How Nudestix Turned Minimalism into a Beauty Empire
This is the story behind your favourite multi-tasking blush.
When I sat down to interview Jenny and Taylor Frankel in late September, Nudestix was at a pivotal moment in its history. Just a few days earlier, the mother-and-daughter beauty duo had announced that they were selling the company they had spent roughly a decade building from the ground up.
Though the details of the Frankels’ arrangement remain under wraps as of this writing, courting buyers has become essential for scrappy beauty start-ups hoping to compete with the industry’s biggest players. When Hailey Bieber’s Rhode was acquired by E.L.F. Beauty this year and Deciem was bought by Estée Lauder in 2024, the payoff was twofold: The founders got bragging rights and the resources to scale their vision.
“We want this to be a Canadian success story,” Jenny tells me, referring to their decision to sell. But by many measures, the brand had already won this distinction. To understand the meteoric rise of Nudestix, first picture the beauty landscape of the 2010s: KVD contour palettes and Kylie Cosmetics lip kits were flying off shelves, and YouTube tutorials promising the perfect smoky eye—if you had an hour to spare—were all the rage.
Against this maximalist backdrop, Jenny, who had developed products for MAC and co-founded the makeup brand Cover FX, made an early bet on beauty’s shift to simplicity. Inspired by the changing preferences of her teenage daughters, Taylor and Ally, she came up with the idea for nude-toned makeup pencils (nude sticks) that felt light on the skin and were easy to use. Industry veterans were skeptical—back then, full-coverage formulas were dominating the market. “A key retailer told me we couldn’t talk about less because we wouldn’t sell product,” says Jenny. It’s hard to imagine that conversation today—as of this writing, Nudestix has achieved eight figures in revenue and is carried in more than 3,000 stores across 30 countries.
“We want this to be a Canadian success story.”
When the brand launched in 2014, the response validated Jenny’s vision. It quickly gained traction in markets where the culture was already trending toward minimalist beauty: Canada, Scandinavia, Southeast Asia and Australia. And the following year, it was named Prestige Launch of the Year in Women’s Wear Daily’s Beauty Inc Awards.
In 2017 came the hero product that secured the brand’s legacy: Nudies—chubby multi-tasking colour sticks that today sell every 60 seconds and represent 35 per cent of sales across 35 shades of blushes, bronzers and highlighters. “It was the best thing that happened,” says Jenny. “But it also created the challenge of making sure we were always in a leadership position.”
As Nudies became bestsellers, competitors took note. Today, many beauty brands sell some version of the makeup-stick format that Nudestix pioneered. When Rhode teased a blush with a remarkably similar applicator last year, Nudestix devotees—and the Nudestix founders themselves—piled into the comments to point out the likeness. Taylor doesn’t name names during our conversation but tells me that dupe culture is “rampant.”
While well-funded beauty conglomerates and celebrity founders crowded the minimalist-makeup space into the 2020s, Nudestix adopted a strategy that prioritized impact over reach: Instead of competing with splashy influencer budgets, it turned to customers, creators and celebrities who already loved the brand. “You don’t know if products are being sold to you because influencers actually love them or because those influencers are getting paid,” says Taylor. “So we truly feel that our community is our number one influencer.”
The brand’s commitment to organic promotion would go on to pay off through what Jenny and Taylor call their “Sofia Richie moment.” Months earlier, Nudestix had brought on Richie (now Richie Grainge) as an investor and its first nude-beauty director, and when she incorporated Nudestix into her viral wedding look—with no obligation to do so—sales spiked in every market. Richie’s chosen shades—including "Picante,” a bright coral blush—sold out. According to Nudestix, the partnership contributed to the $65 million in earned media value in 2024.
“It was one of the first brands to say, ‘Well, we aren’t going after the girl we know converts but doesn’t use the product; we’re going after the person who’s constantly posting it,’” says Maggie Sellers, a Nudestix investor and the host of Hot Smart Rich, a business podcast.
When Nudestix approached Sellers with an opportunity to collaborate on a signature Hot Smart Rich shade (“It happened really organically,” Sellers tells me) in 2024, she saw the brand’s community-driven approach from a new perspective. Hundreds of fans piled into Sephora locations across Los Angeles for the launch of the Hydrating Peptide Lip Butter in “Red Maple.”
Still, Taylor points out that viral moments can’t be manufactured, so the brand is now building sustainable systems around affiliate platforms like ShopMy, TikTok Shop and Amazon, where creators earn commissions on conversions.
Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, Nudestix is returning to basics, prioritizing smaller, intentional events and thoughtful partnerships with like-minded brands such as Majesty’s Pleasure, while strengthening its retail footprint—now available in more than 550 Shoppers Drug Mart doors nationwide.
Rather than chasing newness, it has reimagined its hero product: Nudies will get a new look on shelves while keeping the signature stick format. It’s a fitting evolution for a brand that’s never been about more—just better.
Top Performers
Meet the greatest hits that are the perfect intro to Nudestix’s lineup.
This article first appeared in FASHION’s Winter 2026 issue. Find out more here.
Sarah Bartnicka is a journalist based in Toronto. She is the editor of Milk Bag, a business newsletter.
Fashion FWD:
The next best thing to being a fashion editor - BTS access to trends, products & news.