Rhode Beauty needs to avoid this mistake following $1billion acquisition by Elf

After just three years, Hailey Bieber's beauty brand, Rhode, has been sold to cosmetics giant e.l.f. for a cool $1 billion, and now everyone's been left wondering - what's next for the lip-gloss-phone-case pioneer?

The brand has undoubtably become a cult favourite of the last few years through its innovative skincare and makeup products, including its sell-out peptide lip treatment and multi-use pocket blushes, founded by model and wife of Justin Bieber, Hailey Bieber.

e.l.f. Beauty has agreed to pay Rhode $800 million at the time of sale, but could fork out another $200 million dependent on its three-year growth, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“We can’t wait to bring Rhode to more faces, places and spaces,” she said in a statement announcing the sale, before thanking the Rhode team.

She continued: “I found a like-minded disruptor with a vision to be a different kind of company that believes in big ideas and innovation in the same way that I do and will help us continue to grow the brand.

"As I’ve said, this is only the beginning."

It was also announced that Bieber, 28, would continue working with the company as Chief Creative Officer, and Head of Innovation of Rhode as well as strategic advisor to e.l.f. Beauty.

It's huge news for her personally - and really, the ultimate achievement for Rhode, and every other beauty founder out there, which should be celebrated.

However, a brand that was once so simplistic in both design and offering, having launched in 2022 with only three key products (a serum, and moisturiser, and its iconic peptide lip treatment) turning to the corporate side is raising concern among fans that it could soon lose touch with its roots - which is what made them fall in love with Rhode in the first place.

Rhode Beauty

Aside from Rhode expanding into Sephora stores from fall 2025 (having previously been direct-to-consumer), it's not known what other changes will be made as part of the acquisition.

But with beauty brands past being taken under the wing of other major players in the space including L'Oreal, COTY, Estée Lauder, and Shiseido, consumers have come to associate a corporate handshake with brand stories feeling more inauthentic, changes in promises and values, and in some cases, even formula adjustments to cut costs on popular products.

Becca Cosmetics shut down in 2021, with Estée Lauder citing pandemic-related pressures for its downfall - but to beauty lovers, it was clear that its buyout in 2016 was the start of it losing the heart of the brand - innovative, inclusive beauty.

Similarly, Urban Decay was acquired by L'Oreal in 2012, and by 2017, had come under fire for moving into the Chinese market despite their stance on animal testing being at the forefront of their messaging in their infancy.

It's not exclusive to the beauty industry either, and while it may be a matter of scaling and making more money from the brands' point of view, one wrong move could ultimately harm their reputation.

"Rhode has always felt like a reflection of Hailey’s world: understated, soft, carefully curated. It’s the kind of brand that speaks in a quiet tone but lands with clarity, especially with younger consumers who value intention over noise", says Arianna Cerrito, Sustainable Business Growth Expert & Founder of StartUpAndRise of the sale.

"Now that it’s entering a more corporate structure with e.l.f., what matters most is preserving that sense of intimacy. The pace, the aesthetic, the way it shows up in the world, all of that needs protecting if the brand is to grow without losing what made it resonate.

Rhode

"Rhode doesn’t need to become louder to reach more people. It just needs to stay aligned with the vision that built trust in the first place. If e.l.f. can honour that, this could be a rare example of a founder-led brand scaling without slipping into sameness.”

"Gen Z associate big corporations with profit-driven motives over purpose or ethics", adds Nicki Capstick, former CMO of PrettyLittleThing and founder of The Brand Collective.

"On the other hand however the association with a major company can lend credibility, global distribution power, and resources that allow for better innovation around new product development.

"Avoiding product overload and saturation is key too. Rhode has created trends in such a short space of time that other brands much older and more established have never even got close to.

"I think inconsistency (e.g. confusing launches, mixed messaging) erodes trust fast, especially in beauty."

Rhode fans have always valued that Bieber was the face of the brand - not only is she a beauty icon in her own right, but as a founder, she actively listened to customer feedback and built a community of loyalists.

As recent as March 2025, the 28-year-old was met with praise for acting on criticism of her pocket blushes for not working on darker skin tones, and, instead of releasing an empty statement, brought Black chemists onto the team and reformulated the shades.

The saving grace here is that for now at least, Bieber will remain at the forefront of Rhode, and in turn, will hopefully have large steer over the brand's direction.

e.l.f. Beauty also doesn't presently have a huge portfolio of 20+ brands under its belt, and instead looks after its two namesake entities, as well as Well People, Keys Soulcare, Naturium, and now, Rhode.

"We are excited by rhode's ability to break beauty barriers, fully aligning with e.l.f. Beauty's vision to create a different kind of company," e.l.f. Chairman and CEO Tarang Amin said in the company's own release. "Rhode is a beautiful brand that we believe is ready for rocketship growth."

Could their success now reach stratospheric heights with the new backing? We sure hope so.

Why not read...

Black women are praising Hailey Bieber for Rhode Beauty's 'redemption'

Justin Bieber slammed for comments about wife's Vogue cover

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