together a long-term strategy we’re still executing to grow our consumer base and expand on hero skus,” Simon said. “We recently launched traditional lipsticks, for the first time in many years. That’s been incremental. We launched brow, which was also incremental for us. We’re doing a tremendous job of harnessing the power of our big heroes while sprinkling in cool, trendy products that will bring in a new consumer.”
Aside from growing the business, Simon also has the imperative of replicating Blandino’s creative prowess. “There’s nobody like Jerrod Blandino, and nobody can do everything that Jerrod can do in one person,” she said. “Jeremy found a way to operationalize and build every crazy idea that Jerrod had, starting with glitter eye shadow.
“I’m not filling their shoes,” Simon continued. “I’m just coming in with my four-inch pump. My shoes are just different.”
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