Molly Sims is getting into the skin care game.
The author, actress and host of beauty podcast “Lipstick on the Rim” is the latest public personality to launch a skin care line with the launch of Yse Beauty (pronounced “wise”). The products, which span a brightening spot treatment, a cleanser, a vitamin C serum, a retinol, exfoliating pads and a moisturizer, range in price from $45 to $88. They will launch on Yse’s website Tuesday.
Sims said that her own history with dermatological conditions inspired the brand, which is geared toward hyperpigmentation. “In 2012, my cystic acne went away, and hyperpigmentation and melasma started to rear its ugly head,” she said. “I tried everything from cold lasers to being on hydroquinone for months at a time… not only do the products work, they don’t make you red, they don’t make you irritated.”
Sims partnered with SOS Beauty, which has also worked with Shani Darden Skincare, Merit and other Los Angeles-based beauty brands, to build the brand. “Molly loves to educate, she loves to talk about products, she loves to prescribe,” said Charlene Valledor, president and cofounder of SOS Beauty. “We just wanted to put that energy in a bottle, the desire to share and to educate other people.”
The hero product is called The Problem Solver, and is a brightening spot treatment for dark spots, which includes niacinamide, tranexamic acid, licorice root and pomegranate seed oil. Sims also created exfoliating pads with glycolic acid and anti-inflammatory gluconalactone, a vitamin C serum and a retinol serum.
Sims and SOS Beauty conducted clinical studies on each of the products separately, as well as the whole regimen when used together. Each product is vegan and cruelty-free, and billed as “clean.”
The target customer is older Millennial and Gen X women, but the name isn’t a nod to her demographic. It came from Sims’ goal of educating her customers on skin care. “My products will leave you wiser — to be wise, you learn and then help put the information back out there,” Sims said. “That’s why it’s called ‘wise.'”
Neither Sims nor Valledor commented on sales, but industry sources expect first-year sales of the brand to land between $1 million and $4 million.
Sims acknowledged the competitive celebrity-founded beauty brand landscape. “A lot of people in the last couple of years have made it harder [to launch a beauty brand] because they’re just putting their name on something private-label. This isn’t just me putting my name on something,” she said.
Added Valledor, “We wanted that feeling of your best friend telling you what to do with your skin care routine. It’s not a pain, your skin care shouldn’t be a painful experience, it should be pleasurable. You should enjoy putting on your vitamin C, and that’s what Molly wanted to create here. She wanted the experience, the love, the feel of the everyday to be enjoyable.”