Brand
Rhode Sets $15M First-Day Sephora Sales Record, Outperforming Celebrity Beauty Competitors
Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand, Rhode, reportedly generated around $15 million in first-day sales across North America at its Sephora launch on September 4, setting a new record for celebrity beauty brand retail debuts, according to a report by Reality Tea.
Record-Breaking Retail Performance
Rhode captured a substantial share of Sephora’s total sales on launch day, with data from YipitData indicating the brand surpassed $10 million in revenue within its first two days. Reality Tea reports that this performance surpassed previous launch metrics from competing celebrity beauty brands, including Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty.
“This blew Fenty out of the water,” a source close to Sephora told Reality Tea. Multiple New York SoHo locations reportedly sold out of Rhode products “within hours” of the rollout, with full restocks not arriving until the following week. “So many stores are sold out. How could they have messed that up?” questioned one person familiar with the rollout, suggesting the inventory challenges may not have been anticipated.
Customer Acquisition and Market Share Impact
The Rhode launch demonstrated significant channel-shifting dynamics in the beauty retail sector. According to YipitData, approximately 60% of Rhode’s Sephora buyers were existing Sephora shoppers, while a notable 40% redirected beauty spending from competing retailers, including Ulta, Target, and Rhode’s own direct-to-consumer site.
Prior to the launch, Rhode’s new Sephora shoppers primarily purchased from trend-driven prestige skincare brands, such as Summer Fridays, Laneige, and Caudalie. The sales data reveal that in makeup categories, Rhode competes directly with Sephora exclusives, including Rare Beauty, Huda Beauty, and Patrick Ta.
The Sephora expansion follows Rhode’s May 2025 acquisition by e.l.f. Beauty for $1 billion, a deal that included $800 million payable at closing ($600 million cash, $200 million in newly issued e.l.f. Beauty stock) and a potential $200 million earnout tied to future growth targets. The retail partnership appears to be a strategic element of e.l.f.’s plan to scale Rhode beyond its direct-to-consumer roots.
“We can’t wait to bring Rhode to more faces, places, and spaces,” Bieber said when the acquisition was announced. “Our partnership with e.l.f. Beauty marks an incredible opportunity to elevate and accelerate our ability to reach more of our community with even more innovative products and widen our distribution globally.”
Product Assortment and Digital Strategy
Rhode’s Sephora debut featured a relatively limited selection of 16 stock keeping units. When accounting for kits and mini sizes, the core assortment includes approximately 10 products, adhering to the brand’s “one of everything really good” minimalist positioning. According to Reality Tea, the performance indicates that “Bieber’s name, image, and the viral power of her ‘clean girl’ branding escalated consumer interest.”
The launch comes as beauty creators and brands face what Traackr’s H1 2025 report describes as an “attention recession,” characterized by declining engagement rates across most beauty categories despite an increase in content volume. While beauty brands increased creator volume for paid content by 41% and boosted post frequency by 50%, engagement remained largely unchanged, with a 2% decline, compared to an 11% drop in organic content engagement.
According to the report, Rhode has successfully countered this trend through its organic-first approach. The brand jumped 15 positions to rank 6th among beauty brands in Traackr’s analysis, driven almost entirely by organic creator activity. With just 1% of posts being paid, the lowest rate among the top 10 beauty brands, Rhode achieved strong creator performance through building “real community, not just reach,” according to Traackr.
Competitive Impact
Rhode’s entry heightens competitive pressure in the trend-driven prestige beauty segment. A Sephora insider reportedly said: “Rhode’s sucking all the oxygen out of the room for every other brand. Everyone’s showing up only for that.”
For Sephora, Rhode represents a viral, celebrity-backed exclusive that enhances the retailer’s competitive differentiation in the beauty retail space. According to YipitData, “Sephora’s challenge is to convert Rhode’s launch-day buyers into repeat, multi-category shoppers, while Rhode must strike a balance between rapid scale and brand integrity.”
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