Clean Beauty Brand Ogee Enters Sephora After Crossing $100 Million in Sales

Before it became a standard playbook in beauty, Ogee built its brand through direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels and Amazon, establishing consumer demand before turning on the growth engine in prestige retail.

That strategy is paying off with a nationwide rollout into Sephora. Ogee launched on Sephora's website in June with an assortment spanning skincare and color cosmetics, followed by an in-store expansion scheduled for October. Its bestselling Crystal Contour Collection is joining the retailer's chain-wide holiday lineup, while top shades of its Sculpted Lip Oil will launch at the register in the Beauty on the Fly section across more than 250 stores. The move comes one year after the organic beauty brand entered Nordstrom, where sales have outperformed initial forecasts, highlighting how prestige physical retail remains a crucial growth engine even as brands adjust their specialty retail strategies at Sephora.

The Sephora expansion represents the next major milestone for a business that surpassed nine figures in annual revenue largely through digital channels. Ogee reports a compound annual growth rate of approximately 65% over the three years leading into 2025 as it transitions into a full omnichannel business. Over the next three years, the company expects wholesale to account for 40% of overall sales, up from 20% last year, when DTC generated 80% of revenue.

Ogee was launched online in 2016 by CEO Mark Rice, who previously co-owned and managed the John Galliano fashion house prior to its acquisition by LVMH; Chief Product Officer Abbott Stark, who spent nine years in business development at contract beauty manufacturer Autumn Harp; and Chief Marketing Officer Alex Stark, who brings a background in logistics and supply chain operations. Together, the founders carved out a niche at the intersection of organic skincare, color cosmetics, and luxury positioning, with hero SKUs like its Sculpted Face Sticks and Tinted Lip Oils establishing the brand as an early pioneer in clean beauty.

To fund its early growth, Ogee raised roughly $7 million in a Series A round that closed in 2021, led by Birchview Capital alongside existing investors FreshTracks Capital and Coastal Ventures, bringing its total equity raised at the time to $12.57 million. The brand secured an additional $2.5 million in equity financing in 2023, according to regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, during a period when beauty capital increasingly favored durable, product-led enterprises.

Below, Rice and Abbott Stark discuss Ogee's retail push with Sephora, its channel strategy, and its long-term growth plans.

Why is Sephora a good fit for Ogee?

Stark: We really loved the luxury positioning of Sephora. Easy-to-use makeup is so important, but we also believe in efficacy, organic certification, and luxury. On the luxury side, that often means refined packaging and elevated formulations that deliver real performance. We also appreciate Sephora's commitment to building independent brands. Given our alignment on values and where we are in our growth trajectory, it felt like a natural fit.

Rice: We founded the company on those core pillars and haven't strayed from them. We hold NSF organic certification across our product line, which is rare in prestige beauty and sets us apart in the clean landscape. We operate at the highest possible standard. When we talk about prestige luxury, it's not just about aesthetics and packaging—it's about the quality of the raw ingredients going into every formula.

You recently changed Ogee's tagline from "Beyond Clean Beauty" to "A Higher Standard for Beauty." What drove that update?

Stark: "Beyond Clean" meant a lot to us internally because clean formulations were the reason we entered this market. We asked why beauty ingredients shouldn't be evaluated with the same scrutiny as food. Organic certification is fundamental to us, but it can sound technical. We needed a simple way to articulate that value proposition.

We found that "Beyond Clean" wasn't fully resonating with consumers—they didn't immediately grasp what it represented. We wanted messaging that felt clearer and more accessible.

Rice: "Beyond Clean Beauty" sounded nice, but it didn't clearly convey what truly differentiates Ogee, which is our rigorous standard across every metric—not just cleanliness, but product performance, sensory experience, and ingredient integrity.

Why is now the right time to enter Sephora?

Stark: We put together a curated assortment centered around our signature hero ingredient: organic cold-pressed jojoba seed oil. The lineup features our Jojoba Glow Face Oil, sunscreen, and our core Crystal Contour Collection—which includes blushes, bronzers, and foundation sticks. It's a targeted collection designed to introduce Sephora shoppers to our core identity.

Our trajectory is somewhat reversed compared to traditional brand building. Many indie brands start at trade shows, secure retail accounts, and then build DTC alongside retail expansion. At Ogee, we joke that we're a ten-year overnight success. Growth has accelerated dramatically, exceeding our initial financial projections.

Rice: Our DTC channel grew very quickly over the past few years, and developing that direct connection with consumers was deliberate. We wanted to build a strong DTC foundation before systematically transitioning into a true omnichannel brand. Entering retail with an established digital community means demand and brand awareness are already in place before we hit the shelves.

Across all our retail rollouts, we've found that consumers were already looking for us in store, especially shoppers who prefer physical retail discovery over buying cosmetics online.

What is the store execution strategy for the October retail launch?

Rice: We need to translate the level of product education, community engagement, and customer service we built online into brick-and-mortar retail environments. That relies heavily on our dedicated field sales team—Ogee representatives who work directly inside retail stores.

We initially built and refined this field sales model across our accounts at Bluemercury and Nordstrom on the East Coast before expanding to the West Coast. We are now scaling that field structure nationally to support store associates and engage directly with Sephora shoppers. It is critical that store beauty advisors understand Ogee's key points of distinction—from our organic certifications to formula performance—so they can effectively advocate for the brand on the retail floor.

What role does Amazon play in your current channel strategy?

Rice: From day one, we believed having an active, controlled strategy on Amazon was far better than ignoring the platform. That decision has paid off. Years ago, many prestige brands avoided Amazon, but today most major beauty players have an established presence there.

Even with a prestige price positioning, our products perform exceptionally well on Amazon, with several SKUs holding top category rankings. We treat Amazon as a key sales channel and continue to invest in its management and growth.

What broader category trends are shaping your product pipeline?

Rice: The convergence of skincare and color cosmetics is huge. Ogee started in skincare before introducing hybrid makeup formulations that incorporate shared skincare actives. For example, our tinted serum consists of 90% skincare ingredients and 10% pigment. Consumers no longer view skincare and makeup as separate categories.

Stark: We're also seeing a much more educated consumer, driven by social media, ingredient screeners, and scanning apps. When training retail teams, we ask if customers still request clean beauty, and the response is overwhelmingly positive.

Barcode-scanning apps evaluate ingredients and rate product safety. Because of our strict organic sourcing and high formulation standards, Ogee consistently ranks among the highest-scoring brands on retail shelves.

What are Ogee's near-term and long-term priorities?

Rice: Over the next three years, our priority is building a balanced, profitable omnichannel business model that supports sustainable revenue expansion. Scaling into retail stores is a pivotal step toward achieving that long-term profitability.

International expansion is another major opportunity. Currently, 8% to 10% of our DTC sales come from international buyers without dedicated marketing support abroad, demonstrating clear global demand for the brand.