E.L.F Beauty Is Rewriting the Cosmetics Industry Playbook

The day before E.L.F Beauty made headlines with its US$1-billion acquisition deal for Rhode, Hailey Bieber’s buzzy skincare brand, I hopped on a Zoom with Kory Marchisotto, the company’s chief marketing officer, who was calling in from its NYC office. The timing? Less than ideal—I would’ve loved to get the scoop. Still, the blockbuster news felt like classic E.L.F.: fast, strategic and totally in tune with the culture.

E.L.F. (short for eyes, lips, face) Beauty has become one of the most-talked-about beauty companies. Aside from its pending Rhode acquisition, it has expanded its portfolio with clean-beauty brand Well People (acquired in 2020); Keys Soulcare, developed in partnership with Alicia Keys (launched in 2020); and skincare darling Naturium (acquired in 2023). In 2024, E.L.F. Beauty surpassed US$1 billion in net sales—a major milestone that underscores the brand’s success. But what truly sets E.L.F. apart is its ability to deliver on three fronts.

“One of our hallmarks is our ability to have the best combination of quality, cost and speed,” says Marchisotto. And it’s a formula that’s clearly working. It’s a leader in the dupe game, often creating even better versions than the OG. One of its first viral copycat moments came with 2021’s Power Grip Primer, inspired by Milk Makeup’s Hydro Grip. And it wasn’t just a flash-in-the-pan hit. Today, this hero product sells every 3.5 seconds.

But this wasn’t always a billion-dollar story. Founded in 2004 by Joseph Shamah and Scott Vincent Borba and considered a scrappy, budget-friendly upstart, E.L.F. was once best known for its $1 makeup brushes and eyeshadow palettes. The transformation kicked into high gear around six years ago, when Marchisotto, who had spent nearly two decades in beauty before joining E.L.F. Beauty, with roles at LVMH, Puig and Shiseido, came on board as chief marketing officer.

“When I joined, let’s say they’d hit a wall after years of high growth,” she says. “Which was great timing because it was the moment for recalibration.” Before she joined, there was no CMO and no integrated marketing team. “I helped rebuild the next phase of growth for the organization and played, most importantly, the role of consumer.”

The numbers speak for themselves: E.L.F. Beauty is now the number one mass-cosmetics brand in the United States by units sold, with 25 consecutive quarters of net sales growth and a grip on TikTok that won’t quit. Much of that momentum can be traced back to the company’s pivotal decision to divest itself of its bricks-and-mortar locations in 2019 and return to its digital-native roots (and a few retail partnerships) while reallocating resources from its marketing and digital spend. The plan? Reignite sales growth by building deeper cultural connections with Gen Z. That meant going all in on TikTok—before most brands even knew what it was.

Enter the iconic #EyesLipsFace challenge of 2019, a viral campaign that paired an original track with an open invitation for customers to showcase their creativity through makeup and self-expression. The result? Over three million user-generated videos, organic celeb cameos from Lizzo to Reese Witherspoon and more than seven billion views.

“That was all the signal we needed to keep pushing, keep trying, keep innovating and keep listening to our community and building this channel with them,” says Marchisotto. She tells me that it remains the most successful hashtag campaign in TikTok history. That same knack for creating quirky, culturally-plugged-in ads is a big part of the brand’s magic, though it occasionally backfires, as with the recent “Eye Lips Funds” spot featuring controversial comedian Matt Rife, which drew backlash and led to a public apology.

But behind the virality, E.L.F. is rewriting what a modern beauty company can look like from the inside out, with a community-first structure and a mission to democratize access at every level, from product to boardroom. “We’re not just a brand built for people,” Marchisotto tells me. “We’re a brand built with them.” And she means it. Fans don’t just follow—they drive the conversation. The C-suite regularly hops on Twitch and TikTok livestreams to connect directly with its community. “They know we’re here; we’re listening,” she says. “They have direct access, and because of that, they’re even more vocal, more involved, more demanding.”

Case in point, when bronzing drops—specifically Drunk Elephant’s D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Drops—became the internet’s latest obsession and E.L.F. didn’t have a version, Marchisotto sprang into action. “Alex [Kasper, director of integrated marketing communications] bubbled the conversations up to me, and I’m in the comments section, where everybody’s screaming in all caps for them, so I go to see our head of innovation,” she says. She asked when the bronzing drops would come down the pipeline. The answer? Sixteen months away. “Not acceptable” was her response. The team was able to slash the timeline to seven months. “Every touchpoint, from concept to consumer, is connected with the community at the centre,” she says. Unlike traditional marketing models, E.L.F.’s org chart unites innovation, product development, brand marketing and DTC pipelines under Marchisotto’s purview.

That same listen-and-leap approach has also shaped where it shows up. Long before beauty brands started cozying up to the world of sports, E.L.F. was already in the game—literally. Its entry point? Twitch. After learning that more than half of female gamers had reported masking their identities to avoid harassment, E.L.F. launched inclusive livestreams and built a presence in the gaming space that prioritized visibility and belonging.

From there, the company’s mission to democratize access naturally extended to the field, rink and racetrack. E.L.F. is backed by female race-car driver Katherine Legge, launched activations with the Toronto Maple Leafs last year and has shown up for fans, who have historically been sidelined. “If you can get girls to stay in sports, they gain the skills necessary to be successful in the business world later on,” says Marchisotto, noting that 94 percent of women in the C-suite in America have played sports. “We’re not just here to sell makeup—we’re here to build pathways.”

Legacy beauty brands are still playing catch-up, while E.L.F. keeps setting the pace—faster, smarter and, if not always perfectly, more often than not in sync with the people it serves. Marchisotto puts it simply: “We’re not trend-chasing; we’re community-chasing. That’s the real power.”

This article first appeared in FASHION’s October 2025 issue. Find out more here.