November 19, 2019

Estee Lauder Acquires Dr. Jart+

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Estee Lauder is set to acquire Dr Jart+ for in undisclosed amount with a closing date this December. This is the first time Estee Lauder has ventured in the world of Korean skincare so adding Dr Jart+ to their beauty portfolio should prove interesting.

Dr Jart+ will apparently net over $500 million dollars at the end of 2019 which is a pretty large sum of money for a K-Beauty brand in the US. The brand’s current parent brand is valued at $1.7 billion dollars.

What does this mean for Dr Jart+ fans? Good question! Can we expect the same great formulas or will Estee Lauder change things as they’ve been known to do in the past? Or maybe this deal will actually broaden the reach of Dr Jart+ and bring in more new product launches.

I’m curious how things will turn out for Dr Jart+ but I do advise stocking up on your favorites now just in case formulas do change.

What do you think of yet another Estee Lauder purchase?

13 Comments

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About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Michelle

    I was already over Dr Jart+ when they added irritating fragrance and chemical sunscreen to their Premium Beauty Balm. Estee Lauder won’t do any worse.

  • kjh

    I have yet to see EL provide real value added, at least here in the states. It’s pretty amazing to think that ~20-25 years ago, Asia really wanted EL product. My business prof used to carry spare suitcases of EL to Asia. Now, it’s completely the opposite. The Asians rule, for the thousands of reasons you already know. Jart got an offer they can’t refuse, like Jamie Kern Lima. EL has lots of dough with which to acquire cos. Have we seen great things from Jerrod, since they bought him out? Well, maybe. The ‘juvenile’ quotient has gone down a bit, and the quality has improved some. We’ll see. But you are right, stock up, just in case.

    • Isabella Muse

      Too faced feels the exception to the rule doesn’t it? Instead of seeing quality go down after the purchase quality literally went up! One can hope see the same from Dr Jart. I don’t think we can even surpass the Korean and Japanese beauty market in terms of dollars!

      • kjh

        You are right, not a chance at K or J or T prices. And I agree with Michelle. Jart+ never passed muster. I got a 100 pointer of tigergrass and hated it. It’s the only Centella product I ever loathed, and I bathe in it.

  • Carol

    What about the whole CoverGirl buying Kylie? I guess it’ll be just a few big conglomerates much like retail will become in a few years. We will most likely be left with Amazon, Google, Apple, Disney, et al. At any rate, it doesn’t leave much room for competition and these big makeup companies will just churn out products. Hopefully some of the indie people will keep their brand to themselves instead of selling out to corporate. (PS: I could give a rat’s ass about CG buying Kylie because I can’t stand her and would not purchase one single thing from her but now I’m sort of put off by CG. Not that they have anything stellar…they are slowly circling the drain in my opinion anyway. Most likely why they bought it, to boost their bottom line because of the youths buying the Kylie crap.)

    • Isabella Muse

      Coty, Covergirl’s parent company, purchased Kylie ;-D It’s pretty much already like that with EL and L’Oreal owning a majority of brands. Unfortunately, Indie brands are headed the same way considering Drunk Elephant was recently acquired. As for Kyle, she has an intense following and that’s likely what EL is most interested in. They likely feel they purchased her following vs her actual brand! It’s all about that $$ 🙂

  • kimkats

    Of course EL will mess with it. EL *never* leaves well enough alone, and I have yet to see a brand they bought be improved by it. They totally ruined Stila by trying to position it as basically an expensive kiddie or tween line; MAC – well, that pretty much speaks for itsel…. And now that they’ve bought a korean brand, you just watch – they’ll americanize it and completely screw it up. They’ll probably unload it in about 5 years after trashing it – that’s my prediction.

    • Isabella Muse

      Not to defend EL but they weren’t quite responsible for Stila’s “juvenile” period. I felt like when Lynn Tilton/Patriarch Partners purchased it that’s when they were doing a lot of those kiddie travel palettes! I actually loved them at the time but thinking back it was overkill! If you like old school Stila, Stila girls, etc..that’s was during EL’s reign. Since the early 2000’s a lot has changed for Stila for that better! They sort of reinvented themselves. I miss the old days a little but currently they aren’t too too bad! I fear this is only the start! Look out because the Korean wars are on ;D

      • D

        I wrote a longer post that was probably too long to go through 😉 but the gist was that Stila was actually a wildly successful independent brand (part of the 90s beauty industry renaissance of ‘makeup artist as brand’) for around 5 years before EL bought them in ’99. Once its creator Jeannine Lobell left”�she did not stay on like Bobbi Brown did or if she did it wasn’t for very long”�the line started to bear little to no resemblance to what made it so successful and unique in a sea of competition. It’s been widely reported that CT might be next.

  • D

    True to a point but old-school Stila existed (and was a world better in my opinion) well before EL bought them. I remember it debuted as a strictly independent Barneys exclusive back around ’94. It was all ‘makeup artist to the stars extraordinaire’ Jeanine Lobel’s baby for several, critical years and it was oh so fabulous and part of that 90s makeup artist makeup revolution/Renaissance of the day :). EL did retain some of the original magic at first as you rightly point out but that sale to them was ultimately the beginning of the end. Bobbi Brown, LORAC, MAC, NARS, Laura Mercier”�they were all fiercely indie groundbreakers who completely and totally threatened the old corporate Beauty guard”�hence the buyouts and obviously beyond just EL. None of those lines have compared to what they once were in their heydays at all. Granted that’s life and business and capitalism…and there are of course downsides to being small too even when you’re “successful.”� Bobbi B did technically stay with her brand for 20 years post sale but it also changed a lot seemingly overnight”�a sister collection of neon brights (remember ColourOptions?) appeared out of nowhere and totally counter to her and her whole makeup identity. It was very weird. There are many reports that Charlotte Tilbury and EL are in talks (or were) too. Sad! Thank you for the info Muse!

  • Kish

    I hope they don’t mess with the formulas, the Cicapair line is awesome. I hate seeing brands change when they get bought out. I guess it’s just evolution lol.

  • Jes

    I was kind of hopeful that maybe it would have brought more of their Korea only offerings stateside, but no…I stocked up on the biome line, color lip balms, and cream mask wraps when I was in Seoul last January. Now I have to order more online I guess.

    This is a very late comment, but I have to admit I haven’t been reading or staying as up to date on beauty industry stuff, outside of kbeauty and jbeauty. Glad to see you (the O.G. of the O.G.) are still doing well through the craziness of the last year.